Trump meeting with Zelenskyy and European leaders to talk Ukraine peace efforts
The Trump administration will present to Ukraine and Europe proposals that will be hard to swallow.
Handing the country’s eastern Donbas region to Russia would involve the movement of large numbers of Ukrainians who do not want to live under Russian rule, as well as established defensive lines and equipment.
Most of all, it would risk dividing Ukraine and threaten Zelenskyy’s leadership, something Putin is well aware of.
The deal hinted at by Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and Secretary of State Marco Rubio would also be hard for Western nations.
Witkoff said Sunday that security guarantees for Ukraine could be modeled on NATO’s Article 5, “but not from NATO, directly from the United States and other European countries.”
Were that the case, then Trump would need to explain to his base that, in principle, U.S. troops would be on the line.
Ukraine would also need to have faith that while its civilians and troops pull out of any regions handed to Russia, Trump would not undermine those guarantees in public.
For Putin, the risk is giving up his hopes of bringing Kyiv into Russia’s sphere of influence. He might be thinking long-term Russia can reorganize and fight again. But Europe is now arming itself to prevent exactly that outcome.
Putin will have liked being feted in Alaska. While he will hope that this is the kind of treatment he can expect in the future, it was another bitter pill for the West to swallow.
