‘Sometimes, you have to let them fight’: Without a peace prize in it for him, Trump is letting Ukraine fend for itself

President Donald Trump is taking a hands-off, almost detached approach to the ongoing war in Ukraine after his recent meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, suggesting “sometimes, you have to let them fight” to bring the conflict to a close. Trump made the comment to journalists on Air Force One, offering a blunt perspective on the path to peace following his discussions with Xi on the Russia-Ukraine situation.

While the meeting between the two global leaders was supposed to be a step towards a real resolution, Trump’s full quote gives you a much clearer picture of what he actually took away from the discussion. Trump told reporters that he and Xi talked about the war “for a long time”. The President went on to say, “We agreed the sides are locked in, and they are fighting and sometimes, you have to let them fight, I guess … crazy.”

Trump then added that Xi “is going to help us and we’re going to work together on Ukraine,” per Politico. It’s a mix of a startlingly simple, almost cynical assessment of the conflict and a vague promise of future cooperation, which, to be fair, is pretty on-brand. He couldn’t get Putin to listen, so he’s giving up.

Trump leaves Ukraine for the wolf

The part that really feels like a punch to the gut for Ukraine, though, is the apparent dismissal of a key path to peace that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had specifically hoped the meeting would open up. Earlier in the week, Zelenskyy publicly stated that he saw Trump’s sit-down with Xi as a potential “next step toward ending the war in Ukraine”. The Ukrainian leader was specifically hoping that the U.S. sanctions might encourage China to “reduce [Russian oil] imports,” noting they had already received “signals from India that it will reduce imports of energy resources from Russia”.

It’s a pragmatic approach that targets Russia’s main revenue stream, something that would be night and day for the war effort. On the other hand, Trump quickly poured cold water on the idea that oil imports were even on the table. When asked about China’s energy purchases, Trump acknowledged that Xi “has been buying oil from Russia for a long time, and it takes care of a big part of China.”

Trump said, “But with him we did not discuss the oil. We discussed working together to get this war finished.” This means the one practical, financial lever that Ukraine was hoping would be pulled was completely ignored during the discussion. Trump’s reason for the omission was also interesting, stating, “It does not affect China; it does not affect us. But I don’t like to see thousands of young men killed”.

While the sentiment about not liking the death toll is there, the focus remains purely on American and Chinese national interests, leaving Ukraine’s immediate needs out of the spotlight. Hanna Shelest, director of Security Programmes at Foreign Policy Council “Ukrainian Prism,” pointed out that Trump’s comments are especially significant because they’ve “clearly demonstrated that China considers Russia as a minor partner”.

Shelest suggests that China is essentially ready to talk about Russia not as a strategic partner or an ally, but “just as just a country, a small business”. That kind of descriptive language tells you everything you need to know about the power dynamic here.