One day before Easter, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a temporary dismissal for the Christian holidays. Like other Russian promises, this one also broke. The Ukrainian media reported the attacks of Russian drones, midwives and firefighters in the first lines. Ukrainian civilians were also objective.
This cessation of the fire was not in the tail of another: a 30 -day cessation of fire that was supposed to cover the energy infrastructure. This was violated at least 30 times, according to the Ukrainian media.
All this time, United States President Donald Trump has continued to maintain that peace could be achieved. Even after his own Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, he warned that the United States could move away from his role as a mediator due to lack of progress, the president still optimistic that an agreement was possible.
On Easter Sunday, Trump wrote about social truth: « We hope that Russia and Ukraine will agree this week. »
One week earlier, Russia struck Sumy’s Ukrainian city with ballistic missiles. The number of deaths from the attack reached 34 people, including two children, with more than a dozen injured. Even this bloody attack did not change the President of the United States, who called him « a mistake ».
It is now clear that three months after his presidency, Trump is not dramatically failure in Ukraine. It must now be realized that daring promises are easier to make than fulfill. He has not finished the war in 24 hours and he will not do so in 100 days, as he has promised.
Under his leadership, Washington’s mediation seems to be stopped and his strategy is unclear. A president who is proud of supply and strength is now indecisive and ineffective.
If this continues, Trump risks failing twice: once as a negotiator and again as an ally. Its current approach not only to weaken the role of the United States in the world, but also fat Russia to continue its aggression.
Despite the dissemination of the Trump administration in Kremlin, it has received nothing but empty rhetoric and the promises broken by dismissal.
Putin’s stance has not changed: it requires the recognition of Russia’s claim to Crimea and four Ukrainian regions that the Russian army is partially occupying, without NATO members for Kiev and a limit on the size of its army. He has also openly requested the change of regime in the country, demanding elections during the war.
Putin feels that he negotiates from a position of force and refuses to commit. Trump does not currently have the leverage to reconsider him, so his strategy is to pressure Ukraine to capitulate in Russia. The situation is worsening with its military aid policies in Ukraine.
After initially stopping the transfer of weapons and ammunition and intelligence sharing with Ukraine, Trump partially reversed his position. It allowed the military assistance approved by the administration of its predecessor president, Joe Biden, to resume, but has refused to consider a new package after the current one ended.
Its administration still has several billion dollars available for Drawdown, which could be assigned for more security support to Ukraine, but Trump has not stated that he is willing to approve.
This means that Ukraine will soon face a situation where key ammunition actions are exhausted. Russia knows it and is using negotiations with the United States to buy time.
While hoping that the Ukrainian army will run out of vital supplies, Moscow has also begun a large mobilization of troops. The call of 160,000 new recruits marks a significant climb. Ukrainian commanders have warned that major offensives could begin in a few weeks on various fronts.
Putin’s goal is to use the « peace » ambitions of the Trump administration in his advantage. Its strategy is to drag the cessation negotiations until the United States military help is over, and the Russian army is able to advance the Ukrainian territory enough to force Kiev to capitulate.
For Ukraine, defeat is not an option. The nation is still standing and will continue to fight because their freedom and independence are at stake. Even if Trump presses more about Kiev to consider a bad « peace treatment » with Russia in which all the concessions they want, no Ukrainian leader would sign it because this would be a political ruin.
Europe, for all its inner doubts and divisions, has little choice, but to become a Kiev ally. Europeans know that Russia will not stop in Ukraine and the threat is also existential for them. The Kremlin is already preparing the Russian population through a large -scale propaganda campaign that is needed a « Great War » with NATO countries.
In the face of this threat, European countries seek to rearmate and, therefore, need time. This means that the Ukraine’s liberation war will continue for years, with or without involvement in the United States.
In the meantime, the United States under its current course will become more sinking into domestic crises, consumed by the subsequent self -ills and haunted by expensive decisions in a world that no longer leads. This will be the one that Trump leaves behind: a legacy not of resolution but of withdrawal.
If it does not change course, the story will not remember him as a strong leader who brought peace, but as a man without stopping and made promises he could not fulfill.
The opinions expressed in this article are their own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial position.
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