Putin bombed Ukraine in response to the first official trip of the US special envoy to Moscow. To Moscow, not to Kyiv. This is a Russian special operation to outplay the Donald Trump administration. I wrote about this in an article for the Atlantic Council after Trump's inauguration and in the recent reports by the Kyiv Security Forum.

Bringing back an American prisoner is something that is important to the US president.

I welcome the fact that an American citizen was brought back home, and wish every single Ukrainian would be brought back home from the Russian captivity.

A war criminal Putin received Trump's public endorsement in front of the entire world and a confirmation that the Kremlin’s approach is right: to wait out, to outsmart, and to eventually win the most important thing for him - the war with Ukraine. And his victory would mean the loss of the entire West.

Incredible efforts are needed from the European Union, the G7, and Ukraine during the visit of the American delegation to Kyiv, during the Ramstein meeting, and the Munich Security Conference to prevent a new Munich Agreement. It would have catastrophic consequences for Ukraine, Europe, and the entire world.

There is no other way than securing military and financial assistance to Ukraine, security guarantees, sanctions against Russia and those who support it, that will deprive Russia of oil and gas revenues.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk - Head of the Kyiv Security Forum, Prime Minister of Ukraine from 2014 to 2016.