The feud between former U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been building since at least 2019, well before their recent tense Oval Office confrontation.
Their conflict dates back to Trump's first impeachment, which was over his demand that Zelensky probe then-Democratic frontrunner Joe Biden and his son Hunter on corruption charges.
In a July 2019 telephone call, Trump asked Zelensky to investigate Hunter Biden's business with the Ukrainian gas company Burisma, having no experience in the energy field. Joe Biden, then the Vice President, had been personally managing U.S.-Ukraine relations at that time, and Trump accused him of pressuring the firing of a prosecutor looking into Burisma.
Most importantly, Trump had delayed almost $400 million in U.S. military aid to Ukraine just prior to the call, though he eventually released it. His opponents, supported by a whistleblower complaint, accused him of having used his office to improperly condition aid on political concessions, essentially inviting foreign interference in the 2020 U.S. election.
The fallout resulted in Trump's impeachment by the House of Representatives, though he was acquitted during the subsequent Senate trial. However, the episode put Zelensky in a tight spot—he did not want to be drawn into U.S. domestic politics, but Trump took umbrage at his refusal to categorically reject allegations of a quid pro quo.
After Trump's 2020 election loss, Zelensky became closely aligned with President Biden, gaining robust military support and diplomatic support from the U.S. and its allies. During Biden's presidency, the U.S. spearheaded the economic and political isolation of Russia. Republicans, however, accused Zelensky of openly supporting Biden in the 2024 election, especially after his high-profile trip to a Scranton, Pennsylvania, ammunition factory—a key swing state.
As Trump reasserted his influence in the Republican Party, he publicly doubted whether Ukraine could resist Russian aggression despite U.S. assistance. This caused a rift between the U.S. political establishment, with some Republicans following suit in expressing doubt while others stayed quiet. The situation further escalated when Trump personally contacted Russian President Vladimir Putin to try and negotiate an end to the war.
Earlier this month, their tensions spilled over into public when Zelensky charged Trump with "living in a world of disinformation," cleverly alluding to Russian propaganda. Trump retaliated by dismissing Zelensky as a "dictator.
Added to this, the U.S. recently departed from its previous position by voting in tandem with Russia at the United Nations General Assembly against a resolution condemning Moscow's invasion that had been sponsored by Ukraine. Second, American and Russian diplomats exchanged secret talks in Riyadh to address a possible resolution of the war—leaving out Ukraine in the negotiations.
As rumors spread that Washington and Moscow were reaching a deal with or without the inclusion of Kyiv, Zelensky strongly objected to a deal made in his absence. His outcries, as reported, apparently enraged Trump, while French leader Emmanuel Macron and U.K. leader Keir Starmer made efforts to act as intermediaries.
At the bottom of this geopolitics divide lies a deepened trust deficit. Zelensky, the victim of recurrent betrayals, is deeply distrusting of Putin, believing that any deal he makes would turn out to be temporary. As for Trump, while there was widespread Western mistrust of Russian leader Putin, he has seemed to have trusted him. "It's trust and verify—let's call it that," he said Thursday, although his position has barely helped to mend the growing fracture between Washington, Kyiv, and Moscow.
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