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On Thursday, for a change, it was President Vladimir Putin who provoked President Trump’s frustration. “Vladimir, STOP!” Trump trumpeted over his Truth Social megaphone after Russia launched another brutal attack on Kyiv, killing at least 12 people and injuring dozens more.
A day earlier, Trump’s more familiar target had been President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, whose wrongdoing was to say that Ukraine would never formally cede Crimea to its Russian occupiers. In Trump’s view, Ukraine “lost” Crimea years ago and was now losing the war, so for Zelensky to raise the issue at all only served to complicate the deal the White House was pushing. “We’re very close to a Deal, but the man with ‘no cards to play’ should now, finally, GET IT DONE,” Trump wrote.
If they served no other purpose, the back-to-back pronouncements provided an illustration of how Trump understands the conflict — and perhaps why he has had so little success in halting it.
His rebuke of “Vladimir” was hardly angry; that emotion has been reserved for Zelensky. The post addressed to Putin read more like disappointment that Russia was not following Trump’s game plan. “Not necessary, and very bad timing” was how he put it.
In Trump’s understanding, the situation is clear. Ukraine is never going to get Crimea back and will never be in NATO, and it’s not likely to drive the Russians from the territory they’ve seized in eastern Ukraine. So here’s the deal: Accept the realities, adjust the front line a bit here and there and “get the Peace Deal DONE!” Europeans? They’re irrelevant — this is between the heavies, Trump and Putin.
Trump may be right about the military lay of the land at this juncture, and nobody would disagree that the fighting should stop. The American and European goal should be an unconditional cease-fire followed by negotiations, with the West firmly lined up behind Ukraine. Zelensky has agreed to that; Putin has not.
Trump’s “deal,” however, seems not to distinguish between a cease-fire and a settlement. He appears not to care that there is no moral equivalence between Russia and Ukraine in this conflict — that Putin is solely responsible for this criminal war, not Zelensky; that any settlement must involve European allies, who are far more imperiled by Russian aggression than the United States, and will be critical to future stability; that any settlement must include security guarantees for Ukraine, and that Americans mining minerals in Ukraine is not a guarantee. He fails to see that his big, beautiful deal is really tantamount to a Ukrainian surrender, and so unacceptable to Ukraine.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio probably does understand, and it’s easy to understand why he chose to skip the Ukraine cease-fire talks this week in London. He would have had a hell of a time trying to present the Trump deal to Britain, France and Germany, not to mention Ukraine. Especially since so much of the White House stance contradicts Rubio’s strong support for Ukraine when he was in the Senate.
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