US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s phone call about Ukraine has sparked controversy, with approval and condemnation both widespread. This is largely due to Trump’s persona and the radical, unprecedented shifts he has introduced to US policy, reshaping the balance of power in the region and the world. His approach makes a clean break with the long-standing American tradition of championing so-called universal liberal values, such as democracy and human rights, in favor of an economic agenda driven strictly by interest, even if it comes at the expense of international stability.
While the stated goal of the call was to end the war in Ukraine - an objective no one opposes - their conversation has been leaked, and it has raised alarm in the Middle East, particularly given the converging crises in Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria amid preparations for the second phase of military operations and growing threats against Iran as both Trump and Tehran ramp up the rhetoric and escalate.
The main concern, especially among Palestinians, is that Trump drew an equivalence between the aggressor, led by his interlocutor, and the victim, Ukraine, mirroring his stance on Gaza. This signals a dangerous shift: the orange light that the Biden administration had given Netanyahu, allowing him to eliminate Hamas while continuing to argue that the two-state solution is the only viable path to peace, has now turned into a blinding green light that effectively erases the two-state solution entirely. Worse still, it has paved the way for forced displacement from Gaza under the guise of cynical "peace deals," like the obscene so-called Riviera Peace Plan.
As a result, the relentless war on Gaza has been reignited, spilling over into Syria, and perhaps eventually Lebanon too, as part of a broader strategy to fragment societies and usher in sectarian alliances and other reckless, self-destructive projects.
Major American political forces see the unprecedented US position on Ukraine as a betrayal of the values that have defined American foreign policy for decades: the defense of freedom against tyranny.
Trump’s stance on Putin and Ukraine, as well as its timing, is difficult to understand. He is giving Russia a gift, receiving neither a political nor strategic sign that it will end the war. It is especially perplexing given that, despite its territorial gains, Russia has by all measures suffered a strategic defeat at the hands of a smaller nation, losing hundreds of thousands of men and thousands of tanks, with many now seeing Russia as a mere regional power.
Why, then, is Trump pushing for negotiations and discarding his winning cards? What is the rationale behind excluding European allies from negotiations with Putin? His allies have collectively sent Ukraine billions of dollars, military equipment, and refugee support - far exceeding US contributions, regardless of Trump’s claims. The Europeans remain steadfast in their commitment to defending Ukraine; why not capitalize on this European momentum to reinforce America’s own position?
The rapprochement between Trump and Putin could pave the way for implicit deals between Moscow and Washington, with the two countries redistributing spheres of influence in global conflict zones, particularly in the Middle East. We saw a hint of this prospect in Putin’s message to Syrian president.
Russia, which has long railed against NATO expansion, sees Washington’s growing distance from Europe as a historic opportunity to reassert its influence in regions like Ukraine, especially after annexing Crimea. Meanwhile, it can point to the hypocrisy of the US, which is itself disregarding national sovereignty, as shown by Trump’s public threats to annex Canada and take control of Greenland and the Panama Canal.
Trump is unpredictable; neither he nor his inner circle can be described as ideologues. Instead, they follow a secular populist movement, despite their claims to religiosity, that represents an amalgamation of economic, business, moral, and social views they translate into policy decisions.
One of the most dangerous aspects of Trump’s current approach is that it undermines the American doctrine: which traditionally seeks to balance the defense of liberal democracy, commitment to strategic alliances like NATO, support of a rules-based international order, and respect of national sovereignty. By prioritizing short-term deals and commercial interests, Trump is hollowing out this doctrine. This not only empowers authoritarian regimes, allowing them to remake spheres of influence, but it also threatens to bring chaos to the US itself, where polarization is deepening at the expense of the democratic values that had once unified Americans in times of crisis.
What happens in Ukraine will be a preview of the political and security landscape in the Middle East, which is now increasingly adrift. With Russia - Iran’s strategic ally and a traditional partner of Arab states - going along with the US effort to limit Iran’s capacity to threaten Israel, there are serious questions about Russia’s stance on Palestine, Palestinian rights, and Israel’s destabilizing actions in Lebanon and Syria.
No matter how closely American and Israeli interests align, or how much US-Russian cooperation in the Middle East develops, certain Arab red lines must hold. There can be no forced displacement of the Palestinians in Gaza, as a two-state solution remains the only path to lasting peace. Without these principles, the so-called "peace" of Trump and Putin, which they tout as a gateway to mass investment, will remain an illusion.
