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Speaking at the NATO conference on 12 February, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ruled out NATO membership, US troop presence, and return to pre-2014 borders for Ukraine.
The same evening, in Kyiv, a US delegation led by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to sign a rare minerals deal, with Jack Posobiec, an operative linked to neo-Nazis and Russian neofascist Aleksandr Dugin, present at the meeting, possibly applying psychological pressure on Zelenskyy, whose Jewish ancestors were Holocaust victims.
It’s Not Ukraine that Needs DeNazifaction: US Far-Right Operatives in Kyiv
Why was Jack Posobiec, who has spread baseless Russian propaganda about the country, accompanying a US Treasury delegation visit to Ukraine?
Zelenskyy refused to sign, requesting security guarantees and a meeting with US President Donald Trump, who happened to be speaking on the phone with the Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin then. Only after this “highly productive” call, Trump called Zelenskyy—as Russia launched missile and drone strikes on Ukraine.
The Kremlin chimed in with a statement, framing “NATO expansion” and Ukraine’s “denazification” as the root cause of the war—false claims, as NATO remains a defensive alliance with an open-door policy, and far-right parties hold little political influence in Ukraine.
That night, the Senate confirmed Tulsi Gabbard, known for echoing Russian propaganda, as Director of National Intelligence.
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Later that week, the US delegation met Zelenskyy at Munich Security Conference but yielded little, while U.S. VP JD Vancemade a speech dismissing Russia and China as threats to the EU and echoing Hitler’s rhetoric about an “internal” enemy.
More clarity soon came as top Russian and US officials met in Riyadh on 18 February, Saudi Arabia. Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, a $10 billion state-run investment fund, signaled Russia’s desire to revive joint oil projects with US firms.
In 2012, Russian state-owned oil giant Rosneft’s subsidiary secured 30% stakes in ExxonMobil projects in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, Canada, and West Texas. Sanctions imposed after Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and proxy war in Donbas halted Exxon-Rosneft ventures, crippling Rosneft with debt and cutting access to Western technology. To restart its $500 billion Exxon deal, Russia needs sanctions lifted. The parties agreed to ease “bilateral irritants” and appoint high-level teams for Ukraine negotiations. The Kremlin has not ruled out a Trump-Putin meeting by late February.
Tensions between Trump and Zelenskyy escalated as Trump labeled Zelenskyy a ‘dictator’ after the Ukrainian president disputed Trump’s claim that Ukraine had initiated the war.
The US also raised eyebrows—if not hackles—by opposing the use of the term “Russian aggression” in the G7’s 24 February resolution on the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion, even as Russia occupies 20% of Ukraine’s territory and continues to expand its forces, growing the numbers to 140,000 in 2024.
The US proposed a vague resolution that neither condemns Russia nor affirms Ukraine’s territorial integrity, framing the war as a random conflict. Russia might consider voting for the US resolution and suggested adding the clause about addressing “root causes,” in Putin’s words, “NATO expansion” and Ukraine’s “denazification”. The US resolution could gain support from Global South countries, which hold the majority in the UN.