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Of course Trump is helping Russia in Ukraine – he’s a master of the art of betrayal | Jonathan Freedland

The old certainties have gone. We will have to spend whatever it takes to protect ourselves in this new and dangerous world Donald Trump must find it oddly frustrating. He keeps showing the world exactly who he is, and yet the world keeps refusing to believe it. As clearly as he can, he is announcing that he is not the leader of the free world, that he is not even a reliable member of the democratic west, that he is in fact an ally of its enemies – but the west, including Britain, either doesn’t fully get the message or can’t quite bring itself to draw the obvious conclusion. Trump had another go this week, finding multiple ways to declare that in the war between Russia and Ukraine, he is no mediator or peace broker but a partner of Vladimir Putin. In fairness to him, the US president had loudly issued that declaration within weeks of his return to the White House when, in February 2025,

Image from linked report: Of course Trump is helping Russia in Ukraine – he’s a master of the art of betrayal | Jonathan Freedland
Image from the linked report: Of course Trump is helping Russia in Ukraine – he’s a master of the art of betrayal | Jonathan Freedland.Credit: The Guardian Thumbnail shown with attribution and outbound source link; VINI does not claim ownership or republish the original article body. Image source External image shown with attribution and an outbound source link; VINI does not claim ownership or republish the original article body.
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Why it mattersTechnology

The old certainties have gone. We will have to spend whatever it takes to protect ourselves in this new and dangerous world Donald Trump must find it oddly frustrating. He keeps showing the world exactly who he is, and yet the world keeps refusing to believe it. As clearly as he can, he is announcing that he is not the leader of the free world, that he is not even a reliable member of the democratic west, that he is in fact an ally of its enemies – but the west, including Britain, either doesn’t fully get the message or can’t quite bring itself to draw the obvious conclusion. Trump had another go this week, finding multiple ways to declare that in the war between Russia and Ukraine, he is no mediator or peace broker but a partner of Vladimir Putin. In fairness to him, the US president had loudly issued that declaration within weeks of his return to the White House when, in February 2025,

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What happened

According to The Guardian’s source item, Of course Trump is helping Russia in Ukraine – he’s a master of the art of betrayal | Jonathan Freedland, The old certainties have gone. We will have to spend whatever it takes to protect ourselves in this new and dangerous world Donald Trump must find it oddly frustrating. He keeps showing the world exactly who he is, and yet the world keeps refusing to believe it. As clearly as he can, he is announcing that he is not the leader of the free world, that he is not even a reliable member of the democratic west, that he is in fact an ally of its enemies – but the west, including Britain, either doesn’t fully get the message or can’t quite bring itself to draw the obvious conclusion. Trump had another go this week, finding multiple ways to declare that in the war between Russia and Ukraine, he is no mediator or peace broker but a partner of Vladimir Putin. In fairness to him, the US president had loudly issued that declaration within weeks of his return to the White House when, in February 2025,

Context

The development sits in VINI’s Technology file for readers following technology, science, product policy, markets, infrastructure, and the public consequences of innovation. The original report is linked so readers can check the source account, follow later updates, and compare new coverage against the first published record. The source item is dated 2026-10-16T15:30:10+00:00.

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Primary source: Of course Trump is helping Russia in Ukraine – he’s a master of the art of betrayal | Jonathan Freedland via The Guardian. VINI cites and links the source; it does not reproduce the publisher’s full article text without rights clearance.

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