President Donald Trump is being “taken for a ride” by Russian President Vladimir Putin, The Guardian editorial board wrote in a scathing analysis published on Friday.
This comes as U.S. diplomats move toward pushing for a peace plan that pressures Ukraine to give Russia much of what it wants — and amid reporting that White House adviser Steve Witkoff went behind Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s back to coach Russian counterparts on how to persuade Trump of their view.
“Mr Putin has no interest in a ceasefire followed by talks where Ukraine’s rights as a sovereign nation would be defended and reasserted. He seeks the capitulation and reabsorption of Russia’s neighbour into Moscow’s orbit,” wrote the board. “Whether that is achieved through battlefield attrition, or through a Trump-backed deal imposed on Ukraine, is a matter of relative indifference. On Thursday, the Russian president reiterated his demand that Ukraine surrender further territory in its east, adding that the alternative would be to lose it through ‘force of arms’. Once again, he described Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s government as ‘illegitimate’, and questioned the legally binding nature of any future agreement.”
This is nothing new; however, the board noted, there is a unique danger at this moment of Trump trying to help Putin accomplish this objective.
“Mr Trump is being strung along again,” wrote the board. “But the clear and present danger is that a combination of ‘peacemaker-in-chief‘ presidential vanity, a desire to do business with Russia and Mr Zelenskyy’s sudden political vulnerability will tempt him to do Mr Putin’s dirty work for him. After four years of resistance, sacrifice and suffering, Ukraine must not be bullied into a cynical carve-up, which would leave it permanently vulnerable to Russia’s aggression, jeopardise Europe’s future security and inspire authoritarian regimes worldwide.”
Trump has always expressed sympathies toward Putin, who was found by an extensive federal investigation to have interfered on Trump’s behalf in the 2016 election. But in recent months, Trump has grown more conflicted, expressing frustration that Putin is uninterested in peace.
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