Former US Ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst said today that Ukraine's successes on the battlefield have influenced the White House's position and improved the perception of Kiev in Washington, he announced in an interview with NV.
Herbst believes that the statements of European leaders about the change in Donald Trump's position after the G-7 summit generally correspond to real discussions in diplomatic circles.
According to him, such "warming" in relations between the United States, Ukraine and Europe have happened before, but they have not been stable.
"I would like to note that we have already faced similar circumstances. European leaders, including Zelensky, were very pleased after the meeting at the White House in August last summer, after the summit in Anchorage. And this marked the beginning of a period that lasted several months when the United States seemed to cooperate quite closely with Ukraine and the Europeans, before the situation changed'', emphasizes the former US ambassador.
He also noted that the current period could also turn out to be unstable, since the Trump administration, in his opinion, does not have a consistent line regarding the war.
''I believe that Ukraine is partly responsible for this improvement in positions. I am convinced that the US administration was impressed by Ukraine's successes on the battlefield, as well as by the strikes on Russian targets - strategic targets on the territory of Russia itself, Herbst explained.
Trump supports the winners
Herbst added that Donald Trump, in his opinion, is inclined to support the country that looks stronger.
''In other words, we know that Trump likes winners. And right now, Ukraine looks like a winner,'', concludes the former ambassador.