UKRAINE: THE TIME FOR PEACE IS NOW

WE SUPPORT THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION'S PLAN FOR PEACE

BETWEEN RUSSIA AND THE UKRAINE

We strongly support President Donald Trump's effort to end the war in Ukraine. His peace plan represents the most realistic path toward stopping the bloodiest and most dangerous war of our century.

There are people in the United States who don't want to support anything that Donald Trump supports. That is not a constructive attitude. We totally disagree with a lot of what Donald Trump is doing. However, he is right on this point, and that is what is important.

The war in Ukraine is clearly one of the biggest disasters of our century. It's important to understand the roots of this conflict. The West started this conflict, not Russia, when Bill Clinton deliberately chose to violate the solemn pledge of the West not to expand NATO to the East after the collapse of the former Soviet Union. This situation was compounded in 2014 when Obama helped organize the violent overthrow of a neutral Ukrainian government and supported replacing it with a virulently anti-Russian government that was filled with a considerable number of neo-Nazis. Russia has basic interests in Ukraine, specifically the naval base in Crimea, which is essential to Russian national security. The Russians responded to the American coup of 2014 by seizing Ukraine, and the hostile attitude of the Ukrainian government created a lot of violence in the eastern territories, a small number of which were occupied by Russia.

We think the Russian invasion of 2022 was a terrible mistake. Still, it's important that we keep in mind the fact that the West and Russia bear responsibility for the current disaster and stop the very destructive demonizing of Putin and the suggestion this was all due to him, which it was not. Regardless of how one feels about how it started, it needs to end, and Trump's proposal is the best proposal anyone has put forth.

Russia has paid a terrible price for its disastrous decision to invade in 2022, so nobody in their right mind could be suggesting that Russia is in any way winning as a result of Trump's very even-handed proposal. On the other hand, the Ukrainians have been played for fools by the West. They've been used as cannon fodder as part of a plan by Western neoconservatives to destroy Russia. This plan didn't work. What it did do was a pretty good job of destroying Ukraine, so Ukraine has no reason to continue the war unless it's planning to destroy itself essentially. So we must move towards this peace plan, and Trump's proposal is the best so far.

What President Trump Has Proposed — And Why We Support It

President Trump's peace plan recognizes the complex realities on the ground. Under the proposal, Crimea would be officially recognized as part of Russia, and the territories in eastern Ukraine currently under Russian control would be treated as de facto Russian territories. In exchange, Ukraine would be guaranteed security through an alliance of nations, even though it would remain outside of NATO.

We support these territorial agreements because they end the endless fighting over lands that are unlikely to return to Ukraine under realistic circumstances. Prolonging the war only brings more death, not victory.

Trump's plan also calls for lifting sanctions on Russia once the peace deal is finalized, providing incentives for Moscow to genuinely commit to ending the conflict. At the same time, Ukraine would be supported through economic agreements, including U.S. partnerships to help rebuild its devastated economy.

We support this approach because it is balanced, constructive, and practical. It gives both sides a path forward and stops the needless destruction of a proud but battered nation.

Trump's proposal also focuses on global stability, reducing the risk of a wider war, and ensuring U.S. resources and energy are not endlessly wasted on a conflict with no immediate achievable victory.

President Trump's peace plan is the best chance the world has right now—and we stand firmly behind it.

Ukraine and Europe can't afford to refuse Trump's peace plan (Responsible Statecraft 4-24-25)