‘It’s Hell Out Here’: Ukrainian soldiers on the frontline react to Trump’s Ukraine comments

25 February 2025, 07:50

The world was still grappling with Donald Trump’s attacks on Europe when he abruptly shifted to targeting Ukraine’s democratically elected president—attempting a mafia-style shakedown of the country while echoing Kremlin talking points.

Echoing Russian propaganda, Trump falsely claimed Ukraine hadn’t held elections in years and that President Volodymyr Zelensky had just a 4% approval rating. “We have a situation where we haven’t had elections in Ukraine, where we have martial law,” he said, calling Zelensky a “dictator” and insisting, “Ukraine needs to hold an election... That’s not a Russia thing. That’s something coming from me.”

His remarks thrilled former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who mocked: “If you had told me three months ago that these were the words of a U.S. president, I would have laughed out loud.” .

A friendly reminder that this is also the same president that Russia attempted to assassinate multiple times since 2022.

In reality, Trump’s claim about Zelensky’s unpopularity is baseless. A Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) poll from early February found that 57% of Ukrainians trust Zelensky, a five-point rise since December.

Another survey showed that 69% believe he should remain in office until elections can be held after martial law ends. Meanwhile, 63% oppose any national vote before the war is over.

Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, stated on Sunday that the U.S. is "very close" to reaching a peace agreement with Russia, based on the Istanbul Protocol, which called for Ukraine's capitulation and the unilateral disarmament of Ukraine.

Witkoff also claimed the war was unnecessary and provoked, refusing to blame Russia. His remarks come after a three-and-a-half-hour meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this month.

Trump’s transactional approach to Ukraine was evident when his administration proposed that Kyiv grant the U.S. a 50% stake in its rare-earth minerals—valued at approximately $500 billion.

Trump demanded that Ukraine sign the deal or else the country will have “a lot of problems.” Zelensky dismissed the proposal as unserious, stating, “I can’t sell our state.”

Under the proposal, all revenues would go into a U.S.-controlled fund until it reached $500 billion—over twice Ukraine’s pre-war GDP. Zelensky called the demand wildly disproportionate to the $120 billion in U.S. aid provided so far.

Trump has been furious, and The Economist noted that his team viewed this as justification to replace Zelensky—a stance reminiscent of his 2019 attempt to strong-arm Ukraine.

Trump favours a more compliant leader in Kyiv, one who would allow him to dictate terms, much like Putin’s own desire to replace Zelensky with a pro-Russian puppet.

Meanwhile, Trump claims he can swiftly end the war by pressuring Ukraine into negotiations, assuming Putin’s demands are limited to land and a neutral Ukraine.

This ignores the reality that Ukraine was already neutral before Russia’s first invasion in 2014. Serhii Plokhy, director of the Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard, refuted this notion: “The idea that this is all about territory and that you have to make a deal, somehow drawing the border in the right place… is based on not understanding what this war is about.

Anatoliy, a commander of a mortar battery unit in Ukraine’s 92nd Separate Assault Brigade, currently engaged in fighting on the Kursk front in Ukrainian-occupied Russia, was blunt: “Honestly, I’m not thinking about politics right now and not reading anything. The bastards keep pushing.”

“Yesterday, a KAB bomb landed about 10 meters from my dugout, three of my guys got wounded. It’s brutal here, getting harder and harder to complete the mission.”

“It’s hell out here,” said Anatoliy.

Hryhoriy, a soldier from the 105th Territorial Defense Brigade currently fighting in Kharkiv Oblast, stated, “A traitor to democracy and all Western values. He [Trump] has turned the victim into the one guilty of the attack. He respects that bastard, sees him as a great strategist, and has decided to divide Ukraine with him.”

“It was expected that this wannabe businessman would propose unfair terms for forcing peace, but this… No words.”

“Our hope remains in Europe and in ourselves,” said Hryhoriy.

Ruslan, a platoon commander in the drone systems battalion of the 23rd Separate Mechanized Brigade, was clear about the resolve among Ukrainian troops amid Trump’s attacks against Ukraine and Zelensky.

“Right now, every soldier I know is determined to fight. Yes, the military supports President Zelensky’s rhetoric. We see exactly what Russia is doing in the occupied territories and are committed to resisting it.”

He highlighted Ukraine’s past security assurances: “The United States was one of the guarantors when Ukraine gave up one of the largest nuclear arsenals in Europe. Now, another supposed guarantor has attacked Ukraine, is destroying cities, and killing Ukrainian citizens—yet the newly elected U.S. president has chosen to justify the aggressor’s actions.”

Instead of holding Russia accountable, “he blames his predecessor and Ukraine’s legitimately elected president for allowing the war to happen while negotiating with terrorists behind Ukraine’s back,” Ruslan said.

He posed a final, pointed question: “What exactly has Russia promised President Trump in exchange for him sitting down at the negotiating table?”

________________

David Kirichenko is an Associate Research Fellow at the Henry Jackson Society and has just returned from the frontlines in Ukraine.

LBC Opinion provides a platform for diverse opinions on current affairs and matters of public interest.

The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official LBC position.

To contact us email views@lbc.co.uk