US President Donald Trump has set in motion a plan to end the Russia-Ukraine war👍 that is in its third year. During his election campaign, Trump had promised that the war in Europe would end within 24 hours of him taking office. While that was an unrealistic and over-the top-boast, he is now working on putting together an acceptable peace plan. But there are lines that neither Russia nor Ukraine would cross, so negotiations won’t be easy. However, Trump has now made a number of moves on the geo-political chess board. Whether all the pieces will fall in place for a lasting peace plan is unclear as it is still early days and no details are yet available.
𝓰Bringing the war to a close without American involvement is impossible but it is important for Washington and Moscow to first clear the air after the Biden years. Joe Biden, whose political career was shaped by the Cold War, remained a Cold war warrior at heart despite the fact that the US had won the ideological war against Communism way back in 1991 with the breakdown of the former Soviet Union. Biden had ensured that a peace deal worked out by Russia and Ukraine a few months after the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine was scuttled. Biden hated Putin, whom he would regularly and publicly address as a "thug".
𒉰Trump does not come with any such historical baggage. He does not share the general American politician's hatred of Putin and Russia and is open to improving relations with Russia. Trump has often publicly acknowledged his admiration for strong authoritarian leaders and his admiration for Putin is well documented. With Trump in the White House, the level of trust with the Kremlin is likely to improve.
🌃The tone was set with the release of an American history teacher, Marc Fogel, detained in Russia during the Biden tenure. Steve Witkoff, a billionaire real estate developer and a close friend of Trump, who is now the US envoy to the Middle East, flew to Moscow and escorted Fogel back home. He was received at the White House by President Trump late Tuesday. Apparently the President had promised Fogel’s mother that her son would be freed once he won the elections. Witkoff is reported to have held a long three hour meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin while in Moscow. Trump’s envoy must have carried the President’s message to the Russian leader.
꧋On Wednesday, Trump had a 90-minute talk with Putin. Taking to his social media platform Truth Social, Trump announced that he had a "lengthy and highly productive" phone call with the Russian leader. "We discussed Ukraine, the Middle East, Energy, Artificial Intelligence, the power of the Dollar, and various other subjects," Trump posted. Steve Witkoff is the first senior American leader to visit Moscow since the Ukraine war. The Biden administration regarded Putin as a pariah and refused to have any contact with him.
🔯"We agreed to work together, very closely, including visiting each other’s Nations. We have also agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately, and we will begin by calling President Zelenskyy, of Ukraine, to inform him of the conversation, something which I will be doing right now," Trump announced.
The US leader spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ꦑafter his conversation with Putin. "Together with the US, we are charting our next steps to stop Russian aggression and ensure lasting peace,’’ the Ukrainian President Zelenskyy said after the hour-long phone call from Trump. Despite a large quantity of arms provided to Ukraine by the Biden administration and NATO allies, the war is not going well for Zelenskyy.
🎃The final contours of a peace deal is not known but the attempt is now on. It could initially mean a ceasefire followed by negotiations between the two sides with America working as the broker.
US defence secretary Peter Hegseth has ruled out Ukraine’s wish for NATOও membership. Trump and many of his cabinet members buy the Russian argument that the expansion of NATO had led to the war in the first place. Hegseth also said that a return to the pre-2014 border is also unrealistic. Security guarantee for Ukraine would have to be provided by troops from Europe and other countries . Under Trump’s watch there will be no American troops on the ground in Ukraine. Trump has been calling for European countries to provide more for their security. The first move has been made by Trump, but whether this will gather steam and lead to the end of the war is not certain.
