Putin turning Trump against Ukraine since 2017 – NYT

This is reported by The New York Times, according to Ukrinform.

According to NYT journalists, during the first phone conversation between Trump and Putin on January 28, 2017, Trump was the first to raise the issue of Ukraine, asking Putin to share his thoughts about the country. A former U.S. official who was directly aware of what happened during the conversation stated that the Russian president talked about corruption in Ukraine, while Trump “was guarded in his response, neither agreeing with Mr. Putin nor defending Ukraine,” but acknowledged that Russia's conflict with Ukraine was an obstacle to his goal of improving relations with Moscow.

Later, during a meeting between Trump and Putin in Hamburg on July 7, 2017, Putin again told Trump that Ukraine was a “corrupt, fabricated country.” He insisted that Russia had “every right to exert its influence” over Ukraine. When Trump told Putin that his administration was considering providing weapons to Ukraine, Putin replied that it would be a “mistake.” According to him, whatever America gave to the Ukrainians, they would ask for more.

Journalists write that that meeting became an opportunity for Putin to achieve his own goal – to weaken American support for Kyiv and increase Trump’s political animosity towards Ukraine.

“Then, during their initial contacts, Mr. Putin worked to cement in Mr. Trump’s head the idea that Ukraine was less a feisty young democracy eager for deeper ties to the West than an unruly Russian-speaking neighbor run by shadowy oligarchs and corrupt officials who had sought to help elect Hillary Clinton,” the publication states.

Another incident that influenced Trump’s views, the journalists note, was the hacking of emails from Trump’s opponent, Hillary Clinton, by Russian government hackers. In an investigation conducted by the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee in 2019, Trump’s campaign chairman Paul Manafort and other officials began promoting the theory that the hack was carried out by Ukraine rather than Russia. Putin fueled the fire by publicly stating that Ukraine attempted to help Clinton during the 2016 presidential election.

A darker portrait of Ukraine began to emerge within Trump’s circle – a country filled with political enemies of Trump, the journalists write.

“That animus toward Ukraine remains front and center in the final weeks of the 2024 campaign. Mr. Trump has left unclear whether, if elected, he would cut off or reduce American military and diplomatic support for Ukraine as it battles the Russian invasion, at a time when he has pushed the Republican Party toward his vision of a less interventionist foreign policy open to dealing with authoritarian leaders like Mr. Putin,” the publication summarizes.

As Ukrinform reported, according to former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Donald Trump would not allow Ukraine to lose if he wins the election in November.