Trump Is Wrong about Ukraine. Here’s Why It Matters.

Three years ago, Russia invaded Ukraine. This followed Russia’s forced annexation of Crimea in 2014. In the past week, President Trump suggested that Ukraine started the war with Russia. He’s wrong. Here’s why it matters.

Aiding Ukrainian Refugees

Almost three years ago, the church that I pastored served as a collection point for donations of clothing and bedding for Ukrainian refugees (see the picture above). Our community donated bags and bags of clothing. People from California shipped new sleeping bags for the relief effort. Overall, we packed and shipped over 1900 banana boxes of clothing and bedding to the Ukraine/Poland border to assist people fleeing the war. We didn’t do that because Ukraine started the war; we did it because Russia started the war.

The Church of the Nazarene (the denomination I’m part of) has churches in Ukraine. Our missionaries had to leave, yet the churches continued to minister. We also have Nazarene churches in Russia. In fact, I had the privilege of participating in a short-term mission trip to Russia in 2001. My statement that Russia started the war is not grounded in any hatred of the Russian people. Instead, it is based on the facts.

In 2022, President Trump Recognized that Russia Started the War against Ukraine

Everyone outside Putin’s circle of “friends” recognizes that Russia started the war. That’s what makes President Trump’s recent comments so mistaken. You see, back in 2022, President Trump said this: “I knew that [Putin] always wanted Ukraine. I used to talk to him about it. I said, ‘You can’t do it. You’re not gonna do it.’ But I could see that he wanted it” (“Trump calls Putin ‘genius’ and ‘savvy’ for Ukraine invasion”).

So in 2022, after the invasion, President Trump acknowledged that “Putin always wanted Ukraine” and said that he told Putin “You can’t do it.” Now, Trump claims that Ukraine started the war. He was right in 2022; he’s wrong now.

Political Discourse vs. Speaking the Truth

Now, that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t have discussions about how we support Ukraine, and how much we are willing to spend to do so. Our resources are not unlimited. Our elected leaders have to decide how to use those resources. Economics in a nutshell is about the allocation of limited resources among competing priorities. If we as a nation decide to limit our financial support of Ukraine, that’s legitimate. But we should not try to justify that by rewriting history.

Why It Matters that Ukraine Didn’t Start the War

Okay, why am I writing about this on my blog, which deals with spiritual formation and related subjects? Here’s why: as Christians, our credibility is one of the most important assets we have. That’s why Jesus told us to let our “yes” be “yes” and our “no” be “no” (Matthew 5:37). We are called to be witnesses. We tell the story of how God has transformed us and continues to shape us in the image of Jesus. If we don’t have credibility, why would anyone believe our testimony?

As Christians, we do not lose our ability to participate in political discourse. However, we must remember that our allegiance to the Kingdom of God supersedes our allegiance to anything or anyone else. That means two things. First, we value God’s Kingdom more than our national identity. I am a Christian first, then an American. Second, it means that we support our brothers and sisters in Christ no matter where they live. Ukrainian Christians are our brothers and sisters. Russian Christians are our brothers and sisters. They are not “second-class citizens” in the Kingdom of God.

We are called to seek first God’s Kingdom and His righteousness. When we do that, everything else in our lives lines up in its proper place. To put it bluntly: our support of any politician or program must always be subordinate to our allegiance to Jesus Christ. And that means that when our leaders are wrong – regardless of whether they are on “our side” or not – we need to say so. As Abraham Lincoln famously said: “Sir, my concern is not whether God is on my side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.”