President Trump Must Put a Decisive End to Vladimir Putin’s Barbarity

There are times when a single wartime image can move mountains. We witnessed that during the Vietnam War when Associated Press photographer Nick Ut snapped a picture of Phan Thi Kim Phuc, who was nine at the time.

She quickly became known as the “Napalm Girl” as she ran naked and burned towards Ut and away from the small village of Trang Bang. Phuc, in a flash, brought home the horror and terror of the Vietnam War to millions of Americans.

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On Thursday, the New York Post published a cover story picture of a one-year-old Ukrainian boy named Dmytryk who was killed by a Russian drone in Kherson. The Kremlin has been using these types of heinous drone attacks against Ukrainian civilians to terrorize men, women and children into submission.

New York Post front page, July 11, 2025

Dmytryk’s death must not be in vain. President Donald Trump must put a decisive end to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s reign of terror.

The President reads the New York Post. He most assuredly will have seen Dmytryk’s picture on its front page. Hopefully, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth will have seen it as well – especially since he inexplicably ordered a pause of US military aid to Ukraine.

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President Trump immediately did the right thing and overruled Hegseth.

In justifying his reversal, Trump said, “We’re going to send some more weapons. We have to – [Ukraine] has to be able to defend themselves.”

On Friday, he elaborated. After angrily calling out Putin for his “bullshit” last Tuesday in televised comments during a Cabinet Meeting at the West Wing of the White House, Trump later stated on NBC News: “So what we’re doing is, the weapons that are going out are going to NATO, and then NATO is going to be giving those weapons [to Ukraine], and NATO is paying for those weapons.”

That is a good start, but it must include offensive as well as defensive weapons, munitions and cross-border intel sharing.

Trump must not take the same approach that former President Joe Biden did in June 2024 when he signed a 10-year bilateral security agreement with Ukraine that was defense-centric. The pact is focused on “strengthening Ukraine’s ability to defend itself in the present while also deterring aggression in the future.”

Defending, however, is not winning. After nearly three-and-a-half-years of war, Biden’s “just enough” strategy for Ukraine to survive has neither deterred Russian aggression nor stopped Putin from targeting Ukrainian civilians.

Six months into the Trump Administration, Washington is still in a “defend” or “just enough” mode when it comes to Ukraine. And, as a result, we are still no closer to ending Putin’s illegal war of aggression or ability to attack Ukraine.

Plus, the war in Ukraine has become increasingly global. As we warned Thursday in The Hill in Washington DC, China now views Ukraine as an advantageous proxy war to deter US military focus in the Indo-Pacific.

Notably, according to Kyrylo Budanov, North Korea is now providing Moscow with upwards of “40% of Russia’s ammunition for the war in Ukraine.” Pyongyang is not alone. Laos is sending 50 engineers to parts of Russian-occupied Ukraine – and Chinese manufacturing companies are openly providing parts for Russian-manufactured versions of the Iranian-designed Shahed Drone 136/131.

Trump cannot allow Moscow and Beijing to dictate conditions to the war’s end, nor to achieve capitulation by attrition. Russia and China are now fearing that Team Trump is seeing the light. On Wednesday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov declared that Trump’s decision to resume arms supplies “won’t contribute to peace efforts.”

Translation: Moscow is worried that Trump’s actions – especially if on Monday during his promised statement on Russia the White House greenlights offensive US weapons as well – will lead to Putin’s defeat in Ukraine.

Yet, despite those fears, Putin is not yet deterred. Clearly, he does not believe that Trump’s actions – nor the continued military assistance provided by NATO countries – will live up to his words.

Russia continues their massive aerial bombardments on Ukrainian cities with ballistic missile and drone strikes – and is continuing to pursue meagerly gains of terrain through relentless “meatgrinder-like” ground assaults. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s cost to date? A wrecked domestic economy and 1,031,620 casualties.

On Thursday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio reminded us: “It’s important to note that since January of this year, as an example just to give you, on the Russian side, they’ve lost 100,000 soldiers – dead – not injured – dead.” But Rubio failed to put that number into context – the Russian soldiers were killed while attacking Ukraine.

