Another Attempt at Peace in Ukraine

 

“President Trump's latest foray into Ukraine diplomacy is having the usual effects. When Mr. Trump's 28-point plan, twice the size of Woodrow Wilson's famous Fourteen Points in World War I, first leaked, supporters of stronger Western backing for Ukraine were appalled. Mr. Trump's most impassioned critics returned to their happy place, reviving Russiagate charges that because of either blackmail or ideological affinity, the American president is a Putin fanboy, eager to do the Kremlin's bidding. More soberly, Ukraine's supporters on both sides of the Atlantic argued that Mr. Trump wasn't bringing the West's enormous advantages in wealth, population and productive capacity to bear on Russia.

 

Over the weekend, things changed. By the time Secretary of State Marco Rubio briefed the press Sunday, the original 28-point document had evolved. Like the U.S. Constitution in the mind of a liberal Supreme Court justice, the proposals were less a fixed set of rules than, as Mr. Rubio put it: "a living, breathing document." What critics once called an ultimatum -- that Ukraine must accept the proposals by Thanksgiving or face a cutoff of American aid -- transitioned into a guideline. Rather than an American diktat that all parties must accept, the proposals were more like talking points. Ukraine, Russia, North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies: Everybody gets to join in the sausage-making process out of which, the Trump administration hopes, a final agreement will emerge.

 

In other words, Mr. Trump's 28 Points (apparently reduced to 19 after U.S.-Ukraine discussions in Geneva on Sunday) were less the outline of a settlement that the U.S. intended to enforce than an effort to kick-start a stalled peace process. Whether this latest peace initiative will be any more successful than past efforts remains to be seen, but without making a single commitment to Ukraine, Russia or the European Union, Mr. Trump yet again thrust himself into the center of global events. The G-20 summit in Johannesburg and the COP30 environmental conference in Brazil were reduced to diplomatic sideshows. And the Europeans were once again reminded of how their weakness puts them at the mercy of both Moscow and Washington.

 

In the absence of a serious Western approach, events are being driven by the deteriorating military situation, European weakness, Mr. Trump's ironclad refusal to ride to Europe's rescue, and Mr. Putin's determination to inflict a major defeat not only on Ukraine, but on NATO.

 

On the ground, the events have devolved into a conflict of attrition, and Ukraine seems to be slowly but inexorably losing.

 

Both countries are sustaining heavy blows and suffering economic and political strains, but Ukraine appears harder-hit. A massive corruption scandal involving close associates of President Volodymyr Zelensky has weakened the government even as conflict-weariness spreads among the Ukrainian people.

 

As for Europe, almost four years into a conflict that engages their vital interests, neither France nor Germany has a coherent response to the crisis. The use of roughly $200 billion in frozen Russian assets as a fund to support Ukraine, the one practical idea emerging from the bureaucratic dithering and buck-passing that Europeans mistake for realistic policymaking, is currently blocked by Belgium.

 

Britain, meanwhile, aspiring to play the role of Ukraine's staunchest defender, has sunk into governmental dysfunction at home and insignificance abroad rarely seen since the Wars of the Roses.

 

If there's one consistent theme in Mr. Trump's foreign policy, it's that rich and technologically advanced American allies must take primary responsibility for their own security. In the 1990s, European fecklessness as murderous wars broke out after Yugoslavia's dissolution ultimately forced a reluctant President Bill Clinton to intervene in the Balkans. President Trump doesn't want to repeat that experience and, as far as one can tell, he believes that no result in Ukraine, up to and including the Russian conquest of the entire country, would justify America bailing out hapless Europeans yet again.

 

Washington is therefore confronting Europe with a simple choice: Back up Ukraine or watch it go under.

 

For Mr. Putin, the Donbas is a tasty appetizer, but not the main course. He hopes psychological and military pressure will break Ukraine's fighting spirit, allowing him to annex the center and south of the country before he makes peace. This is why, despite everything, the Ukrainians and the Europeans are engaging with the ever-evolving 28 Points.

 

Even if diplomacy brings a truce rather than an enduring peace, stopping the fighting on almost any terms looks better than prolonging a conflict that grows ever more desperate for Zelensky.” [1]

 

EU doesn’t understand this. EU is killing Zelensky literally. Dead political body - Macron is touching and hugging Zelensky all the time, promising him dozens of expensive warplanes, produced out of thin air by financially suffocating French government. Real horror show.

 

The conflict is growing more desperate for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky due to mounting pressures from military setbacks and relentless Russian attacks, a significant domestic corruption scandal, and intense international diplomatic pressure to negotiate a peace plan widely seen as unfavorable to Ukraine.

 

Key factor contributing to this desperation:

 

    Battlefield Strain: Ukraine is increasingly showing signs of strain on the front lines after years of conflict against a larger and better-equipped Russian military. Russia is making slow but steady advances and has relentlessly bombed Ukraine's power plants, causing severe electricity shortages on the brink of winter, and energy shortage for military-industrial complex.

 

1. Another Attempt at Peace in Ukraine. Walter Russell Mead.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 25 Nov 2025: A13.