In a rare and unexpectedly candid opinion piece published by the Washington-based left-leaning outlet The Hill, Alan J Kuperman, associate professor at the University of Texas, acknowledges that what US President Donald Trump has been saying about the war in Ukraine is ‘unfortunately’ true.
While Trump’s statements on Ukraine cover a broad spectrum, the article identifies three key aspects of the conflict that he understands correctly—contrasting sharply with the progressive mainstream’s position. According to Kuperman, these are the following: the Maidan massacre was a false-flag operation initiated by Ukrainian far-right militants; Kyiv’s violation of the Minsk agreements directly led to Russia’s full-scale invasion; and the US under Joe Biden made false promises to Ukraine, ultimately prolonging the conflict.
Challenging the Western Narrative
The first point is well-documented, with evidence—including a Kyiv court ruling—confirming that the first shots fired at Maidan Square in 2014 did not come from state authorities but from far-right militants. However, they falsely claimed that then-President Viktor Yanukovych had ordered a crackdown on unarmed protesters, leading to the overthrow of Ukraine’s democratically elected government. The consequences are well known: Russia responded by deploying troops to Crimea and the Donbas region, eventually annexing those territories. As Kuperman argues: ‘While this backstory does not justify Russia’s invasion, it explains that it was hardly “unprovoked”.’
Following the crisis, Ukraine and Russia, with mediation from UK, Germany, France, and Belarus, signed the Minsk agreements to prevent further escalation. These agreements stipulated that Ukraine would grant limited political autonomy to Donbas by 2015. However, Kyiv refused to fulfil this commitment for seven years. Even Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who campaigned in 2019 on a promise to implement the agreements, failed to do so after winning with an overwhelming 70 per cent mandate. The reason? By that time, far-right paramilitary groups had grown powerful enough to prevent any political settlement. Instead of de-escalating, Ukraine increased arms imports and intensified its rhetoric on NATO membership. ‘Intentionally or not, Zelenskyy had provoked Russian aggression, although that obviously does not excuse Moscow’s subsequent war crimes,’ Kuperman writes.
‘Kyiv refused to fulfil this commitment for seven years’
Perhaps the most inconvenient truth for the progressive mainstream is Kuperman’s argument that had Trump been president in 2022, Russia would likely not have invaded Ukraine. ‘Joe Biden too contributed crucially to the escalation and perpetuation of fighting,’ the article states. By late 2021 Russian forces were already massing at Ukraine’s border in response to Zelenskyy’s more aggressive stance on NATO-membership. A responsible ally would have advised Kyiv to de-escalate, or at the very least, maintain a low profile while Russian troops were positioned at its borders. Instead, Biden did the opposite.
‘Biden lamentably left the decision to Zelenskyy and pledged that if Russia invaded, the U.S. would respond “swiftly and decisively,” which Zelenskyy read as a green light to defy Putin,’ Kuperman argues. The US president gave Ukraine false hope, effectively perpetuating a war that has killed or wounded hundreds of thousands while shifting frontlines by less than 1 per cent of Ukraine’s territory.
Hungary Proved Right Once Again
The most bizarre aspect of this entirely avoidable situation is that Ukraine is now likely to receive a far worse deal from current negotiations than it would have under the Minsk agreements.
By acknowledging that Trump was correct on most of his points about Ukraine, critics are also implicitly admitting that Hungary was right all along. Since the war began in February 2022 the Hungarian government has consistently argued that Ukraine’s position would deteriorate with each passing day if the conflict dragged on, and that making a swift peace agreement is in Kyiv’s best interest.
The article also caught the attention of political director to the Hungarian prime minister Balázs Orbán. In a post on X, he pointed out that ‘even DC insider outlets’ like The Hill are finally admitting that Donald Trump was right about the causes of the war. ‘Hungary called this from day one,’ Orbán emphasized.
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