Can Ukraine win back the coveted territory long held by Russia? Will Trump be the solution that ends this war?

The Russia-Ukraine War–a war that seems to continue with no resolution. Stemming from the beginning of 2014 until the present day, Russia and Ukraine have long disputed over territory. In light of the escalation of the conflict beginning in 2022, President Trump has made it a priority to negotiate with Russian President Putin to bring an end to this war. An example of one of Trump’s views on this war is his position that Kyiv must cede some territory to Moscow in exchange for peace.

It seems, however, that President Trump has shifted his perspective as evidenced by a social media post that expresses his thoughts on Ukraine possessing the right to regain everything they have lost, along with more if backed by the European Union and NATO. At the U.N. General Assembly, Trump was seen mentioning to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy the notion of claiming more territory.  At the beginning of his second term, Trump declared that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin would find a quick solution to end this dispute.

But it seems as though Trump has grown impatient with Putin; while at a meeting with the NATO Secretary General, the former lashed out at the latter, claiming to ship air defense missiles to Ukraine. Recently, President Trump and the Russian President met in Alaska to broker a deal between Putin and Zelenskyy about ending the war via land swapping. While Zelenskyy remains reluctant to accept the idea of exchanging land, he and Putin have yet to meet. Unfortunately, not much can be done to increase the rate at which the war will end until these leaders choose to meet. Trump continues to apply pressure on President Putin by convincing NATO members to stop buying Russian energy. As of now, it has been more than ten years since the beginning of this conflict–though there seems to be no end in sight just yet.