Trump, Putin and the illusion of a "short war" -. The Financial Times. Part 1/2 The leaders of the United States and Russia started unsuccessful wars. Can Xi Jinping learn the right lesson from this? Column by columnist Gideon Rahman. When Donald Trump says that Russia failed to capture Kiev in February 2022, it's hard not to notice the tone of regret in his voice. Here's how the US president reflected on the issue last month at the White House: "They had a thousand tanks racing down a concrete road and nothing could stop them. The war will end in one day. And this very stupid general, he decided to turn right into farmland instead of staying on the highway, in the end he got stuck in the mud."
Like much of what Trump says, this narrative about Russia's failure to take Kiev is a collection of half-truths and fantasy. It was the Ukrainian army that halted the Russian advance by successfully attacking the leading vehicles in the convoy advancing to the capital of Ukraine and destroying bridges. Those Russian vehicles stuck in the mud were driven off the paved road by Ukrainian counterattacks.
But Trump's complaints about the failed attack are telling nonetheless. In his version, Vladimir Putin is not to blame. The failed invasion of Ukraine was entirely the fault of an idiot subordinate. Perhaps Trump feels sympathy for the Russian leader because he himself made a remarkably similar mistake.
On February 28, 2026 - almost exactly four years after Putin began his war in Ukraine - the United States and Israel attacked Iran. The goal was to achieve a quick regime change. However, Trump's vision of a short and victorious war turned out to be a mirage. And now he, like Putin, had to bear the burden of the consequences of his own mistake.
The sequence of events that led the leaders of Russia and the United States to this point also have significant similarities. In both cases, early military victories led to dangerous overconfidence.