The Conversation

Trump isn’t as cozy with Putin as often portrayed

For example, Trump provided the Ukrainians with anti-tank missiles after the Obama administration had refused to give them such weapons. Also, in 2018, the U.S. withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, citing the previous violations of the treaty by Russia. In contrast, in 2014, then President Barack Obama accused Russia of breaching the INF treaty after it allegedly tested a ground-launched cruise missile but chose not to withdraw from the treaty.

In 2019, Trump signed the Protecting Europe’s Energy Security Act, which included sanctions halting the construction of the Russian-backed Nord Stream 2 pipeline directly connecting Russia to Germany, via the Baltic Sea. The pipeline, which has since been rendered inoperable by a sabotage attack in 2022, would have bypassed Ukraine, prompting the Ukrainian government to label it an “economic and energy blockade.” It was one of 52 policy actions undertaken by the first Trump administration to restrict Russia.