For the first time since the start of the full-scale war, Ukrainians took to the streets to protest restrictions on the operational freedom of anti-corruption organizations. While President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has since applied the brakes, questions remain about how straight Ukraine's path toward a modern rule-of-law state truly is.

According to Kristjan Prikk, Estonia's ambassador to the United States, the Ukrainian protests barely registered with the American public, as domestic political issues dominated public discourse.

"These protests, and the legislative changes that prompted them, reached Americans relatively little," Prikk said. "U.S. domestic politics and other political topics had taken over the airwaves and this didn't really spark any significant public commentary or attract much attention. That said, everyone who follows Ukraine closely — whether out of personal interest or professional obligation — certainly took note. Unfortunately, from Washington's perspective as well, last week's events did nothing to make Ukraine's situation any easier."

On a more positive note, Prikk added, "President Zelenskyy and the broader Ukrainian leadership have clearly taken the public's message to heart and are now working on a solution that makes sense both domestically and to Ukraine's supporters."

The ambassador also said it was clear that Trump felt personally offended by Putin, which led the U.S. president on Monday to shorten the 50-day deadline given to Russia to end the war in Ukraine.

"As things stand, we can definitely say Trump has had enough. We've seen that the speed of this so-called ultimatum ticking down can change," Prikk noted. "On Monday morning, President Trump said that, in light of Putin's actions over the past few days and how he's responded to Trump's own outreach, he's shortening the ultimatum to 10 or 12 days. This really demonstrates something we've observed in other cases too: Trump's judgments and reactions can evolve quickly. At the moment, he clearly feels personally insulted by Putin's conduct regarding Ukraine. He believes his ultimatum has been cynically exploited by Putin and Russia for military gains, rather than being used to reach some sort of political settlement during the 50-day window."

Prikk said Trump's decision was a clear message to Russia that the ball is now in their court and that they must act if they wish to avoid further sanctions.

"Today's message was clearly intended to push toward a political agreement as quickly as possible. We'll now see how Russia responds. If past behavior is any indication — not just in this war, but more broadly — Russia tends to respond to political pressure, at best, with some sort of misdirection. They usually try to create the illusion of negotiations and shift the blame to the other party," Prikk explained.

According to the ambassador, Trump believes his own political legacy is on the line, which has driven him toward a tougher stance.

"Trump sees the current trajectory of the war as increasingly tied to his own political legacy, even though he likes to emphasize at every opportunity that, in his view, the war wouldn't have unfolded this way at all if he had been in office in 2022," Prikk said. "That sense of the war's political weight and its impact on his legacy is becoming more and more evident in his statements. At least for now, that's pushing him to publicly support providing Ukraine with additional arms. Though it's worth noting that, in practice, most of the weapons deliveries continue to be funded through packages passed during the Biden administration, even if there have been a few significant and regrettable interruptions."

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