Trump seeks Ukraine peace to weaken Russia–China alliance — Politico
Photo: Donald Trump (Getty Images)
The Trump administration will continue to engage with Russia in an effort to achieve peace in Ukraine, as this is driven by a longer-term strategic goal: countering China, according to Politico.
Trump’s team believes that encouraging Russia to end the war against Ukraine, its economic recovery, and the influx of American investment—all of this could ultimately shift the global order away from China.
This risky move worries the Ukrainian side, but it underscores the administration’s conviction that the greatest geopolitical threat to the US and the West is China, not Putin’s Russia.
While countering China is not the only reason the administration is seeking a ceasefire, it helps explain why, after more than 15 months of fruitless negotiations and numerous threats to walk away, Trump’s special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner continue to seek a breakthrough.
What sources say
A Trump administration official told Politico that the current search for a "way to align closer with Russia" could create "a different power balance with China that could be very, very beneficial."
The agency notes that there had been no previous reports of the Trump team’s desire to use the peace track regarding Ukraine to counter China.
However, many observers believe this plan has little chance of success, at least as long as Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping remain in power.
Meanwhile, the idea of offering Russia economic incentives to improve relations with the US is already causing concern in Ukraine, as a Ukrainian official notes.
"We had such attempts in the past already and it led to nothing. Germany had [Ostpolitik, Germany’s policy toward the East], for that and now Russia is fighting the deadliest war in Europe," the sources say.
As for hopes that China and Russia will collapse, a Ukrainian official noted that both countries "have one [thing] in common which you can not beat – they hate the US as a symbol of democracy."
Politico also touches on the economic aspect of China. According to Reuters, Iran supplied China with over 13% of its oil in 2025, but the US and Israeli operation against Tehran altered Beijing’s oil import potential.
A Trump administration official confirms that China had been purchasing oil from Venezuela, Iran, and Russia at below-market prices, subsidizing consumption "to the tune of over $100 billion a year for the last several years."
"So that’s been a massive subsidy for China by being able to buy oil from these places on the black market, sometimes $30 a barrel lower than what the spot market is," the source explains.
Peace efforts on the verge of collapse
In early March, the fourth round of trilateral talks between Ukraine, the US, and Russia on reaching a peace agreement was scheduled to take place. However, the meeting was derailed by the US and Israeli operation against Iran.
Currently, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is calling for the resumption of talks and for a specific date and location to be set. At the same time, he expressed concern that the Trump administration is now more focused on Iran than on the Ukrainian issue.
Recently, the Financial Times also reported that US-mediated peace talks had collapsed because Trump had lost interest in the negotiation track due to the war with Iran.
However, the US leader occasionally comments on Ukraine while criticizing Kyiv. Just a few days ago, he said that Putin was ready for a deal, but Zelenskyy was not, and this surprised him.
