For The Love Of Dictators

"Outlining military plans is important, but it can't be divorced from addressing what everyone is worried about: Trump's outbursts, Russia's war on Ukraine and threats to Europe, and questions on whether we're pulling significant U.S. forces out of Europe."

"The real dictator in the room here is Vladimir Putin, who has been in power for 25 years, not Zelenskyy, and it is Russia that launched this unprovoked invasion against Ukraine, not the other way around."

Kurt Volker, former U.S. envoy to Ukraine 

 

"I'd burn down every one of the goddam refineries that Russia has today. Take them all out."

"[Vladimir Putin should not be permitted any military sanctuaries and his oil refineries are legitimate Russian targets]."

"Ukraine should be encouraged to] make them pay the price [by targeting Russia's oil and gas industry]."

Keith Kellogg, chief of staff, U.S. National Security Council

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during a news conference in Kyiv on Oct. 4. | Bloomberg

 

At a North Atlantic Treaty Organization strategic meeting at the Warsaw Security Forum last month, the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, U.S. General Alexus Grynkewich, introduced the latest NATO formula for mutual defence of its 32 member-states. It was titled the "theory of victory". At the summit, generals and heads of state and defence ministers spoke little of the elephant in the room, even as the prospect of Vladimir Putin in his grand territorial ambitions leaves little to the imagination of what his plans are post-Ukraine invasion.

 

Poland is in his sights, as are the Baltic nations, vulnerable through Belarus and Kaliningrad the Russian enclave. A 10-day war game deploying 20,000 troops simulating a hypothetical invasion of 10,000 troops from the east was underway companioning the Warsaw conference. The perceived almost-certainty of Russia emerging victorious from its four-and-a-half years of the 'special military operation' to free Ukraine from its 'neoNazi' government and liberate the people of Ukraine, while liberating a good portion of Ukraine's  territory has focused the mind of NATO nations. 

 

The uncertainty over whether, should a NATO country be attacked in the near future, whether the assured entry of a coalition counterattack would include the United States consumes the minds of those states which have of late received 'messages' from Moscow through cyber and drone appearances in their sovereign domains could any longer be guaranteed. An administration that appears all too often to cater to the Soviet wannabe's ambitions by characterizing its victim as a hapless aggressor and the Russian military without scruples that sends ballistic missiles into civilian enclaves, bombing schools, hospitals, energy depots and shopping centers, as restrained and commendable.

 

Finally, NATO members can be somewhat heartened at the news that U.S.-internal opponents, both old and newly-hatched, against the Trump administration's decisions and declarations have been rallying and stating in no uncertain terms that they strongly disagree. Added to that the deepening unpopularity of the administration among the public which has alerted the Republicans that the forthcoming midterm elections will see them losing influence in both the House and the Senate.

 

US President Donald Trump walks on stage during a campaign event ahead of the midterms, in San Antonio, Texas, US, October 7, 2026. REUTERS/Callaghan O'Hare

 

President Trump's generosity to  his Russian counterpart in extending a mutibillion-dollar sanctions exemption with the sale of millions of barrels of diesel oil did not win a popularity contest anywhere in the U.S. nor in Europe. That President Donald J. Trump sees it in his interests to boost the conflict fortunes of President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin by handing him a lifeline to get on with his bombing of Ukraine's cities can only be understood by Trump himself whom critics cite as a symptom of his fascination with dictators.

 

Yet it is Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Mr. Trump characterizes as a dictator who, in his opinion should be removed from office. And who he feels entitled to instruct that he must refrain from any further strikes against Russia's oil refineries. Even for the mercurial, bullying Trump the spectacle of the Oval Office treatment of Ukraine's president to charges of war-mongering represented over-the-top lunacy. It did not take long following President Trump's reinstatement in the Oval Office before he made it clear that he had no interest in NATO and was prepared to abandon its traditional role of leadership in the defense coalition, leaving the other 31 members in a state of shock.  

 

President Donald Trump welcomes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the White House to sign an agreement granting the United States access to Ukraine’s rare minerals, February 28, 2025. Joshua Sukoff/Shutterstock

 

"These authorities require you to apply economic pressure on Russia and the chief enables of its war, in particular China."

"For decades, America has stood as the bastion of freedom against tyranny, and American presidents have embodied our nation's resistance to tyrants. Putin is a tyrant. Withdraw from this agreement...Maintain our legacy -- and the duty America holds -- as leader of the free world."

"President Trump's decision to allow Russian diesel imports to the U.S. runs directly counter to that law [the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026]."

"The United States should not provide Putin with a financial lifeline while Russia continues to kill Ukrainian civilians. The Administration must immediately reverse course."

Bipartisan letter from U.S. senators