Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s latest proposal for peace with Russia, which he will discuss with President Donald Trump on Sunday, is solid on its face, and Trump has expressed cautious optimism about its chances.
“I think we have a good shot” at locking up a deal, Trump told The PostFriday, though he admitted that “every time one [country] wants to” make peace, “the other doesn’t.”
In fact, it’s a fair bet Prime Minister Vladimir Putin won’t accept any dealthat curtails his ability to wage more war in the future.
Not, at least, without significantly more pressure than he’s feeling right now.
Fact is, Vlad needs to feel considerable pain for rejecting serious steps to end the war; to get him to want peace (on terms he sees as less than optimal), the price of more warfare must be made too high.
As the fighting drags into its fourth year, Russia is actually in a tight spot.
Sanctions against Rosneft and Lukoil, its energy giants, have forced Russia to discount its oil exports.
The country’s economy is veering toward outright recession as Russia directs more of its productive capacity to building weapons, and feeds more of its youth into the jaws of death.
Yes, Ukraine withdrew its forces Tuesday from its stronghold in the eastern town of Siversk, but it also delivered a humiliating Christmas Day blow to Putin by recapturing Kupyansk, a key rail hub.
If the Russian strongman thinks a victory on the ground is imminent, he’s more delusional than anyone knew.
The deadlock on the front is promising to grind on and on.
Zelensky’s peace proposal, meanwhile, reasonably calls for firm security guarantees to prevent Russia from invading again, a robust standing army partially funded by Western partners, EU membership and military support from Europe.
In exchange, Kyiv would pull troops out of the areas of the Donbas that it still controls and demilitarize the region. Russia would have to similarly drop back from a comparably sized amount of territory on its side.
There’s no reason in theory why this proposal couldn’t bring an end to the fighting.
Except, again, Putin seems happy to continue the war while only pretending to entertain negotiations he has no aim of concluding.
Which is precisely the reason the West must raise the costs and make it unbearable to continue this pointless conflict.
Trump has, in fact, threatened to get tougher before.
Some of his options include flowing long-range weaponry to Ukraine, enabling it to strike deep into Russian territory.
Indeed, Trump can surge a massive influx of advanced air defense, tanks and fighter jets that would let Ukraine stage a counter-offensive.
Secondary sanctions remain on tap, as well, as does seizure of hundreds of billions of dollars of frozen Russian assets.
This insane war must be ended. Turning up the heat on Putin may be the only way to do that.
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