When US President Donald Trump declared after meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the UN General Assembly that a “total return of land lost to Russia” was possible, much of the West briefly exhaled. After years of stalemate, mounting war fatigue, and skepticism about Washington’s wavering role, this sounded-at least superficially-like a renewed American commitment. But beneath the rhetoric lay the same contradictions and uncertainties that have plagued the Western approach to Ukraine since the war began.

Trump’s declaration, made through a social media post, was quickly seized upon by Moscow. Russian officials suggested he was parroting Zelensky’s words, casting Trump as being manipulated by Kyiv. For Russia, this narrative serves to downplay the possibility of any meaningful US involvement while painting Ukraine as a beggar state bending Western leaders to its will. But the more significant issue was that Trump immediately shifted the burden away from Washington. Europe and NATO, he insisted, should carry the responsibility for turning this lofty vision into reality.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk was the lone voice among European leaders who dared to puncture the balloon of euphoria. “Better truth than illusions,” he warned. His words carried weight: Trump’s comments, far from signaling a change in US foreign policy, were empty gestures meant to buy time, fend off critics, and perhaps even burnish his image as a potential Nobel Peace Prize candidate. A genuine commitment to Ukraine would require Washington to reorient its entire foreign policy strategy-a reconfiguration that is highly unlikely under the Trump administration.

This is precisely why the West must recognize........

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