We know how Russian President Vladimir Putin thinks about Ukraine. In speeches and written manifestos, Putin has rejected the legitimacy of his neighbor’s sovereignty and even its distinct identity. He sees Ukraine as part of a greater Russian nation,

President Trump’s admiration for President Vladimir Putin of Russia has been endlessly dissected, but the American leader’s policy shifts since taking office again could have profound effects.

In the fiery spat between Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, it was a sentence that went largely unnoticed, but said quite a lot about the closeness the US leader thinks he has with Russia's Vladimir Putin.