Still, Putin fights on. The US policy of “weaken Russia,” “stand by Ukraine,” and help “defend” Ukraine against “Russian aggression” has not worked. Rather, it has simply prolonged the war and directly contributed to the deaths and maiming of thousands of Ukrainian civilians deliberately targeted by Putin.

The words Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky valiantly uttered in Kyiv on Feb. 26, 2022 – “The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride” – remain valid today. Trump on Monday must abandon Biden’s failed “just enough” approach and fully enable Ukraine to win and expel the Russian invader from all of Ukraine.

While Ukraine’s Army continues to hold their own in the close fight, the White House and Pentagon must get on the same page. Pentagon policy chief, Elbridge Colby, and Hegseth’s halting of military shipments appeared to catch Trump off-guard, notwithstanding their largely unsupported excuse that “US weapons stockpiles have fallen too low.”

Trump must put an end to that. Hegseth’s decision – at a time of Ukraine’s greatest need – basically reversed a commitment made by then-President Joe Biden in September and December 2024, to provide “a surge in security assistance for Ukraine and a series of additional actions to help Ukraine win this war.”

The cost for Ukraine?

It costs $2.4 billion through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative to provide Ukraine additional air defense, Unmanned Aerial Systems, and air-to-ground munitions – and $5.5 billion in Presidential Drawdown Authority. This comprises Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) long-range munitions, ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS),155mm and 105mm artillery ammunition and an additional Patriot air defense battery.

It did not take the Kremlin long to take advantage of the window of opportunity. In a blitz of ballistic missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian cities reminiscent of Operation Linebacker II – designed to bring North Vietnam back to the negotiation table – Russia launched a massive aerial assault Wednesday that included 728 drones and 13 missiles.

They followed that up Thursday with another 397 drones, eight Iskander-M ballistic missiles, six Kh-101 cruise missiles, and four S-300 guided air defense missiles. Ditto the same on Friday when Kyiv was hit by another round of Russian attacks.

Russia’s intent is clear: terrorize Ukrainian civilians, deplete Ukraine’s air defense weapons stockpiles, weaken resistance, and set conditions for another offensive to defeat Kyiv. The Colby-Hegseth decision enabled this possibility.

On Friday the President told us: “You’ll be seeing things happen.” If Trump really wants to back up his words to Putin on Monday – then he must quickly fix the leadership mess that Hegseth and Colby created in the Pentagon.

Doing so begins with a single point of contact to manage the process – a maestro of sorts. One that ensures everyone is on the same sheet of music and that decisions and actions are coordinated and approved prior to execution to avoid negative second and third order effects. That person – whether it is the White House chief of staff, national security advisor, or whoever the president appoints – is responsible for “herding the cats” and keeping everyone on message.

Next, a document that provides a single frame of reference. The National Security Strategy (NSS) provides “a comprehensive statement articulating the worldwide interests, goals, and objectives of the United States that are important to its security.”

The last NSS was published in October 2022. The current operational environment – Ukraine, Russia, Iran, China, North Korea, Israel, Yemen, the southern border, etc. – has changed significantly and requires a complete rewrite of the NSS. Without this document, the White House remains in a reaction mode.

The President’s decision to send more weapons to Ukraine is a step in the right direction. But if they are only defensive weapons, then, as Peskov stated, it will only prolong the war.

As Gen. George Patton clearly articulated: “Nobody ever defended anything successfully.”

Putin has already made his decision – as the New York Times reported on Wednesday: “Putin views it as out of the question to halt the fighting now without extensive concessions by Ukraine.” That would require Ukraine’s total capitulation and acceptance of Russia’s terms of surrender.

Putin still believes he can win his war against Ukraine and he has no intention of stopping. As Tatiana Stanovaya, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, stated: “He will not sacrifice his goals in Ukraine for the sake of improving relations with Trump.”

President Trump must quickly disabuse Putin of that notion. The heartbreaking picture of Dmytryk is a tragic portent of what is at stake if Trump does not. Washington and Brussels failed Dmytryk in life. We cannot fail his memory of his barbarous death at the hands of Putin and his Russian war machine.

The views expressed in this opinion article are the author’s and not necessarily those of Kyiv Post.

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