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He approved anti-tank missile sales to Ukraine in 2019. That same year, Trump withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty , an agreement with Russia that limited what weapons each country could purchase, over Russian violations.

In 2019, Trump also issued economic sanctions against a Russian ship involved in building the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. These sanctions tried to block Russia's direct gas exports to Germany – this connection between Russia and Germany was seen by Ukraine as an economic threat.

Based on Trump's talks with Russia and remarks against Ukraine, it could seem like the US and Russia are no longer adversaries. How do you perceive this?

There are no clear indications that Russia and the US have ceased to be adversaries. Despite Trump's occasional use of terms like“friends” in diplomacy, his rhetoric often serves as a tactical maneuver rather than a genuine shift in alliances. A key example is his engagement with North Korea's Kim Jong Un , where Trump alternated between flattery and threats to extract concessions.

Even if the US is meeting with Russia and the public narrative seems to say otherwise, strategically, abandoning Ukraine is not in the United States' best interests. One reason why is because the US turning away from Ukraine would make Russia happy and China happy . Trump has treated China as a primary threat to the US, and China has supported Putin's invasion of Ukraine.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is also still saying that everyone, including Ukraine, will be at the table for eventual peace talks.

The allegations that Russia was holding some information over Trump and blackmailing him started long before this presidential term and did not stop Trump from imposing countermeasures on Russia during his first term.

The first Trump administration took more than 50 policy actions to counter Moscow, primarily in the form of public statements and sanctions.

What does the US gain from developing a diplomatic relationship with Russia?

Trump is a transactional politician. American companies could profit from the US aligning with Russia and Russian companies, as some Russian officials have said during the recent Saudi Arabia talks with the Trump administration.

But the US could also benefit economically from the Trump administration's proposed deal with Ukraine to give the US half of Ukraine's estimated US$11.5 trillion in rare earth minerals.

Zelensky rejected that proposal this week, saying it does not come with the promise that the US will continue to give security guarantees to Ukraine.

Historically, since the Cold War, there has been a diplomatic triangle between the Soviet Union – later Russia – China and the US. And there has always been one side fighting against the two other sides. Trump trying to develop a better diplomatic relationship with Russia might mean he is trying to distance Russia from China.

A similar dynamic is playing out between the US and Belarus' authoritarian leader, Alexander Lukashenko, a co-aggressor in the war in Ukraine. Lukashenko is close with both Russia and China.

The US administration is looking to relax sanctions on Belarusian banks and exports of potash, a key ingredient in fertilizer, in exchange for the release of Belarusian political opposition members who are imprisoned .

There are over 1,200 political prisoners in Belarus. This US foreign policy strategy is aimed at providing Lukashenko with room to grow less economically dependent on Russia and China.

A worker clears snow from a cemetery in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, on February 17, 2025. By some estimates, more than 46,000 Ukrainian soldiers have died in combat since Russia launched an invasion in February 2022. Photo: Pierre Crom / Getty Images / The Conversation

Is this level of collaboration between the US and Russia unprecedented?

While US-Russia relations are often defined by rivalry, history shows that pragmatic cooperation has occurred when both nations saw mutual benefits – whether this relates to arms control, space, counterterrorism, Arctic affairs or health.