President Trump's latest threat to block military aid to Ukraine essentially gives the Russian leader a hall pass to keep breaking international law and violating other countries' sovereignty, Samantha Vinograd writes for CNNOpinion
Samantha Vinograd is a CNN national security analyst. She is a senior adviser at the University of Delaware's Biden Institute, which is not affiliated with the Biden campaign. Vinograd served on President Barack Obama's National Security Council from 2009 to 2013 and at the Treasury Department under President George W. Bush. Follow her @sam_vinograd. The views expressed in this commentary are her own. View more opinion articles on CNN.
President Donald Trump's desire to placate Russian President Vladimir Putin has been a running theme throughout his time in office. From discounting Russia's attack on our elections to opening the door to inviting Russia back into the G7, Trump's presidency has been marked by a desire to let Russia off the hook for innumerable illegal actions.
Sam VinogradTrump's approach toward Ukraine, on the other hand, has been both confusing and worrisome. Russia forcefully annexed Crimea in 2014, and the two countries are still at war in eastern Ukraine. While the Trump administration provided lethal anti-tank weapons to Ukraine in 2017, Trump is now mulling over a plan to block $250 million in military assistance to Ukraine, raising questions about how serious he is about helping Ukraine protect what's left of its territorial integrity.
Lawmaker: This pattern from Trump is horrific 01:01While the prisoner swap can defuse some tensions, it does not change the reality that Russia illegally invaded and annexed Crimea. And Russia is still backing separatists in eastern Ukraine, while still unjustly holding many other Ukrainians in custody. The US Embassy in Kiev and the State Department pointed out these realities in their own statements, while welcoming the prisoner exchange.
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