• On Tuesday, former President Trump endorsed Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling his strategy “wonderful” and “smart.”
• Putin announced on Thursday that Russia would conduct a “special military operation” in Ukraine.
• Some senior US diplomats have taken to Twitter to condemn Trump’s support for Putin and the conflict.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced early Thursday morning that Russia would conduct a “special military operation” in Ukraine.

Just before the announcement, veteran US diplomats took to Twitter this week to condemn former President Trump after expressing his admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin – who on Tuesday formally recognized Ukraine’s breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states.

“I went there yesterday, and there was a TV screen, and I said, ‘That’s genius.’ Putin declares much of Ukraine – of Ukraine – Putin declares it independent. Oh, that’s wonderful,” Trump said on the “Clay Travis and Buck Sexton show Tuesday.” “I said, ‘How smart is that?’ And he’s going to come in and be a peacekeeper.”

“We could use it on our southern border. It is the strongest peacekeeping force I have ever seen. There were more army tanks than I have ever seen,” added Trump. “They’ll be fine keeping the peace. No, but think about it. Here’s a guy who’s very savvy. … I know him very well – very, very well.”

Ivo Daalder, former US ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, disagreed.

“There’s nothing ‘clever’ or ‘smart’ or ‘genius’ about it. It’s diabolical. Plain and simple,” Daalder said. noted on Twitter. He called Russia’s actions “an unprovoked full-scale war against an independent country that poses no threat to Russia.”

“I knew Putin very well. I got along with him very well. He liked me. I liked him,” Trump said. “I mean, you know, he’s a badass, he’s got a lot of charm and a lot of pride. But the way he – and he loves his country, you know? He loves his country.”

Trump added that he and Putin used to discuss how he “wanted” Ukraine.

“I used to tell him about it. I said, ‘You can’t do it. You’re not going to do it.’ But I could see he wanted it. I used to ask him. We talked about it at length,” Trump said.

A retired foreign service officer, Steven Pifer, argued that if Trump were in power during the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, “he would try to blackmail Kyiv for personal gain”.

Stout conservatives such as FOX News’ right-wing pundit Tucker Carlson agree with Trump in praising Putin and calling on the United States not to act in Ukraine’s defense.

“It might be worth asking, since this is getting pretty serious, what is it really about? Why do I hate Putin so much?” noted Carlson on Tuesday. “Has Putin ever called me a racist? Did he threaten to fire me for disagreeing with him?”

Carlson, who hosts a top cable news show, also taken from excavations to Alexander Vindman, former director of European affairs for the United States National Security Council, who urged the United States to interfere with the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Vindman, who is Ukrainian, responded in a Twitter feed saying that Trump and Carlson are a “game on Russian state media on a loop.” He added: “You attract and embolden Putin.”

—Alexander S. Vindman (@AVindman) February 24, 2022

Russian troops sat on Ukraine’s borders for days before attacking, marking the first European war in years. Thousands of lives are at stake.

“There’s good and there’s bad in this world. Those who now praise Putin, show respect for Putin, call Putin a genius, will regret those words once this horrible war begins,” Michael McFaul, former United States Ambassador to Russia, tweeted Wednesday.