Short-term ceasefire won’t lead to Ukraine peace if Trump keeps backing Putin

Ukrainian negotiators agreed Tuesday at talks with U.S. officials in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on a one-month ceasefire in Russia’s war on Ukraine. But, at this writing, we don’t know whether Moscow will sign on.

Supposedly, the U.S. will immediately restore military aid and intelligence info President Donald Trump had stopped giving Kyiv, which accelerated Ukraine’s civilian and military casualties. Their blood stains Trump’s hands.

But, dear readers, do not mistake a temporary pause with progress in a U.S.-led “peace” process. Not if Trump and his minions continue their attempt to bludgeon Ukraine into accepting a “peace” deal on Vladimir Putin’s terms.

For weeks, Trump has been making concessions to Putin, over Ukraine’s head, without demanding anything in return from the Kremlin. He has surrendered U.S. leverage to Putin before any peace talks even begin while asking (and receiving) nothing from him.

Gifted such unexpected riches, smelling Trump’s desire for a partnership, witnessing Trump’s weakness, the Russian dictator has only increased his demands.

The list of Trump’s voluntary concessions to a dictator seems endless.

He and his team have slurred and insulted Volodymyr Zelensky continuously, including a vicious double-team attack in the Oval Office. Their language often repeats Kremlin attacks on the Ukrainian leader word for word.

Augmenting Kremlin efforts to get rid of Zelensky, the White House has even been trying to engineer “regime change” in Kyiv by forcing Zelensky to hold elections during wartime (illegal in Ukraine) and meeting with opposition leaders. (But the attacks on Zelensky have only boosted his popularity ratings in Ukraine, which far exceed Trump’s in the U.S.)

Trump has also tried to ruin Zelensky’s reputation among Americans by inferring the Ukrainian leader is a moocher. The president endlessly repeats the lie that Ukraine has received more than $350 billion in U.S. aid, which is, he claims, three times what Europeans have spent. In reality, the U.S. amount spent is roughly one-third of that, while Europeans have spent more. And most U.S. military aid goes right back to America to purchase weapons and create U.S. jobs.

(Trump never mentions that Ukraine’s brave fight has undercut a prime U.S. adversary — Russia — while teaching the Pentagon how to fight the wars of the future.)

In one of his most sickening slurs, the president has accused Zelensky of not wanting peace. Mr. Bone Spurs shames America and U.S. vets by denigrating a Ukrainian hero who attends endless military and civilian funerals of men and women slaughtered by Russia.

No one wants peace more than Zelensky, but not a false “peace” that permits Putin to destroy Ukraine.

Yet, bowing to Putin, Trump has unilaterally endorsed Russia’s demands that Ukraine be excluded from NATO and give up all territory occupied by Moscow — without even consulting Kyiv. Putin’s response has been that Ukraine should give up even more territory than Russia has already seized.

Even harder to imagine, the president angrily refuses to provide any backstop if Europe creates a military stabilization force to police a long-term ceasefire in Ukraine. He knows the Europeans don’t have the total military and intelligence capacities for a credible force (which idea, Putin rejects out of hand.)

Yet, Trump blatantly lies that Putin can be trusted, even though the Russian has broken every deal he’s ever made with Ukraine. The president’s “threat” to consider tariffs and sanctions on Russia if it refuses a ceasefire - or violates a deal - rings hollow. We don’t trade with Russia, so there’s nothing to tariff. And so many sanctions have been already leveled, more are unlikely to make a difference.

By the way, our President of Contradictions has already gifted Putin again by inferring he will soon lift sanctions, once a ceasefire is approved.

And in case you were so foolish as to have been taken in by presidential prevarications that an economic deal (which hands profits from Ukrainian mineral resources to Americans) will keep peace in Ukraine, fuhgeddaboudit. This is an extortion deal that likely will never be actualized. No U.S. investors are likely to drill until the fighting stops, and unless deterred militarily, Putin won’t stop the fighting.

So what, then, was actually achieved in Jeddah? At best, if Russia signs, a temporary breather for both sides - (even though its a safe bet that Moscow will cheat and blame Kyiv). A ceasefire is not the same as a peace deal, which lays out details for permanent cessation of hostilities. And this ceasefire would be short.

Putin has made clear he won’t accept any permanent peace that blocks Russia from continuing its war to destroy Ukraine. And Ukraine is worried about a long-term ceasefire lacking any security guarantees that would enable Russia to regroup and attack again.

Trump would likely use the brief pause to try to squeeze Kyiv into a quick surrender. The president could then declare victory and openly pursue his much-desired alliance with Putin. “The deal can be made very fast,” the president recently said. “It should not be that hard a deal to make.”

That claim is ludicrous unless the goal is simply to force Kyiv to capitulate. I don’t believe Zelensky will agree to the suicide deal Putin wants and Trump appears willing to endorse.

Americans must decide whether they really want an open U.S. alliance with a mass murderer who despises America, who gives nuclear technology to Iran and missile technology to North Korea, who is bonded to China for the long run in an effort to undermine the United States. And who wants to drag Ukraine back into a reconstituted Soviet Union.

That alliance is Trump’s goal. How he treats Russia compared to Ukraine, in coming days, will sign his intentions.

If the president kowtows to Putin, this ongoing treachery must be called out and confronted by American patriots no matter whether they trend red or blue. Unless, that is, they believe we should join an alliance of dictators who disdain the values for which our Founding Fathers fought.