Trump Collusion With Putin in the Ukraine
Actions Speak Louder Than Words
The Mueller report really did clear Trump of all known collusion with Russia during the 2016 election, even though we do know Russia did help and want Trump to get elected. Mueller just did not find any real collusion between the Trumps and Putin during their investigation. That is not to say it did not happen. It is like any crime that gets away because police cannot find the evidence to convict. Just how it goes.
That was then.
Trump and the Ukraine
Trump, for whatever business reason, wants Putin to like him like a partner. Putin is wily enough to fool Trump with accolades so Trump appeases Putin on international issues. Appeasement is a cousin of collusion, it is a fine line.
Trump may withhold some $250 million aid from the Ukraine, a budding democracy carved out from the old USSR. The Ukraine was Russia's most important area for economic development and farmland, which is why Putin is still trying to use his unmarked soldiers (called, Little Green Men) and weapons to destabilize the Ukraine government in any way it can. Putin would love for Trump to cancel the Ukrainian aid that they desperately need. The mere fact that Putin may have suggested this to Trump and that Trump is considering it comes close to collusion. If Putin did not suggest it, then Trump, on his own, is trying to gain favor with Putin via appeasement. Maybe because Trump feels like he could lose the 2020 election and hopes for his renowned Trump Tower in Moscow, No big surprise there, should this actually happen in 2021 or more.
Since the war in the Ukraine and in Crimea, Putin has humorously said that Russian forces did not seize the Crimea or parts of the Ukraine in the 2014 war there. Trump astonishingly said that he believes Putin! Trump is a useful idiot for Putin. Trump is all about himself and what he can gain in wealth should he lose in 2020.
The Ukraine
Since Crimea and the Ukrainian war in 2014, research and investigations clearly show evidence that Russian military units, in unmarked uniforms, made a major difference in both areas. In the Ukraine, in August, 2014, during the horrific battle of Ilovaisk, near Donetsk, when the Ukrainian military was pushing back the DRA (forces with Russian aid), Putin gave the green light for 3500 Russian soldiers with 60 tanks, 320 APCs (all without markings or insignia) to intervene directly. This force would overwhelm the Ukrainian forces and ended up surrounding about 1500 in the town. Once this occurred, by late August, Putin ordered his troops to allow the Ukrainians to escape via a safe corridor towards Novakaterynivka. As the convoy of 1000 (500 remained in the town) began its escape, the Russians started to massacre them at Chervonosilske and Hortbatenko. Survivors of the ordeal clearly state the ambush was from Russian soldiers or mercenaries being paid by Russia due to the expertise, weapons, and tanks they saw or found in battle debris. The few captured enemy admitted the same. They had come from Russian units near the Ukraine and were paid extra for their mercenary work. Once done, they would return to their military units.
It is estimated that some 1400 Ukrainians were killed overall during the escape along a cease fire corridor and those resisting in Ilovaisk.
Trump, at the very least, will appease Putin if the aid package to the Ukraine is cancelled for no real reason. There is no reason for it as Ukraine needs America's help and $250 million is a drop in the bucket when it comes to foreign aid. At worst, Trump is acting upon a suggestion from Putin or his staff to cancel the aid package in exchange for a business deal after Trump is not president. Since the private discussions between Putin and Trump are unknown, neither the right or left can truly refute this possibility.
Trump's actions speak much louder about appeasement and collusion than his lies of denial.