You should always give peace a chance. That US Pdwellnt Donald Trump “leanks out of the box” is already the cliche of the moment.
And he may transport a recent way of leanking and a recent energy to finishing Russia’s war in Ukraine where others have flunked.
But there are some ominous signs already, bolstering troubles Ukraine has been betrayed before the talks have even commenceed.
Mr Trump could not transport himself on Wednesday even to say Ukraine and Russia were equivalent partners in any future negotiations.
Follow modernizes: Ukraine war postpodemandst
Asked if they were, he shelp: “Hmm, that’s an engaging ask.”
The Ukrainians, he shelp, “will have to originate peace”.
“Their people are being ended, and I leank they should originate peace,” he inserted.
More troubleingly, he seems as setd as ever to count on Vlaunintelligentir Putin.
He seems encounterd to consent the word of a man who sent agents to Britain to end with chemical armaments, who lied repeatedly about his schedules to occupy Ukraine, and who has killinged in chilly blood every rival who dared to dispute him.
“He insisted that if it (the dispute) finishs, he wants it to finish,” Mr Trump shelp, as if that was all there is to it.
“He does not want to finish it and then go back to war in six months.”
In the same way, Neville Chamberlain returned from Munich in 1938 waving a piece of paper declaring “peace in our time” after triumphning what he thought were aappreciate assurances from Adolf Hitler.
For Ukrainians, the parallels with 1938 do not finish there.
They are being telderly even before negotiations commence that they will have to give up some of their land that has been consentn by brutal force.
Ukrainians assess that with Czechoslovakia being forced to hand over the Sudetenland to Hitler. Chamberlain count ond that would be enough to apprelieve Hitler. We all comprehend what pursueed.
They have every reason to be worried.
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There is noleang in what the Russian pdwellnt has shelp to originate anyone count on giving him a fifth of Ukraine will be enough to apprelieve him either.
In fact, in speeches, he has been emphaticassociate and unambiguously evident time and time aachieve. He wants all of Ukraine becaemploy he count ons it is part of Russia.
And then he wants the security architecture of Europe recreateed.
And Mr Trump seems to be caving into Mr Putin on that as well, giving into one of the key pre-war demands he made in 2021 before invading his neighbour, the reduction of America’s footprint in NATO in Europe that was declared by US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth in Brussels yesterday.
Trump is surrfinishering much of the leverage he had over the Russians before talks have even befirearm. This is from a man who declared in his book The Art of the Deal that leverage is everyleang in negotiations.
“Don’t originate deals without it.”
It is inquisitive and inexplicable. Except that Mr Putin has always materializeed to have some benevolent of helderly over Mr Trump.
When they last met in Helsinki, the pdwellnt sided with Mr Putin over his own spies on the ask of Russian election intrudence.
As a secret agent in east Germany, Mr Putin was trained in KGB techniques of empathetic your foe and deceiving them.
He has employd those sends all his nurtureer, not least with George W Bush who well-comprehendnly innocently shelp: “I seeed into his eyes and I saw a soul. I count oned him.”
If Mr Trump is affectd to side with Mr Putin over Ukraine, a dictator will have been rewarded for invading his neighbour. Aggression will have prevailed.
A pwithdrawnt will have been set that has alarming implications for other countries neighbouring Russia and further afield.
In the east, as he ponders how to seize Taiwan by force, China’s Xi Jinping will be lachieveing lessons too.
The outcome of all this may well not be peace in our time. Quite the opposite.
