Trump’s peace deal: a fairy tale that ends in failure
Despite the hullabaloo over "peace deal" progress over the past month, nothing has fundamentally changed: Russia continues its intense missile and drone strikes against Ukrainian cities and towns, and heavy fighting along the frontline persists. U.S. President Donald Trump's "peace by force" approach has so far been applied only in one direction—against Ukraine—while the U.S. leadership stubbornly refuses to acknowledge the Kremlin's open mockery of Trump's efforts. Every claim of progress toward a peace deal has been followed by demonstrative, deliberate strikes on civilians, which have killed dozens of people, and have effectively sent a loud message to the world: "Yes, we are murderers and war criminals, and you can do nothing about it." The phrase "Vladimir, stop!" is quickly becoming a new punchline to emphasize the impotence of a man who once boasted about moving mountains. Given these developments, each new round of communication from the White House has been deeply disappointing, reaffirming that Ukrainians should not expect anything positive from Washington.
The U.S. peace proposal—presented as the final offer, and proposing recognition of occupied Ukrainian territories as Russian, without providing any security guarantees to Ukraine—has zero chance of being approved by Kyiv. The proposal rewards Russia for its aggression, and offers Ukraine nothing, except a guaranteed new wave of attacks once Moscow rebuilds its forces. In fact, Ukraine does not need U.S. mediation for this kind of deal, which is essentially a surrender.
The good news is that the EU firmly stands behind Ukraine, and Ukraine has sufficient funding to withstand the aggression until at least mid-2026. Air defense is still a weak point, as only Patriot systems are capable of intercepting ballistic missile strikes. Once the U.S. withdraws, Russia will inevitably exploit this vulnerability heavily, with civilians likely to suffer the most—potentially triggering a new wave of refugees leaving Ukraine. Yet this will not significantly impact the frontlines, or Ukraine’s overall ability to resist the aggression.
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