If Trump’s America is a hostile, ignorant and incompetent broker, does it make sense for Ukraine to take part in the ongoing charade known as ceasefire negotiations?

That’s the question Ukrainians are increasingly asking themselves — and with good reason.

Trump and his colleagues clearly favor Russia and happily parrot the Russian narrative about the war. Just as disturbing, the Americans don’t know the basic facts about Ukraine and Russia, even as they insist that they are infallible. And they’re clearly incapable of rising above what Boston University emeritus professor Walter Clemens, in a private communication, aptly called “amateur hour.”

How can the combination of untrammeled Putinophilia, arrogant ignorance and downright incompetence possibly serve Ukraine’s interests? (Or, for that matter, America’s or the world’s?)

Trump’s willingness to bend over backwards for Russia’s illegitimately elected President Vladimir Putin, and unwillingness to treat Ukraine’s legitimately elected President Volodymyr Zelensky as more than a pawn, has been amply documented. If people still have doubts, they should read Trump special envoy Steve Witkoff’s fawning remarks about Russia’s accused war criminal in his recent interview with Tucker Carlson.

Equally alarming is the manifest ignorance about Ukraine and Russia displayed by Trump, Witkoff and other administration insiders. Small wonder that they’ve swallowed the Kremlin’s propaganda hook, line........

© The Hill