Moscow reacted with delight when President Trump clashed with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, at their Oval Office meeting last month. Trump followed up with a warning on his Truth Social platform that “Zelensky disrespected the United States … [and] can come back when he is ready for Peace.”

Two days later, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that the new U.S. administration “is rapidly changing all foreign policy configurations. This largely coincides with our vision.”

Vladimir Putin could not have been happier with the meeting’s tumultuous outcome. The administration seemingly upended Washington’s decades-long support of Kyiv, which it had increased and accelerated after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Moreover, Putin also appeared to have achieved his long-held objective of splitting America from its European allies — who, unlike Trump, were not prepared to jettison their support for the beleaguered Ukrainians.

But Putin and his underlings may have started celebrating too soon.

Shortly after the Oval Office confrontation, Trump ordered a cutoff of all military and intelligence aid to Kyiv. Russia took advantage of the situation by launching a massive attack on Ukrainian oil and gas targets that left 20 civilians dead and scores more wounded. Though Trump stated that he could “understand” why Putin would take advantage of the American-Ukrainian rift, he also........

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