DISINFO: Trump wants to end the war in Ukraine on Russia's terms
SUMMARY
Donald Trump pledged he would waste no time quickly implementing executive actions on his first day in office. Among the top priorities of his to-do-list are getting on the phone to Vladimir Putin fast, and withdraw funding for Ukraine. “I will end the war in Ukraine […] and I will prevent World War III from happening,” Trump told D.C. victory rally.
RESPONSE
This is a distortion of actual events, aiming to promote the idea that US president Donald Trump will immediately force an end to the war in terms that favour Russia, something that is far from certain.
While it is true that Trump ordered his aides to arrange a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the days after he’s sworn in, it is unclear that Ukraine is among the top priorities of his administration, as he did not mention it at all in his inaugural speech.
Trump’s promises regarding Ukraine referenced in this disinformation story were expressed on 25 September 2024, and some evidence suggests he may have modified his stance on this question since. One week before inauguration day, Trump’s advisers admitted that a peace deal in Ukraine will require some time. And on January 21 2025, Donald Trump stated that Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is willing to make a deal and Putin should reach an agreement with him as otherwise he is “destroying Russia”, a formulation that suggests that, as some experts speculated before, his approach may be not as favourable to Russia as the Kremlin hoped for.
The ultimate goal of this disinformation story is to promote the idea that all the elements of the situation benefit Russia and its war of aggression in Ukraine, and that its victory is ultimately inevitable. Through this projection, pro-Kremlin disinformation aims to create an impression of strength ahead of likely peace negotiations with Ukraine.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that Zelenskyy’s desperation grows as Trump’s inauguration gets closer, that Trump's peace promise in Ukraine clashes with Europe's warmongering politicians, that the West is trying to generate troubles around Russia before Trump's return, or that Trump was shot because he wants talks with Putin on Ukraine.