Peace, profit or Putin? What’s behind Trump’s Russia-friendly policy

US President Donald Trump with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin (File Image/AP)

Since Donald Trump took up the presidency, America’s policy towards the war between Russia and Ukraine has changed. Who would have thought that after three years of steadfastly supporting Ukraine, the US would turn its back on Kyiv in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution and the United Nations Security Council?
The US has twice voted with Russia in United Nations votes to commemorate the third anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
First, the Trump administration voted against a European-penned resolution condemning Moscow’s actions and backing Ukraine’s territorial integrity, joining Russia and nations such as North Korea and Belarus at the UNGA in New York.

Then the US came up with and voted on a resolution in the UN Security Council calling for a halt to the war, but without any condemnation of Russia.
Since the Russia-Ukraine war broke out in February 2022, the US has been a strong critic of Moscow for its invasion move, but Trump seems to see the picture differently.
Between 2022 and early 2023, the United States consistently supported United Nations resolutions condemning Russia’s actions in Ukraine. On March 3, 2022, the US joined 140 other countries in backing a resolution that condemned Russia’s military operation in Ukraine and rejected territorial acquisition by force.

Later, on March 24, the US again voted with 139 countries to reaffirm Ukraine’s sovereignty and demand Russian troop withdrawal.
In April 2022, the US supported suspending Russia from the UN Human Rights Council, a resolution that passed with 93 votes.
In October 2022, Washington supported a resolution condemning Russia’s annexation of Ukrainian territory, which passed with 143 votes. The following month, the US backed another resolution, passed 94–14, urging Russia to pay reparations and cease its use of force.
On February 23, 2023, the US voted in favour of a resolution that passed 141–7, again declaring territorial acquisition by force illegal and calling for Russian withdrawal.
Only one resolution related to Russia’s war on Ukraine passed in the UN Security Council: a February 27, 2022, call for an emergency special session of the General Assembly.
A US-co-sponsored resolution in October 2022 condemning illegal referendums failed due to a Russian veto.

Shift in US-Russia ties under Trump

But since Trump’s return to office, not only did the US side with Russia on the international stage, but also during the shock reciprocal tariff move.
The US president unveiled sweeping tariffs, applying a minimum 10% charge to almost all countries around the globe, with higher rates as well, targeting around 60 nations — except Russia.

In response to questions, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Russia was excluded because there were already US sanctions that “preclude any meaningful trade”.
When Trump returned to the White House in January, his trajectory was clear, embarking on repairing relations with Russia. There were Trump/Putin phone calls, high-level US-Russia negotiations.
Whenever the Trump administration exerted pressure, it was always on Kyiv, never on the Kremlin — as was clearly evident when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the White House.

Is the US siding with Russia to help end the Ukraine war?

When the US sided with Russia at the international organisation, deputy ambassador to the UN, Dorothy Shea emphasised that the war has persisted “for far too long”, causing immense suffering for both Ukraine and Russia.
She stressed the urgent need for a new approach, stating that what’s required now is a resolution that reflects a collective commitment from all UN member states to achieve a lasting end to the war.
According to Shea, such a resolution would serve as a crucial first step towards a path to peace. And one thing we cannot deny is that Trump has actually brought Russia and Ukraine to the table for a ceasefire.

Although the deal didn’t go well, we can’t say that Trump has not tried.

Rajan Kumar, an associate professor at the Centre for Russian and Central Asian Studies, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, told TimesofIndia.com that the US and Russia are working on the possibility of a ceasefire before negotiations on territories can begin.
“In my view, both the US and Russia are keen to resolve the conflict. However, there are several difficulties in negotiations. The first and foremost is that Russia wants an assurance from NATO that it will neither offer membership to Ukraine, nor will it send its army or supplies there. The US cannot take a unilateral decision that NATO will stop supplying weapons and information to Ukraine. Europe is also an important stakeholder, and it may continue supporting Ukraine despite US negotiations with Russia. Second, Russia wants to retain all the territories that it has occupied in Ukraine. For Ukrainian leadership, it would be difficult to accept that position without any reciprocal security guarantee from NATO. Therefore, it is going to be a difficult and long-term negotiation. At the moment, the two sides are working on a possibility of a ceasefire before negotiations on territories can begin,” said Kumar.

Will US’ changed stance also influence its key allies?

Now that the US has turned its back, it’s important to understand whether other allies are also being influenced, because we can’t forget that America is one of the most powerful and influential countries.
“The US is the most important member of NATO. Therefore, whatever the US decides will certainly impact its European allies. But not all the European countries may follow the instructions of President Trump. For instance, the UK, France, and some other countries are willing to send peacekeeping forces to Ukraine. Europe follows the American lead, but it also pursues its independent agenda. Therefore, negotiations are going to be difficult and protracted,” said Kumar.

Could Trump’s siding with Russia have a business motive?

We all know that Trump, before becoming the president, was a businessman. So it is very natural for people to assume that he might be siding with Russia for a business purpose.
According to a report by Forbes, Trump is seeking enhanced trade relations with Russia while implementing tariffs to limit trade with other nations.
Notably, the United States has historically maintained a substantial trade deficit with Russia, Trump’s preferred trading partner.
Following a telephone discussion between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin on March 18, 2025, the White House announced: “The two leaders agreed that a future with an improved bilateral relationship between the United States and Russia has huge upside. This includes enormous economic deals and geopolitical stability when peace has been achieved.”

Trump frequently discusses potential trade arrangements with Russia and contemplates easing sanctions, despite Russia’s continuing Ukrainian invasion and UN-documented human rights violations, including civilian targeting and the kidnapping of approximately 20,000 Ukrainian children.
Trump wants normalisation of relations because of geopolitical and domestic factors and not because of business purposes, Rajan Kumar said.
“Russia cannot be a substitute for the EU for the US. The US has a goods trade of roughly $975 billion with the EU. The EU is the biggest trading partner of the US. Even with the normalisation of relations between the US and Russia, the trade between the two cannot reach even a quarter of that number. Therefore, trade with Russia is not the main motive of Trump. He wants normalisation of relations because of geopolitical and domestic factors,” said Kumar.