Scholars claim that the Trump administration overestimated the influence of the United States, "on some key issues, neither Russia nor Ukraine listens to the United States."

According to Zhang Hong, a researcher at the Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, currently, Ukraine is not willing to make substantial concessions to Russia on key issues such as territory, security, and joining NATO. The United States did play an important role in the talks between Russia and Ukraine, but the Trump administration did not fully fulfill its promises. After all, on some key issues, both Russia and Ukraine are not willing to listen to the United States. For example, Russia demands that Ukraine recognize Crimea as part of Russia, but Ukraine firmly refuses to make any concessions on territorial issues. Similarly, some of the security demands made by Ukraine, such as peacekeeping requests, have also been rejected by Russia. While the Trump administration can facilitate dialogue, it is indeed unable to persuade both Russia and Ukraine to make significant concessions on core issues. Therefore, while the United States does play a role, it is not a decisive factor. The conflict between Russia and Ukraine is fundamentally a strategic game between the two countries, and neither government will easily make major compromises until the last moment. Therefore, the Trump administration has somewhat overestimated the influence of the United States.