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The Trump administration will continue talks with Russia in an effort to achieve peace in Ukraine, driven by a longer-term strategic goal—countering China, Politico reports.
Trump’s team believes that encouraging Russia to end the war in Ukraine, supporting its economic recovery, and attracting American investment could ultimately shift the global balance away from China.
This risky approach has raised concerns in Kyiv, but it underscores the administration’s view that the greatest geopolitical threat to the U.S. and the West is China, not Putin’s Russia. While countering China is not the only reason for pursuing a ceasefire, it helps explain why, after more than 15 months of stalled negotiations and repeated threats to walk away, Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner continue to seek a breakthrough.
What sources say
A Trump administration official told Politico that the current search for “closer engagement with Russia” could create a “different balance of power with China, which could be very, very beneficial.”
The publication notes that this is the first time the Trump team’s desire to use a Ukrainian peace track to counter China has been reported.
However, many observers believe the plan has little chance of success, at least while Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping remain in power.
The idea of offering Russia economic incentives to get closer to the U.S. has already raised concerns in Kyiv, a Ukrainian official said:
"We’ve seen similar attempts in the past, and they led to nothing. There was the Ostpolitik in Germany, and now Russia is waging the bloodiest war in Europe," the source noted.
Regarding hopes for a split between China and Russia, the official added that both countries “share one characteristic that cannot be outweighed—they hate the U.S. as a symbol of democracy.”
Politico also touched on the economic angle related to China. According to Reuters, Iran supplied over 13% of China’s oil in 2025, but the U.S. and Israel’s operation against Tehran has affected Beijing’s oil import potential.
A Trump administration official confirmed that China had been buying oil from Venezuela, Iran, and Russia at below-market prices, effectively subsidizing consumption worth over $10 billion per year in recent years.
"This created a massive subsidy for China, as it could buy oil in these places on the black market, sometimes $30 per barrel cheaper than the spot market," the source explained.
Peace efforts on the brink of collapse
In early March, a fourth round of trilateral talks between Ukraine, the U.S., and Russia on a peace deal was scheduled. However, the meeting was canceled due to the U.S. and Israel’s operation against Iran.
President Volodymyr Zelensky is now calling for the talks to resume and for a specific date and location to be set. He has expressed a bad premonition because the Trump administration is now more focused on Iran than on the Ukrainian issue.
Recently, the Financial Times also reported that U.S.-mediated peace talks have effectively stalled, as Trump has lost interest in the track due to the conflict with Iran.
However, the U.S. leader occasionally comments on Ukraine, often criticizing Kyiv. Just days ago, he said that Putin is ready for a deal, but Zelensky is not, which he found surprising.
