As a candidate seeking a second term in the White House, Donald Trump repeatedly boasted to voters that he had a plan to end Russia’s war in Ukraine on the first day of his second term. That was 304 days ago. In the months since the president’s return to power, the crisis has become far worse, with deadly Russian attacks becoming more frequent.
The good news is that the Republican administration is finalizing its work on a peace plan. The bad news is that Team Trump has crafted the plan with Russia, resulting in a one-sided blueprint. The New York Times reported:
A plan to end the war in Ukraine, negotiated between the Trump administration and Russia, would require Kyiv to surrender territory, significantly reduce the size of its army and relinquish some types of weaponry, according to officials familiar with the proposal. The 28-point proposal, drafted without Ukrainian involvement, reflects the maximalist demands the Kremlin has made throughout the war, which Ukraine has long denounced as amounting to capitulation.
The circumstances surrounding the negotiations were themselves bizarre: The Trump administration, while working on the future of Ukraine, decided to exclude the U.S.’ ostensible allies in Ukraine from the talks. The president and his team also excluded Congress from the process, including the White House’s Republican allies.
The result is a plan — that has not yet been formally unveiled — in which Russia would be rewarded with Ukrainian territory for launching an unprovoked invasion, sparking the most serious national security crisis in Europe since World War II.
This comes just two months after the American president surprised many by saying he believed Ukraine, with European Union assistance, could win back its territory from Russia and return the country to its original borders.
Those who assumed that the Republican would inevitably abandon his own position were correct.
Indeed, as part of the same proposed agreement, Ukraine wouldn’t just surrender much of its sovereign territory — it would also agree to shrink its military and abandon weapons Russia doesn’t want it to have (making a defense against future incursions impossible). What’s more, the blueprint intends to block foreign troops from operating on Ukrainian-controlled territory after a proposed ceasefire.
The Putin regime, meanwhile, would make no meaningful concessions.
The Times’ report, which has not been independently verified by MS NOW, added, “A senior Ukrainian official said the Trump administration had informed Ukraine of the talks but had not sought Kyiv’s input. The terms in the plan were unacceptable to Kyiv, the official said.” That was a predictable response. Relatedly, if Team Trump were to present this agreement to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a fait accompli, U.S. officials should keep their expectations low. The timetable for publicly releasing the plan is unclear, as is what the administration intends to do when this proposal is inevitably rejected by everyone outside the White House and the Kremlin. Watch this space.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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