Conciliation toward Invaders Must Not Be Allowed at US-Russia Leadership Summit
U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will have a conference in the U.S. state of Alaska on Aug. 15. This will be the first meeting between U.S. and Russian leadership since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
The meeting will be a significant opportunity to confront Putin with strengthened sanctions and an agreement to a ceasefire.
However, there is also concern about Trump's diplomacy. He rebuked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a supposed ally, telling him, “You don't have the cards [to negotiate],” and recklessly decided to suspend military support to Ukraine.
Trump has alluded to possibly lengthening negotiations with Russia. We hope that he will hasten negotiations with Ukraine and principal European nations on the basis of reconciliation. He should begin first by urging a ceasefire, on the foundation of enacting twofold tariffs on China, India and other nations that support aggression by importing crude oil from Russia, the invader.
Trump has stated that he is considering “some swapping of territories” as part of the negotiations. Any concession that would call for Ukraine to cede the Crimean peninsula and occupied eastern territory in exchange for the withdrawal of Russian troops from parts of Ukraine should not be decided upon without consulting Ukraine. Such a move could quite possibly open the door for Russian aggression toward the three Baltic nations and other European regions.
Shutting his eyes to his own aggression, Putin insists that a condition for an armistice is to eliminate “the root cause of the issue.” He rejects Ukraine's affiliation with NATO and the strengthening of its military, and urges approval of its annexation of the southern Crimean Peninsula, as well as the concession of four states in eastern and southern Ukraine. The statement itself is an absurd demand for surrender. Russia is also being driven to financial ruin because of this extended war. We must not be deceived by Putin's bluff.
While it might be acceptable to draw a line of control, a transaction that profits the aggressor based on the question of national sovereignty of territories would be unacceptable to Ukraine. It could also incite other autocratic nations, such as China, to commit acts of aggression.
Trump is pushing to prevent World War III. The genesis of World War II was the invasion of Poland by Germany and the Soviet Union in 1939, while the previous year, the U.K. and France recognized the concession of parts of Czechoslovakia to Germany in the Munich Agreement.
We hope that this leadership meeting is handled with a firm grasp of the historical lesson that an attitude of appeasement could trigger new horrors of war.
The meeting will be a significant opportunity to confront Putin with strengthened sanctions and an agreement to a ceasefire.
However, there is also concern about Trump's diplomacy. He rebuked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a supposed ally, telling him, “You don't have the cards [to negotiate],” and recklessly decided to suspend military support to Ukraine.
Trump has alluded to possibly lengthening negotiations with Russia. We hope that he will hasten negotiations with Ukraine and principal European nations on the basis of reconciliation. He should begin first by urging a ceasefire, on the foundation of enacting twofold tariffs on China, India and other nations that support aggression by importing crude oil from Russia, the invader.
Trump has stated that he is considering “some swapping of territories” as part of the negotiations. Any concession that would call for Ukraine to cede the Crimean peninsula and occupied eastern territory in exchange for the withdrawal of Russian troops from parts of Ukraine should not be decided upon without consulting Ukraine. Such a move could quite possibly open the door for Russian aggression toward the three Baltic nations and other European regions.
Shutting his eyes to his own aggression, Putin insists that a condition for an armistice is to eliminate “the root cause of the issue.” He rejects Ukraine's affiliation with NATO and the strengthening of its military, and urges approval of its annexation of the southern Crimean Peninsula, as well as the concession of four states in eastern and southern Ukraine. The statement itself is an absurd demand for surrender. Russia is also being driven to financial ruin because of this extended war. We must not be deceived by Putin's bluff.
While it might be acceptable to draw a line of control, a transaction that profits the aggressor based on the question of national sovereignty of territories would be unacceptable to Ukraine. It could also incite other autocratic nations, such as China, to commit acts of aggression.
Trump is pushing to prevent World War III. The genesis of World War II was the invasion of Poland by Germany and the Soviet Union in 1939, while the previous year, the U.K. and France recognized the concession of parts of Czechoslovakia to Germany in the Munich Agreement.
We hope that this leadership meeting is handled with a firm grasp of the historical lesson that an attitude of appeasement could trigger new horrors of war.
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