This is a Ukrainian news site.
Oct 19, 2026
US President Donald Trump’s actions toward Ukraine risk undermining not only his own political future but also the standing of the entire Republican Party. In the November 3 midterm elections, Democrats could gain control of both chambers of Congress, potentially triggering a major domestic political confrontation in the United States, according to a Ukrainian diplomat.
Ukrainian politician and diplomat Roman Bezsmertnyi made these remarks in an interview with Telegraf published on October 19.
Bezsmertnyi believes Trump is attempting to use Ukraine to resolve his own political problems ahead of the elections. The diplomat views Washington’s pressure on Kyiv, including restrictions on Starlink and disruptions in intelligence sharing, in this context.
“Everything Trump is doing is an attempt to save himself from catastrophe. That is why all his actions revolve around this issue. And he is trying to turn Ukraine into an object that will save him in this situation,” Bezsmertnyi stressed.
At the same time, the diplomat believes the American president is making a strategic mistake by treating Ukraine merely as a bargaining chip. According to him, constructive dialogue with Kyiv could help Republicans ahead of the elections.
Bezsmertnyi predicts that Democrats could secure majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, while also winning gubernatorial races in several states. In his view, this would create the conditions for a serious confrontation between the president and Congress.
“Trump’s defeat will undoubtedly lead to the defeat of the Republican Party. This is already obvious and clear,” the diplomat stated.
He also pointed to the increasingly critical stance of European leaders toward White House policies. In his assessment, even Trump’s traditional ideological allies, including German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, are openly expressing disagreement with his actions.
Bezsmertnyi also commented on the escalating rhetoric between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump. He believes the Ukrainian president should avoid emotional judgments and personal attacks, instead focusing on a clear diplomatic position and maintaining institutional contacts with Congress and US government agencies.
The diplomat further suggested that Trump’s negative statements about Ukraine could increasingly damage the American president himself, particularly amid criticism of his foreign policy from European allies.
Speaking about relations between Washington and Moscow, Bezsmertnyi suggested that Putin is trying to entice Trump with economic benefits in exchange for concessions on Ukraine.
According to the diplomat, these could include Russian Lukoil assets, gas projects, and potential agreements on energy supplies to Europe. He believes the Kremlin is exploiting the American president’s economic interests to advance its own political objectives.
Bezsmertnyi also criticized proposals involving the possible return of Russian energy resources to the European market. In his view, such plans fail to account for the European Union’s policy of restricting trade with Russia.
The diplomat devoted particular attention to China and a possible meeting between Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, and Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.
In his view, Putin might see such a meeting as an opportunity to negotiate a new division of spheres of influence, a kind of “new Yalta.” However, Bezsmertnyi is convinced that such a scenario is impossible because the modern world cannot simply be divided through an agreement among three leaders.
At the same time, the diplomat believes China benefits from Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and tensions between major powers. According to him, Xi Jinping is watching the confrontation without rushing to intervene, as the weakening of other geopolitical players could serve Beijing’s interests.
“Russian aggression benefits him, and Trump’s idiotic moves benefit him even more. Xi Jinping is sitting on the banks of the Yellow River, watching and waiting for one to be swept away, then another, and he is happy about it,” Bezsmertnyi stated.
However, the diplomat emphasized that China is interested in preserving the European market, which is enormously important to its economy. For this reason, he believes Ukraine remains a significant element of China’s strategy toward Europe.
Bezsmertnyi argues that Beijing has viewed Ukraine for many years as a promising transportation and economic hub connecting Asia and Europe. China has been interested in Ukraine’s transport infrastructure, agricultural land, skilled workforce, and advanced technologies.
According to the diplomat, China has also shown interest in Ukrainian aviation technologies and the possibility of establishing a major international air transit hub. He additionally mentioned Beijing’s interest in approximately 11 million hectares of Ukrainian agricultural land.
However, Bezsmertnyi believes China’s decision to rely on cooperation with Putin has become a strategic mistake.
“They placed their bets on Putin, thinking that Putin would provide all of this for them. That will never happen!” the diplomat stated.
Bezsmertnyi also rejected the widespread view that China fully controls Russia because of Moscow’s economic dependence on Beijing.
He acknowledged that Chinese companies are actively strengthening their positions in Russia’s Far East but warned against exaggerating Xi Jinping’s influence over the Russian president.
According to Bezsmertnyi, Putin could effectively hand over Russia’s Far Eastern territories to China because he has little interest in those lands. However, even that would not guarantee Beijing long-term control over them.
“Putin would gladly give the Far Eastern lands to the Chinese. He has no interest in them. But Putin plays by no rules. Today he allows it, and tomorrow he will push them out without giving a thought to owing anyone anything,” the diplomat emphasized.
According to him, China’s leadership is mistaken in believing it can use economic leverage to force the Kremlin to act in Beijing’s interests.
Bezsmertnyi believes Putin could change the rules of the game at any moment, even if doing so contradicts China’s interests. That is why he disagrees with analysts who argue that China already dominates Russia.
In conclusion, the diplomat stated that Trump’s current policies threaten not only his own political standing but also the future of American conservatives.
“Trump is simply destroying himself. And so be it, that is no loss for the United States. But he is killing the Republican Party. That is the real problem,” Bezsmertnyi stated.
There is a stunning OpEd in today’s DT :
If Trump were a Russian asset, would we spot the difference?
