The roots of Donald Trump’s animus toward Ukraine — an issue with profound consequences should he be elected again — can be found in a yearlong series of events spanning 2016 and 2017.

Donald Trump reportedly asked Vladimir Putin for his advice on whether the US should help arm Ukraine at their first in-person meeting. The Republican presidential nominee, who has been vocal in his criticism of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky,

According to a report from the New York Times, Donald Trump's hostility toward Ukraine originated during a meeting in 2017 with Russian President Vladimir Putin where the recently elected former president asked the Russian strongman for advice.

Johnson believes that Trump's unpredictability would have been enough to convince Putin not to risk starting a war with a sovereign state. According to Johnson, from the Kremlin's perspective, there was a risk that Trump could take an attack on a European country as an insult to America and the world order.