Donald Trump’s periodic assertions of a ceasefire soon in Ukraine are as hollow as his claim about a ceasefire in Gaza soon. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netantahu has unambiguously stated there will be no Palestine; making way for a “Riviera” in Gaza that Trump had talked about – replete with beach resorts, clubs and dance bars to reminiscence his paedophile days with bosom friend Epstein?
Trump revealed his two-timing deceitful character by feigning surprise over Israel bombing the Hamas ceasefire negotiating team in Doha – Israel’s Operation ‘Fire Summit’, which Trump himself had greenlighted. Hebrew Channel 14 reports 10 Israeli warplanes flew 1,800 km through Jordan, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia to launch 10 missiles at the Hamas meeting site. Qatar and CENTCOM were in full picture, with US and UK tankers doing in-flight refuelling and the planes landing in Qatar for refuelling after the strike.
Trump calls Russian President Vladimir Putin his friend, same way he calls Prime Minister Narendra Modi a friend, but simultaneously asking EU to levy 100% tariffs on India for buying Russian oil, while his mascot Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wags his tail in unison. The EU, however, reportedly disagrees with Trump’s demand.
It was pretty obvious that the meeting between Trump and Zelensky (with European leaders in tow) at the Oval Office in the White House on August 18, 2025 was a staged show; rehearsed between Zelensky and the European leaders in advance, with Trump kept in the picture. Trump’s telephone call to Putin (in between the meeting) for a Zelensky-Putin meeting as a prelude to peace in Ukraine was more of a charade. French President Emmanuel Macron, who together with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is vying for the leadership of Europe, warned Trump (as pre-rehearsed) the risk of being “played” by Putin despite Putin’s televised speech that Russia poses no threat to Europe.
When Trump laid out the red carpet at Alaska for a summit with Putin, it looked more out of desperation to somehow get the Nobel Peace Prize. Putin had said he reached an agreement with Trump, assured Russian readiness to ensure the security of Ukraine, while hoping that Ukraine “won’t throw a wrench” into the process of bringing the war to an end, but emphasizing that the root cause of the war must be addressed; NATO expansion posing an existential threat to Russia.
In February 2025, Trump wrote on his ‘Truth Social’ portal: “Think of it, a modestly successful comedian, Volodymyr Zelensky, talked the US into spending USD 350 billion, to go into a War that couldn’t be won, that never had to start, but a War that he, without the US and Trump, will never be able to settle.” But now Trump is supporting Ukraine, including supply of Patriot AD missile systems and has approved the sale of 3,350 Extended Range Attack Munitions (ERAM) missiles worth USD 825 million to Ukraine, while saying that Ukraine must have the ability to strike deep inside Russia in order to win the war. Ukraine is already targeting Ukraine with ‘Flamingo’ cruise missile having a range of over 2,982 km. Trump has warned Putin of more sanctions if there is no bilateral Zelensky-Putin meeting.
The situation has reached a geostrategic impasse with 26 countries planning to send troops to Ukraine under the pretext of providing security to Ukraine, with obvious concurrence of Trump, despite Putin assuring security of Ukraine; clearly a NATO plan to enter Ukraine through the backdoor. This is in addition to the fact that western mercenaries are deployed in Ukraine since 2014 when the US completely “took over” Ukraine, as admitted now by Victoria Nuland.
Putin has said that Russia will target any foreign troops in Ukraine. So. the US is faking Russian drones attacking Poland and shot down; with NATO providing the Comprehensive Aid Package to (CAP) to Ukraine.
Russia recently leaked a French map showing how Europe seeks to divide Ukraine; Poland to get Western Ukraine, so would Romania-Hungary, while the rest of Ukraine would be occupied by a 50,000 strong European force (security guarantors/occupational forces) to extract Rare Earth Elements (REEs) of which the US is also a part. This Western plan is no different from the Sykes–Picot Agreement of 1916 to dismember the Ottoman Empire, as well as dividing the original Koreas, India and Germany; to destabilize these regions/countries although Germany later unification after 41 years.
The above US-NATO plan for Ukraine is to enhance the existential threat to Russia forever; NATO having expanded over the years despite US assurances it would not when the Soviet Union broke up, plus Finland and Sweden made NATO members in 2023-2024.
Trump doesn’t want a ceasefire in Gaza or Ukraine although the White House says, “President Trump and his national security team continue to engage with Russian and Ukrainian officials towards a bilateral meeting to stop the killing and end the war. As many world leaders have stated, this war would have never happened if President Trump was in office (sic). It is not in the national interest to further negotiate these issues publicly.” That’s why Russia-Ukraine ceasefire negotiations are stalled and Zelensky is strutting around confidently despite more than 1.7 million Ukrainians have been killed/missing since 2022 to August 2025 and massive material losses, including 666 aircraft, 283 helicopters, 80,367 UAVs, 625 AD missile systems, 24,856 tanks and AFVs, 1,588 MLRS, 29,041 artillery guns/ mortars, and 40,622 military vehicles.
Trump has renamed the US Department of Defence as the ‘War Department’ (as it was called during 1789-1949) and War Secretary Pete Hegseth says, “We’re going to go on offence, not just on defence. Maximum lethality, not tepid legality. Violent effect, not politically correct. We’re going to raise up warriors, not just defenders.” This is being viewed in response to China’s Victory Day Parade of September 3, 2025, which had somewhat rattled Washington.
In October 2012, George Friedman wrote in Stratfor: “A new foreign doctrine is emerging in which the US doesn’t take primary responsibility for events, but which allows regional crises to play out until a new regional balance is reached. The US has entered a period in which it must move from military domination to more subtle manipulation, and more importantly, allow events to take their course. This is a maturation of US foreign policy, not degradation. Does not mean the US will disengage from world affairs. It controls the world’s oceans and generates almost a quarter of the world’s GDP. While disengagement is impossible, controlled engagement, based on a realistic understanding of the national interest, is possible. This will upset the international system, especially US allies. ……But constraints of the past decade weigh heavily on the US and will change the way the world works. No one decided on this new doctrine. It is emerging from the reality the United States faces. That is how powerful doctrines emerge. They manifest themselves first and are announced when everyone realizes that that is how things work.”
Currently, a draft 80-page National Defence Strategy (NDS) 2025, circulating in Pentagon and the US strategic community, advocates the US dialling down global commitments to prioritise homeland defence and primacy in the Western Hemisphere; abdicating responsibility to European and Asian allies and partners, and ceding ground to Russia and China in their spheres of influence. That’s why Trump is unlikely to attend the Quad Summit in India? The final NDS 2025 may be announced in the coming weeks, but it essentially would be what the US is already doing – continuing warmongering to advance US national interests without committing own troops, to draw strategic and economic advantage; case in point being using Ukraine as the proxy to fight Russia while keeping America safe. The same pattern would be followed in the Indo-Pacific, Middle East and elsewhere
The author is an Indian Army veteran. Views expressed are personal.
