Trump’s ‘Change of Heart’ on Ukraine Driven by Kyiv’s Successes, Veteran Top US Diplomat Says

US President Donald Trump’s increasingly favorable approach toward Ukraine is more than a diplomatic change in tone. It reflects a growing recognition in Washington that a Russian victory is far from inevitable, former senior US diplomat Daniel Fried told Kyiv Post. Fried, a former US assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, described Tuesday’s meeting between Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky in Washington as a significant improvement over their explosive White House encounter on Feb. 28, 2025.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. This time, he noted, the discussion appeared serious and focused on practical cooperation. Senate vote shows bipartisan support remains strong Fried also pointed to Zelensky’s meeting with US senators, which preceded an overwhelming 86–12 procedural vote advancing legislation aimed at increasing economic pressure on Russia. The measure, originally championed by the late Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham alongside Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal, would expand sanctions and give Trump authority to impose tariffs of up to 100% on countries that remain major consumers of Russian energy. Fried suggested that Zelensky’s direct engagement with lawmakers helped secure additional support for the legislation. “That meeting with the senators was helpful in changing a number of votes from no to yes,” he said. For Fried, the vote also offered a broader indication of where Congress stands on Ukraine ahead of November’s midterm elections. Other Topics of Interest Ukraine to End VAT Exemption on Imported Goods Bought via Foreign Marketplaces Ukraine’s government says the change would align Ukraine with EU rules, although the new tax regime would not start before 2027. “The Senate vote showed that there is strong bipartisan support for Ukraine, even though the draft bill has its flaws,” he said. “The senators decided, correctly in my view, that it was worth supporting both as a sign of US support, but also because the bill has the potential to put significant additional economic pressure on Russia.” Fried said he does not expect the midterm elections to fundamentally undermine that support. “I don’t think that support for Ukraine will be a major issue. I don’t think it will drop,” he said. “I think that the bipartisan support for Ukraine is going to continue regardless of the results of the elections.” ‘Trump used to think Russia’s victory was inevitable’ Fried argued that the more consequential development may be the shift in Trump’s own assessment of the war. “A change of heart, or the apparent change of heart, on the part of President Trump and therefore his administration is a result of Ukrainian successes on the battlefield and Trump’s recognition of those successes,” Fried said. “Trump used to think that Russia’s victory was inevitable. Many people had that view.” Fried said he had always regarded that assumption as mistaken, though he acknowledged that it had been widespread among foreign policy analysts and was previously shared by Trump. “That view has changed largely as a result of Ukrainian success,” he said. “And that’s the difference he saw between February 2025 and July 2026.” The assessment echoes Fried’s comments to Kyiv Post earlier this month, when he argued that the narrative of an inevitable Russian victory had been “proven false” and that the Trump administration was increasingly recognizing Ukraine’s ability to defend itself. Parts of the MAGA base are shifting Asked how Trump’s evolving Ukraine policy was being received by his political base, Fried pointed to conservative activist Laura Loomer as one example of a broader shift. Loomer, a prominent Trump ally who had previously been sharply critical of Ukraine, reversed much of her position after visiting the country and meeting Zelensky, later publicly warning conservatives about Russian propaganda. “People in the MAGA base, like Laura Loomer visited Ukraine and has recanted her previous support for Putin and now supports Ukraine strongly and publicly,” Fried said. “She’s not the only one, but her switch is dramatic.” Whatever the internal political reasons behind that shift, Fried argued that a more favorable view of Ukraine among Trump supporters ultimately serves US interests. “I think it’s good for MAGA people to recognize that American interests will be advanced by Ukraine’s success,” he said, “and Russia’s success will advance no American interest that I can identify.” Kushner and Witkoff could finally travel to Kyiv Fried also highlighted another potential consequence of the Trump-Zelensky meeting: an expected visit to Kyiv by Trump envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff. The trip would mark their first visit to Ukraine after repeated contacts with Moscow as part of the Trump administration’s diplomatic efforts to end the war. For Fried, that development – together with the Patriot discussions and the Senate vote – points toward a relationship increasingly centered on practical cooperation rather than the confrontation that defined Trump and Zelensky’s February 2025 Oval Office encounter. “This time, President Trump was interested in working with Zelensky, working with Ukraine,” Fried said. “And I think it was a good meeting.” Sevinj OsmanqiziSevinj Osmanqizi is an experienced journalist who writes extensively for Kyiv Post on foreign policy, international security and geopolitics. Based in Washington, D.C., her work focuses on Ukraine, Russia’s war and the broader post-Soviet space.