The President of the United States emphasized that he is giving the Russian and Ukrainian leaders four months to end the war — if this does not happen, he will increase pressure on both Russia and Ukraine.
President Trump’s concern is understandable. Only a few months are left before the start of the full-fledged election campaign, and many signs point to the possibility of a “blue wave” of democratic success. And Trump certainly does not want Republicans to be reminded of the president’s promise to quickly end the Russian-Ukrainian war during this campaign. On the contrary, he should be showcasing the success of his peace efforts at pre-election rallies.
However, how logical is it to continue blaming both sides for dragging out the process – the victim and the aggressor? After all, it is Russian troops that are advancing on Ukrainian territory and demanding that Kyiv withdraw its troops from regions that the entire world recognizes as an integral part of Ukraine. After all, it is the Russian president who seems willing to create conditions for a genuine humanitarian catastrophe in Ukrainian cities. After all, it is Russia that demands Ukraine to abandon its own visions for the future.
If pressure is applied to Ukraine, what can be achieved? What decisions should the Ukrainian authorities make to help end the war? Cease resisting Russian aggression? Agree that Russia should take as much territory as Putin desires? Relinquish sovereignty?
The words that Putin can end this war as easily as he started it are not an insult but a reality. If the Russian president, for one reason or another, decides that “it’s necessary to just stop shooting,” the war will end without any pressure on Ukraine. And I will reveal a secret that will obviously not please the American president. In such a case, Putin will manage without intermediaries. He simply won’t need Trump.
Therefore, the pressure should not be on both sides. The pressure should be on the aggressor. The pressure should be specifically on Russia. Help Ukraine, impose new sanctions to further exhaust and collapse the Russian economy, provide Kyiv with long-range weapons to destroy Russian strategic targets and “bury” Putin’s oil refining industry. And then the prerequisites for peace will arise — maybe not in four months, which are crucial for the US president in the context of the election campaign. But they will appear!
The idea of pressuring both sides of the conflict is an obvious mistake. As was the mistake of hoping that the resumption of high-level Russian-American contacts and the trips of Donald Trump’s special representatives to Moscow would encourage Putin’s readiness to end the war. After all, the Russian president traditionally perceives any willingness to talk and negotiate as a sign of weakness and an opportunity to deceive and “pressure” the opponent. And this is exactly the course of events we have witnessed over the past year.
But mistakes are made to be corrected later. If Donald Trump truly wants his peace efforts to yield results, and he could remind of this result — i.e., the end of the Russian-Ukrainian war — during the Republican election campaign, then he must clearly understand what to do.
Not to threaten Ukraine and Russia with pressure in four months, but to pressure Putin now. Pressure him so that the Russian president has no alternative but to stop fighting, killing, and shelling.
Collage: Minval Politika
