Trump seeks Ukraine-Russia peace deal to counter China – Politico
U.S. President Donald Trump's administration believes that incentivizing Russia to end the war in Ukraine, welcoming it back economically and showering it with U.S. investments, could eventually shift the global order away from China.
That is according to Politico, Ukrinform reports.
It is a gamble, but it underscores the administration's belief that the biggest geopolitical threat facing the United States and the West is China, not Russia, the article reads.
While countering China is not the only reason the administration wants a truce, it does help explain why after more than 15 months of fruitless talks and multiple threats to walk away, the president's team – special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner – keep looking for a breakthrough., according to Politico.
A Trump administration official, granted anonymity to discuss ongoing negotiations, said finding a "way to align closer with Russia" could create "a different power balance with China that could be very, very beneficial.
At the same time, many observers believe this plan has little hope of succeeding – at least while Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping remain in charge. And the idea of giving Russia economic incentives to grow closer to the U.S. is concerning for Ukraine, said a Ukrainian official.
"We had such attempts in the past already and it led to nothing," they said. "Germany had [Ostpolitik, Germany's policy toward the East], for that and now Russia is fighting the deadliest war in Europe."
And when it comes to banking on breaking apart China and Russia, the Ukrainian official noted that both countries "have one [thing] in common which you can not beat – they hate the U.S. as a symbol of democracy."
The article also notes that striking Iran shifted China's oil import potential, as Tehran supplied Beijing with more than 13 percent of its oil in 2025, according to Reuters. Indeed, the Trump administration official noted that between Venezuela, Iran and Russia, China was buying oil at below-market rates, subsidizing its 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," an unnamed Politico source said.
As reported earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the return of Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky to the negotiation process demonstrated Russia's true attitude toward peace efforts.
Photo: The White House