Expert observers are calling it an end of an era: By all appearances, the US, at least under the administration of President Donald Trump, has turned its back on Ukraine — and possibly the rest of Europe.

After having sidelined European partners last week in a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on conditions to end the war in Ukraine, and alienating partners at the recent Munich Security Conference, on Wednesday, Trump fired off a social media post slamming his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a "dictator" for postponing elections and blaming his country for Russia's war of aggression.

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Kyiv's allies were quick to point out that the ongoing Russian invasion made nation-wide polling, set for April 2024, impracticable, while Zelenskyy himself retorted that Trump had absorbed Russian disinformation.

But the spat is about more than harsh words. Three years into the full-scale invasion, Trump is pushing Zelenskyy to end the war on terms that Kyiv had long rejected as unacceptable. While little of Trump's agreements with Putin are known, it appears that Ukraine would be expected to concede territory currently occupied by Russia, and remain outside of the NATO military alliance.

The US president also demanded Ukraine hand over billions worth of critical raw material in exchange for........

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