But unlike Biden, Trump has been more direct in engaging with Moscow, and both have taken their own approaches to economic measures to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The United States is the world's biggest provider of military support for Ukraine, but when Trump took office, there were fears that the Republican president would cut or curb this lifeline.
Trump's move in the first half of 2025 to reset economic ties with Moscow also raised concerns about whether Biden-era sanctions aimed at choking revenues for Putin's war machine would be eased.
The president's tone has shifted both towards Putin and regarding the continuation of U.S. military support for Ukraine, raising hope in Kyiv that the U.S. commitment to Ukraine may be as significant, albeit delivered differently, as Biden's.
Putin invaded Ukraine just over 13 months into Biden's White House term. Between February 24, 2022, and January 20, 2025, the U.S. became the world's biggest supplier of weapons and aid for Ukraine's fight, pledging over $175 billion in support.
The Democratic president also signed the Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act of 2022 and led the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, a coalition of about 50 countries coordinating military assistance.
"President Biden was able to organize a broad coalition of Western countries that helped transform the Ukrainian military into a formidable force capable of resisting a much larger and better-funded Russian army supported by Iran and North Korea," Yuriy Boyechko, the CEO of Hope for Ukraine, told Newsweek.
But his approach to arming Ukraine was criticized as piecemeal, as the Biden administration took pains to avoid escalation, opposing Kyiv's use of American equipment against military targets within Russia.
By July 2022, the U.S. had supplied HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System), and on July 6, 2023, Biden approved cluster munitions to Ukraine.
However, deliveries of long-range ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile System) missiles were delayed and eventually allowed, provided they would never be used to hit targets within Russia. Ukraine had been requesting U.S.-made F-16 fighters since 2022, but only started receiving them in July 2024 through third countries.
Other weapons systems that were blocked or held up included Patriot surface-to-air missiles, M1 Abrams tanks, and Gray Eagle drones -- delays which Kyiv said have added to battlefield losses among its forces.
Rather than focusing on direct talks with Moscow, Biden's actions towards Putin centered on sanctions. As a parting shot, his administration imposed another round of measures, bringing the total to over 3,500, according to Statista, which are still in place today.
"The Biden administration's approach did not really include direct negotiations with the Russians," George Beebe, former director of the CIA's Russia analysis and director of grand strategy at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, told Newsweek.
"They approached this by saying 'we're going to put enough economic and military pressure on Russia and isolate Russia internationally and diplomatically turn Russia into a persona non grata,'" Beebe said.
The aim was to force the Russians to recalculate the costs and benefits of the invasion and capitulate, he said, "and that didn't work."
NATO chief Mark Rutte and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz have welcomed Trump's proposal for the U.S. to provide new weapons to Ukraine.
The NATO-coordinated arms plan for Kyiv was unveiled as a novel approach to the direct aid from Biden, which is touted as ensuring the continued flow of American arms to Ukraine, paid for by Europe.
Trump has repeatedly stated that the U.S. had spent $350 billion on helping Ukraine, although the actual amount was significantly less.
But a deal in which NATO and European Union states purchase U.S.-made weapons systems, deliver some to Ukraine, and replace them through agreements with Washington could satisfy Trump's MAGA base, who do not want to see American taxpayers footing the bill.
"Clearly a situation where the Europeans are paying for this is a better deal for the United States than providing aid directly to Ukraine that probably will never be paid back," said Beebe,"that certainly was one of the considerations that President Trump bore in mind."
Rutte said the deal included missiles, ammunition, and air defense, while Trump announced that Patriot missiles -- critical to defend against Russia's drone and missile bombardment on civilian structures -- were "already being shipped," to Ukraine.
The prospect of weapons shipments follows Trump's issuing an ultimatum to Moscow of "severe" tariffs unless Russia agrees to a peace deal within 50 days to end its war in Ukraine. He has since teased a shorter time frame.
These would be, according to Trump, 100 percent secondary tariffs, in which any country doing business with Russia would face a significant levy on selling their products to the U.S.
Demanding Russian action within a deadline is a tactic that differs from Biden's approach, although there are questions about its effectiveness.
Beebe said the Biden administration likely considered such a move but concluded it would rebound against the U.S. in terms of inflation and the prospect of higher global oil prices.
However, Russia realizes that imposing these tariffs on Europe, as well as its major trading partners, Turkey and China, "would go very poorly for the United States," he added,with potential impacts on inflation and global oil prices.
President Donald Trump on July 14 at the White House: "We're gonna be doing very severe tariffs if we don't have a deal in 50 days."
U.S.-based Nova Ukraine said in a statement to Newsweek regarding the 50-day deadline and delivery of U.S weapons: "We have long advocated for decisive U.S. leadership to help Ukraine defend itself and deter further Russian aggression."
Brian Taylor, a political science professor at Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, told Newsweek: "The good news for Ukraine is that...Trump has finally figured out that Putin is the main obstacle to peace."
George Beebe, the director of grand strategy at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, told Newsweek: "We have to focus on a geopolitical compromise that the West concedes that Ukraine won't be in NATO and NATO forces won't be in Ukraine, and Russia, in turn, concedes that it will not block Ukrainian accession to the European Union. So far, neither Biden nor Trump has focused on pursuing that compromise."
Boycheko, whose group provides support to Ukrainian communities on the frontline, said Trump's approach to aiding Ukraine is so far mostly just promises and statements.
If Trump follows through on promises like secondary sanctions and the deployment of the most advanced military capabilities to Ukraine, "then we will be able to compare what was done by the current administration vs the previous administration," he said.
Meanwhile, Taylor said that by deferring these proposed sanctions for 50 days, "Trump left himself plenty of time to change his mind again while Putin keeps bombing Ukrainian cities nightly and his army remains on the offensive."