After three years of bloody war caused by Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, peace is welcome, but it can’t be at the expense of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity. President Trump’s push to end the conflict must focus on Russia ending its assault, not ending Ukraine’s independence from its aggressive neighbor.
Trump insisted during the presidential campaign that he would pursue peace in Ukraine. Sure, Trump seemed very uninterested or knowledgeable about global issues and historically had an odd affinity for Vladimir Putin, but perhaps his vaunted negotiating skills could be deployed to bring about a resolution.
After speaking this week with both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Trump announced he would seek to negotiate an end to the war with Putin, leaving the Ukrainians on the sidelines, before backtracking to include Zelenskyy. This came after newly-confirmed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that Ukraine should step away from its NATO bid and abandon hope that it could emerge from a negotiated peace deal with its full territory intact.
Putin’s own officials couldn’t have put it better themselves, much to the horror of our European allies, who know the dangers of appeasement. Given the opportunity to reassure these allies that U.S. security commitments are solid and that we understand the real threat of Putin’s ambitions, Vice President JD Vance instead yesterday used his speech at the Munich Security Conference to push the fixation of his bosses — Trump and Elon Musk — with culture war issues that have little to do with global security.
Before an audience of defense officials, heads of state, international lawmakers and other high-level functionaries, Vance idiotically stated that in his view, the greatest threat to Europe is not China or Russia but “the threat from within.” This does not even mean genuine rising threats like misinformation and authoritarianism — which Vance certainly doesn’t seem to mind, as these are essentially bedrocks of the administration he forms part of — but the amorphous and ever-present boogeyman of woke or DEI or the term du jour.
This notion probably came as news to Zelenskyy, who has spent three years now contending with what seems to us a much bigger threat to Europe, Russia’s armed forces and the despot willing to use them to further his designs. Zelenskyy, who’s had to keep a cool head as he’s led his country through this unexpected crisis, diplomatically pushed back on the Trump cadre’s position, noting the U.S.’s long-standing support and reminding Trump that Putin is a pretty well-known liar.
Fortunately, other European leaders seem to be on the same page, with officials like French President Emmanuel Macron rejecting the idea of a Ukrainian “capitulation” to Russia. Unfortunately, the U.S. has been the most materially significant supporter of Ukraine, and our stepping back would significantly harm the war effort as well as the possibility for a settlement that does not just hand Russia a win in a way that has disastrous long-term security implications.
More broadly, this approach paired with a takedown of U.S. foreign aid and a reflexively antagonistic posture towards longtime allies lays the groundwork for a West that’s increasingly leaving the U.S. behind, dismissing us as isolated and irrelevant. You can bet that these are openings for adversary countries to fill in.
