The plan would leave Ukraine’s democracy in jeopardy and its sovereignty compromised
F
or a moment, Donald Trump seemed to have seen the light on Ukraine. After promising “severe consequences” in August if Vladimir Putin continued to obstruct ceasefire talks – but then doing nothing as Putin did just that – Trump finally on 22 October imposed significant sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, seriously compromising Putin’s ability to finance his invasion. But now, with his 28-point peace plan for Ukraine, drafted by US and Russian officials without Ukrainian or European participation, Trump has reverted to his pro-Putin norm.
Trump’s plan would reward Putin for invading Ukraine while leaving Ukraine’s democracy in jeopardy. The plan’s ringing proclamation that “Ukraine’s sovereignty will be confirmed” rings hollow when so much of the plan compromises that sovereignty. A Kremlin dream, the plan would be a Ukrainian nightmare.
Betraying his real-estate background, Trump continues to treat the Ukrainian conflict as a mere territorial dispute, as if handing Putin a chunk of Ukrainian land will satisfy the despot. But Putin’s war is not about controlling a charred swath of deindustrialized territory in eastern Ukraine. It is about Ukraine’s democracy – and Putin’s desire to snuff it out so it no longer serves as an enticing model for the Russian people of the accountable government that Putin’s deepening dictatorship denies them.
