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President Donald Trump is ordering Volodymyr Zelensky to do what he simply can’t do, judging from the reported terms of the latest Ukraine war “peace” deal the White House has put on the table.
The plan, for starters, would force Ukraine to recognize Russian sovereignty over Crimea, which Moscow annexed more than a decade ago.
Zelensky has doggedly refused to do that.
No wonder talks ended Wednesday with no progress.
After all, that would be a massive strategic loss for his nation — and for Europe and the United States, too, as it would create a beachhead for greater Russian aggression.
It could also spark a civil war in Ukraine.
What’s more, Zelensky doesn’t even have the power to do agree to such a concession, as it would violate Ukraine’s constitution.
Trump is also demanding the Ukrainian leader sign off on a lock-in of the front lines, effectively ceding control of occupied areas in Luhansk, Donetsk and elsewhere to Russia, and that he give up on any plans to join NATO, in exchange for “robust security guarantees.”
(Never mind that the guarantees Ukrainians got in 1994 for giving up nuclear weapons didn’t seem to do them much good.)
Bottom line: Trump is asking Zelensky to make massive national-security concessions while abandoning hopes of a more realistic treaty and concrete security that might make such concessions strategically tenable — and allow him to try and sell the Ukrainian people on the bargain.
By contrast, Russia is asked to give up little: It would have to withdraw from Kharkiv and allow free travel on the Dnieper River.
At the same time, Team Trump is threatening to wash its hands of the matter entirely if this deal fails to get done — and the president himself took Zelensky to task on social media for his stance.
It’s impossible for America to shrug its shoulders and let this conflict play out on its own and still remain unaffected by the outcome.
Trump can’t simply blame the war on Joe Biden and wash his hands of responsibility for what happens on his watch.
Ironically, that’s what Biden tried to do with his botched Afghanistan bugout: Blame Trump for it, since he’d set a path toward pulling out US troops during his first term.
The Americans needlessly killed during that pullout and the ground ceded to the Taliban was entirely on Biden.
As the fallout will be on Trump if he abandons Ukraine.
Oh, and the stakes are vastly higher here.
True, Russia appears to have a stronger hand, and Trump’s not wrong to want to get to a cease-fire quickly.
To do that, Ukraine will have to make some concessions, especially if Trump won’t change course, side unequivocally with Kyiv and massively up US aid.
And even then, it’s not clear Ukraine could roll back the Russians.
The question of Crimea, too, is very nearly insoluble.
But make no mistake: Vladimir Putin started this war, and is 100% responsible for it.
He’s the villain and deserve punishment, not rewards.
If “realism” means some concessions, they should be as little as possible. And they must ensure he won’t (better yet, can’t) reignite more bloodshed down the road.
Alas, the White House has more or less positioned itself as a legitimator of Putin’s irredentist claims.
Worse, it’s seems to be under the delusion that its latest proposal can lead to a lasting peace — even if it somehow were to be enacted in anything close to its current form, which it won’t be.
The speed of the push, the public repudiations of Zelensky and Steven Witkoff’s mission to Moscow all suggest the White House is racing to cross off a campaign promise before the 100-day mark — and it has every sign of proving to be a failure.
For Ukraine, Europe, Russians, Americans and, yes, Trump’s own reputation.