The president’s hostility towards Ukraine is matched only by his apparent favourable treatment of Putin’s Russia
By Jake Wallis Simons
Full article here :
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/10/20/if-trump-were-a-russian-asset-would-we-spot-the-difference/
Extracts only :
“We cannot allow ourselves to forget the orchestrated humiliation of Zelensky in the Oval Office last year – one of the nadirs of American presidential history – after which Trump suspended military aid and intelligence-sharing with Kyiv.”
“Writing on Truth Social, the president made the wicked allegation that the Ukrainian leader was prolonging the war for financial gain. “Zelensky doesn’t care, and frankly, with all of the money that Europe is famously giving him… he doesn’t want to end this war, and probably never did,” he ranted.”
“Trump has long had deep interests in Russia. As long ago as 2008, his son, Donald Jr, told a property conference: “Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of our assets. We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia.”
“Well into the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen, was pursuing a Trump Tower in Moscow. This was a project about which he later lied to Congress.”
“Let’s not forget too that Trump’s campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, worked for pro-Kremlin Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych and shared internal polling data with Konstantin Kilimnik, who was later described as a “former Russian intelligence officer” by a bipartisan Senate committee.”
“In my view, it is not so much a handler dictating lines from in a Moscow basement, but something more straightforward: a toxic cocktail of vanity, venality, admiration for strongmen, contempt for allies and a transactional world-view in which the crown jewels of democracy are personal bargaining chips, whatever the blood-cost to Kyiv.”
“I should add: if Trump were a Russian asset, would he really make it this obvious?”
DT commenters :
Hans Axelsson
Donald Trump is fully aware of the russian terror bombing of Ukraine civilians and civilian infrastructure. He also knows Putin started the illegal war. Yet, he stops intelligence on incoming russian balistic missiles, insults Ukraine and is soft on Putin.
Donald Trump is allied to Russia and Europe must speak out on this.
George Smith
From the moment I watched an American soldier on his knees, rolling out a red carpet in Alaska, for Putin – the enormity of that symbolism hit me. Putin is a murderous dictator, whose army attacks children and women with lustful impunity. SInce then, Trump has done little to assuage my fears – quite the opposite. To my mind, he is clearly an asset – he get’s summoned to meetings and handled. The USA should hang its head in shame over it treatment of its allies. Remember 911? WW2? WW1? Europeans died for freedom – yours.
Alistair Mackay
‘A toxic cocktail of vanity, venality, admiration for strongmen, contempt for allies and a transactional world-view in which the crown jewels of democracy are personal bargaining chips, whatever the blood-cost to Kyiv.
How has a man with these characteristics ever manage to get elected to the most powerful office on the planet?
My reply :
That is undoubtedly true.
However, Trump had a lot of help from Kremlin-friendly media such as Brietbart, Gateway Pundit, Infowars, X, Newsmax and unfortunately Fox, especially when Carlson was still there.
A random User
“I should add: if Trump were a Russian asset, would he really make it this obvious?”
Maybe. Someone got all the AI models to assess Trump’s IQ, and the answers were between 85 and 105. So he is not very clever.
High charisma, over confidence, and low intelligence can be a dangerous mix.
John Parkin
Putin invades Ukraine. Putin slaughters tens of thousands, commits war crimes, set aside every aspect of International law and continues to bomb people out of their homes and trying to freeze them to death. Trump thinks this is all caused by Zelensky. I do not think Trump is a Russian asset, but I certainly think he behaves exactly like one and all of this demeans his high Office and the United States. It is truly sickening to watch.
Billy Bones
Let’s look at it this way, Trumps rhetoric towards Ukraine is a carbon copy of the Kremlins and completely illogical to anyone other than Russia. He parrots the same disinformation, the same debunked slurs. How can he be anything other than a Russian asset?
Carpe Jugulum
The Russian armed forces are atrocity addicted murdering filth. Far better we equip Ukraine to slaughter them en masse than allow them to subjugate Ukraine and arrive on our borders.
As to America, Trump the Filth no longer represents them. He is pursuing money, not American interests.
Trump: “Russia, frankly, has been fine on Ukraine. They haven’t been doing much.”
While he was saying this, a 21 year old woman was murdered by putinaZi savages and (separately) a baby was murdered in his pram.
It’s hard to loathe this depraved creature more, but defacto complicity with the murder of a 21 year old woman and a baby in a pram is achieving the impossible. Trump, known in the Kremlin for decades as Krasnov, must be dealt with within the law. There must surely be something in the existing framework that allows for his arrest and that of his accomplices in mass murder? His crimes are way beyond impeachment level now, but I guess impeachment is a start.
The Steele Dossier :
Click to access steele-dossier-trump.pdf
“Everything Trump is doing is an attempt to save himself from catastrophe. That is why all his actions revolve around this issue. And he is trying to turn Ukraine into an object that will save him in this situation,” Bezsmertnyi stressed.”
Yes, that’s about the size of it.
“Bezsmertnyi argues that Beijing has viewed Ukraine for many years as a promising transportation and economic hub connecting Asia and Europe. China has been interested in Ukraine’s transport infrastructure, agricultural land, skilled workforce, and advanced technologies.”
Surprisingly, for what it’s worth, the chicoms have never recognized Krym as belonging to putlerstan.
OPINION: How to Handle a Pro-Russian US President
Kyiv Post
In brief: Europe tried flattery and accommodation with Trump. It didn’t work. Leaders must now be willing to push back against the US president. And fast, otherwise the new Washington-Moscow alliance will thoroughly undermine NATO and the EU.
Anders Aslund
By Anders Aslund
Oct. 19, 2026
https://www.kyivpost.com/opinion/87471