Will US Go To War With Russia? Donald Trump Told Former Ukrainian Prime Minister That He Intends To Uphold Sanctions Against Russia

While President Donald Trump’s jibes at Arnold Schwarzenegger that provoked a Twitter war between the two dominated the headlines after Thursday’s National Prayer Breakfast, a private meeting between the president and a prominent Ukrainian opposition leader has also raised some eyebrows in political circles.

Yulia Tymoshenko, the former Ukrainian prime minister, recounted her meeting with Trump and Vice President Mike Pence at the prayer breakfast a few hours later at the Heritage Foundation and the Hudson Institute. Tymoshenko, a member of parliament who is projecting herself as a potential successor to the incumbent president Petro Poroshenko, said that Trump assured her that he would “not abandon” Ukraine, according to Politico.

She also said that Trump promised not to lift sanctions on Russia until it had pulled out of Ukraine.

The White House confirmed that the conversation took place in a brief statement issued late Friday.

“The President and the former PM had a brief, informal photo-op meeting in the reception before the National Prayer Breakfast…while no formal assurances were given, as the former PM is not the President’s counterpart, the United States remains concerned about violence in Eastern Ukraine.” it reportedly said.

Tymoshenko’s comments about President Trump’s assurances are contradictory to the claims he made during his campaign where he asserted that he may ease sanctions against Russia. Trump had also praised Russian president Vladmir Putin, and, on a few occasions, dismissed reports by U.S. intelligence that suggested that his campaign received a boost against Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton due to Russian intelligence facilitating cyberattacks.

Several unanswered questions linger in the aftermath of Trump’s supposed support for Ukraine — especially regarding the extent to which a hardline position would be embraced. For instance, would the U.S. lift sanctions against Russia if it withdrew from Ukraine’s southern region of Crimea?

The U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, for instance, has adopted a hardline approach, as was witnessed this week when she rebuked Russia and announced that the U.S. was not going to rescind its sanctions related to the annexation of Crimea.

It was also reported that Tymoshenko's meeting with Trump irked incumbent Ukrainian President Poroshenko.

"The administration is furious with the meeting," a political consultant with connections to the Poroshenko administration, whose name was not revealed, told Politico, adding that Poroshenko’s team will project as though the meeting "wasn't important, and they will try to ignore it as much as possible.”

However, the consultant added: “Diplomatically, it was a slap in the face. They're mad and don't know what to do, and what will come next.”

Most recently, the White House announced that it would participate in a phone call with Poroshenko Saturday afternoon.