UKRAINE, KHARKIV, March 5 — Amid claims that the USA will take control of Greenland “one way or another” and declare a trade war with China, Canada, and Mexico, President Donald Trump, in his address to Congress, mentioned that he received a message from Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Kyiv is ready to “start negotiating with Russia as soon as possible.”
This was preceded by the argument between Zelenskyy, Trump, and JD Vance in the White House on February 28 and an unsuccessful attempt to sign a minerals deal that offered US assistance for 50% of Ukrainian rare minerals. Then, JD Vance accused Zelenskyy of “not being grateful” to the US, and Trump claimed Zelenskyy has “too much hate” for Putin and later wrote on his social media that Zelenskyy is “not ready for peace.” Few days later, he paused military aid to Ukraine.
Gwara Media asked an expert and people on the streets of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city that’s located 20 miles from the Russian border, what they think about the change in American policy towards Ukraine and whether they consider America a reliable partner in the Russian-Ukrainian war. Here’s what they told us — two hours after the latest Russian attack on the city.
We should rely only on ourselves
“Looking at Trump’s last statements, I can’t say that Ukraine can rely on the US. We should rely only on ourselves to develop the military potential and integrate some technological innovations [in the army].”
Oleksii Vrahov, a university teacher
War will end soon with USA’s help
“Thoughts are divided, but I think the US is still our partner.
In my opinion, Zeleskyy is doing great. I like his clothes; we are at war right now if someone dislikes it. Others say he should have worn a suit. Maybe they are right.
I think that everything will be good, that [the war] will end soon with the help of the USA.”
Telna Andzhela, entrepreneur
From “stable” to “rapidly falling”
“My experience of studying international relations scientifically says that reliable partners don’t exist. Everything depends on ruling elites. When Biden was the President, we said that the States are a reliable partner, but everything changed a lot during last month. The USA remains a strategic partner for Ukraine, though. Without their help for our country, it’d be impossible to protect it.
From here, everything will depend on how we work with the USA now — our relationships aren’t in a critical stage; they’re just shifted from “stable” to “rapidly falling.” But everything can be fixed. We 100% can’t use the same tools and directions of cooperation [like we did with Biden’s administration — ed.]
There are three ways things can develop. Positive scenario: we’ll find new points of cooperation between the USA and Ukraine, Zelenskyy and Trump. In that case, everybody forgets what happened in the Oval Office and begins to do traditional diplomacy without bringing arguments, if there are any, to the public. Then, there’s a chance to agree to a form of cooperation that’ll satisfy both sides.
The second scenario is negative: the continuation of the same rhetoric, both from Trump and his administration and our country. That’s a negative scenario that can lead to stopping [US military] aid and intelligence sharing [Intelligence sharing has been confirmed to be halted several hours after we’ve conducted this interview — ed.] and sanctions against Ukraine’s high command and business. America won’t just not be helping but will actively disrupt Ukrainian efforts on an international level. We’ll not only won’t receive weapons or money [from America]. We won’t be able to receive that from our other partners, too, and won’t be able to build relationships with them.
Third scenario: everything will remain uncertain and unclear. It’s what we had this last week. But the rhetoric is changing. I’d like to believe it’ll shift to a positive scenario. The main thing is to not allow it to become negative.
I think Trump is a sincere person. He’s not the kind of politician who’ll say things he doesn’t mean. It’s his “thing” – he thinks that everything he says must be realized in practice. He said that he’d review the aid for Ukraine. He said that he’d advocate signing the peace deal between Russia and Ukraine as soon as possible. He doesn’t take his words back — that’s the way he sees [the peace deal], and that’s the policy he’s committed to. I don’t think he’s leading us and the international community into some sort of trap. He makes concrete demands, and, in case of [our] refusal [to meet them], he believes he can act in a way he wants.”
Ivan Marchenko, doctor of economics, docent of Kharkiv National Institute of international relations and tourism
Pattern break for Russians
“I don’t see America as a reliable partner at all. I can’t imagine what the relationships between Ukraine and America will look like in the future.
After this change, perhaps, it’ll be more difficult for us. Perhaps Russians will experience the pattern break. They used to associate Ukraine with America and think that we are “under” them, and now I don’t know what they will think.”
Olha Aheieva, yoga teacher
Donald Trump drastically shifted the US’ approach towards the Russia-Ukraine war and refused to call Putin a dictator (and forgot he called Zelenskyy a dictator). Today, White House national security adviser Mike Waltz saying that if peace talks with Russia are arranged, Trump will “take a hard look at lifting this pause.”
Authors: Nazar Hlamazda, Yana Sliemzina
Read more
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