On February 24, 2022, Russia invaded the nation of Ukraine with the intent of taking the territory for their own. In the proceeding years, the world rushed to the aid of Ukraine, offering financial and military support to the country. During a large majority of this conflict, Joe Biden was the President of the United States. On January 20, 2025, Donald Trump replaced Biden as president and became the 47th president of the United States. During his campaign, Trump promised to end the war in Ukraine, citing the expense it cost for the American people.
Trump’s actions to end the war began on February 12, when he had a call with Russian president Vladimir Putin to discuss the war. This call sparked controversy, as it actively went against the United Nations attempts to isolate Putin. On the same day, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) denied Ukraine’s membership in the organization.
On February 18, high ranking officials from both Russia and America met in Saudi Arabia to discuss the possibility of the end of the war. The next day, after complaints were made by the Ukrainian government about not being included in the Saudi Arabian talks, Trump posted a tweet calling Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky a “dictator,” saying that he had to “move fast,” or he “won’t have a country left.” This caused tensions to rise to an immense degree between America and Ukraine.
Shortly after these statements were made, America reached out to Ukraine, offering a peace treaty with Russia in exchange for Ukraine’s natural minerals. On February 28, Zelensky travelled to the White house to discuss the treaty. The ensuing debate resulted in a shouting match between Zelensky and Trump. The 18 minute argument ended with Zelensky leaving the white house, and Trump stating on his social media platforms that Zelensky “was not ready for peace.” After this, the U.S government cut off military support to Ukraine. Many nations in Europe recently reached out to Ukraine and offered additional support to help lessen the blow of America’s departure.
This week, U.S and Ukrainian officials met in Saudi Arabia to once again discuss a peace treaty. After extensive debate, the two parties agreed on a 30-day ceasefire with Russia, allowing both parties to recuperate from the four year conflict. Unfortunately, as of the morning of March 13, 2025, Russia denied the ceasefire, with Russian delegate Yuri Ushakov saying the ceasefire was, “nothing other than a temporary time-out for Ukrainian soldiers, nothing more.”
While the end of this conflict still lies far out of reach, the talks of peace, no matter how they go, provide a hope for a resolution just beyond the horizon.
