As the Russian invasion of Ukraine hits the three-year mark, the White House abandons a narrative that has fueled the conflict.
Aaron Maté
February 24, 2025
Aaron Maté
February 24, 2025
Photo by Maxym Marusenko/NurPhoto via Getty Images) As he pursues an endgame for the US-led proxy war in Ukraine, President Donald Trump has criticized Volodymyr Zelensky for failing to reach an agreement with Moscow both before and after the Russian invasion that began three years ago today.
Addressing Ukrainian complaints about his direct talks with Russia, Trump said: “Today I heard, ‘Oh well, we weren’t invited.’ Well, you’ve been there for three years. You should’ve ended it after three years. You should’ve never started it. You could’ve made a deal.” Trump has also labeled Zelensky a “dictator”, demanded he sign over Ukraine’s mineral rights, and implored him to hold new elections, which have been suspended under Ukraine’s martial law. “Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left,” Trump wrote on social media.
In response, Zelensky trotted out a familiar charge against those who challenge the narratives of the NATO alliance that he has sought to join. Trump, he said, “unfortunately lives in [a] disinformation space.”
While Trump has indeed spread many falsehoods, Zelensky’s misfortune is that the US president is also known for blurting out inconvenient truths. And now that Trump has decided to wind down the Ukraine war, Zelensky’s chief sponsor is abandoning the “disinformation space” of proxy war apologia that the NATO state political and media establishment has used to fuel conflict with Moscow.
To begin with, the White House has discarded the mantra that Russia has waged an “unprovoked aggression” against Ukraine, as a displeased Peter Baker, the New York Times’ chief White House correspondent, put it last week. In an interview on Sunday, senior US envoy Steven Witkoff shocked CNN anchor Jake Tapper by asserting that Russia was indeed provoked. The Ukraine war, Witkoff said, “didn't need to happen. It was provoked. It doesn't necessarily mean it was provoked by the Russians.” When NATO promised membership to Ukraine, he said, that “basically became a threat to the Russians.” (Rather than attempt to rebut Witkoff, Tapper responded by complaining that his viewpoint “is in total alignment with the way Putin sees things.”)
While Trump has indeed spread many falsehoods, Zelensky’s misfortune is that the US president is also known for blurting out inconvenient truths. And now that Trump has decided to wind down the Ukraine war, Zelensky’s chief sponsor is abandoning the “disinformation space” of proxy war apologia that the NATO state political and media establishment has used to fuel conflict with Moscow.
To begin with, the White House has discarded the mantra that Russia has waged an “unprovoked aggression” against Ukraine, as a displeased Peter Baker, the New York Times’ chief White House correspondent, put it last week. In an interview on Sunday, senior US envoy Steven Witkoff shocked CNN anchor Jake Tapper by asserting that Russia was indeed provoked. The Ukraine war, Witkoff said, “didn't need to happen. It was provoked. It doesn't necessarily mean it was provoked by the Russians.” When NATO promised membership to Ukraine, he said, that “basically became a threat to the Russians.” (Rather than attempt to rebut Witkoff, Tapper responded by complaining that his viewpoint “is in total alignment with the way Putin sees things.”)