Ukraine

Alternet -   Trump has openly expressed his admiration of Russian President Vladimir Putin on many occasions. When he returned to office, Trump initiated a sharp break from the policies of his predecessor Joe Biden. The U.S. now sends less military aid to Ukraine, although U.S.-made arms continue to flow to the country thanks to European funding. A promised US$400 million military aid package has not yet been released.

Trump famously chastised Zelenskyy in a 2025 Oval Office meeting and has pressured the Ukrainian president to give up land to satisfy Putin’s territorial desire for all of the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.

Yet Washington continues to provide Ukraine with intelligence, which is used by Kyiv for targeting its middle- and long-range drone strikes inside Russia. Washington also still enforces significant sanctions against Russia, including Moscow’s oil exports, although it has granted specific waivers of late.

To understand what Ukrainians make of all this, we asked them a direct question about Trump: Is he a friend or an enemy of their country, or a bit of both?

The results showed that only 17% of Ukrainians surveyed consider Trump a friend. More than double that consider him an enemy of Ukraine. Almost a quarter say he’s a bit of both, with a similar percentage responding “don’t know.”