Unlike the President Donald Trump who’s apparently really mad that it is so hard to negotiate a peace accord between Russia and Ukraine. He has privately told his advisers that bringing peace to this conflict is proving much more difficult than he had hoped. This announcement comes a disappointing 93 days after his self-imposed deadline to fix the ongoing war ended with no major progress on this front.
Trump’s latest comments emerged following a meeting with Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre in the Oval Office, where discussions centered on the Ukraine crisis and the broader implications for Europe. Even after this week’s failures, Trump still believes that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants a peaceful solution if only we let him.
Trump’s Peace Deal Proposition
It does indeed take two to tango. Trump went all-in on the assertion that for any of this to work, Ukraine has to want a deal. He underscored the point that for any peace deal to hold, Ukraine will have to meet them halfway.
After reviewing the deal, Trump underlines what he believes to be a key concession from Moscow. He pointed out that Russia has frankly made the decision to not “occupy the entire country. This striking comment demonstrates his conviction that it’s never too late to work out a compromise even in the midst of almost burgeoning warfare.
As a candidate, Trump has the lofty objective of making TPC irrelevant. He has said he wants to have a peace agreement reached by his 100-day (in office) anniversary. He has taken to social media platform Truth Social to directly address Putin, urging him to cease hostilities with a simple yet emphatic message: “Vladimir, STOP!”
Trump went on to blast Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for prolonging the war. He suggested that the war persists in large part because Zelensky rejected a peace plan brokered by the U.S. He constantly points out the deep-seated hatred between Putin and Zelensky, implying that their personal conflict makes mediation difficult, if impossible.
During a recent press conference, Trump bristled at a reporter’s insinuation that he had not exerted enough pressure on Putin. You don’t know the pressure I’m putting on Russia, he shot back. He even bragged that he has been pretty darn tough. He doubled down with the same theme in a subsequent statement. He said, “We’re imposing a great deal of pressure on Putin and Russia understands that.”
Complicated though all this may be, Trump is still looking to score a deal. He called Russia’s invasion a 180-degree turn in timing. To him, it seemed to occur just as he was about to reach agreement on a deal.
What The Author Thinks
While Trump’s persistence in attempting to broker peace is commendable, his constant contradictions and criticisms of Ukraine’s leadership undermine the delicate nature of these negotiations. Peace efforts should focus on collaboration and constructive dialogue, not solely on assigning blame.
Featured image credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr
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