This opinion piece argues the United States should strengthen, not weaken, support for Ukraine as the war continues into 2025. It follows two Kyiv children, Daryna (7) and Ivan (13), as symbols of civilian resilience amid attacks that have killed 676 children and injured 2,306, and the deportation or kidnapping of over 19,000 children. The authors warn that Moscow’s envoys — notably Kirill Dmitriev — seek to fracture NATO ties rather than secure peace, and urge Washington to resist Russian narratives and maintain allied resolve.
Trump Should Bolster — Not Undermine — Ukraine’s Christmas Resolve
“So, this is Christmas.” The line from John Lennon’s 1971 song feels hollow in 2025: the war in Ukraine is far from over.
In Kyiv the fighting continues. The children we have followed since Russia’s invasion — Daryna (7) and Ivan (13) — still live with their mother, Kateryna, a children’s charity worker. This is their fourth Christmas under wartime conditions. Daryna, whom we first met practicing ballet by candlelight in 2022, has spent more than half her life with conflict as a backdrop. Ivan, who still competes in fencing, has spent more than a quarter of his life in the same reality.
Children remain children even amid war. Kateryna sent a photograph of them laughing and throwing snowballs outside a McDonald’s. Scarred though they are, their spirit endures. Vladimir Putin may one day inflict grave harm on them—or worse—but he cannot crush the human will that children often embody.
According to Ukraine’s Office of the General Prosecutor, since the invasion began Russia has killed 676 children and injured 2,306. Russian strikes have hit children’s hospitals, kindergartens and playgrounds, and Moscow has deported or kidnapped more than 19,000 Ukrainian children.
Why This Matters to the United States
It is Christmas morning, but Americans have been given an unexpected gift by these children: a reminder of a familiar quality—unyielding resolve in the face of aggression. Washington needs that reminder now. The White House appears to be wavering on what is at stake in Ukraine. Contrary to repeated assertions from President Trump and some allies, this conflict is not remote from American interests. The liberties of the West face challenges from authoritarian forces in Moscow and Beijing — the same strategic rivals that shadowed the Cold War for decades.
As Secretary Marco Rubio put it, the fighting may be on another continent — but its consequences would reverberate globally. If Ukraine falls and Europe’s security unravels, the United States risks facing a world where economic and strategic competition with a rising, more militarized China becomes even more severe.
Diplomacy or Disruption? Moscow’s special envoy Kirill Dmitriev has presented himself as a peacemaker, but his public role appears aimed at driving wedges between Washington and its European allies. If the Kremlin truly sought peace it would abandon maximalist demands and accept a ceasefire — something that has not happened, not even for a brief Christmas truce.
Instead, Russia is widening its objectives. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has publicly demanded NATO withdraw to “pre-1997 borders” and criticized Allied force postures in Eastern Europe. Dmitriev’s meetings in Miami with Trump envoys produced more rhetoric than progress; he used visits to bash European leaders and promote narratives that shift blame away from Moscow.
Those talking points have found echoes in U.S. political circles. At a recent Turning Point USA event, Tulsi Gabbard suggested that so-called “warmongers in the Deep State” sabotage chances for peace — rhetoric that mirrors Moscow’s talking points. Such framing risks validating Russia’s aims and undermining allied cohesion at a perilous moment: U.S. intelligence has warned Russia could threaten Western Europe in the future.
Since Dmitriev’s Nov. 6 accusations that the West are the warmongers, Russia has continued intense bombardment across Ukraine, employing roughly 8,200 drones and about 310 ballistic missiles in attacks that have struck civilian infrastructure.
What Washington Must Do
We are not the warmongers — nor are the children of Ukraine. The aggressors remain the forces that invaded and continue to bomb civilian areas: Putin and his envoys. Historically, Christmas has been a time when the United States has shown its sternest resolve — whether through the Revolutionary War’s bold initiatives, the mobilization after Pearl Harbor, or the grit shown in the Battle of the Bulge.
Washington must show comparable resolve now. Sustaining and strengthening support for Ukraine — diplomatically, economically and militarily — is vital to prevent a Russia-led shift in the European security order. That, in turn, protects broader U.S. interests globally. Ensuring Ukraine does not lose is the most meaningful present the United States can give to children like Daryna and Ivan.
Mark Toth writes on national security and foreign policy. Col. (Ret.) Jonathan Sweet served 30 years as a military intelligence officer and led the U.S. European Command Intelligence Engagement Division from 2012 to 2014.
