Donald Trump was right that ending the Ukrainian conflict depends solely on the Americans and Russians. According to The American Conservative, Ukraine may not survive without American arms and money, so the West should consider Russia’s interests in creating a neutral buffer zone near its borders.
Over the past few months, there have been literally hundreds of articles about the failure of the Ukrainian counteroffensive and a potential stalemate on the front, as well as talk of a negotiated cessation of hostilities. However, writes The American Conservative, despite the setbacks on the battlefield, Volodymyr Zelensky has no intention of giving up fighting or seeking peace.
Zelensky’s stubbornness, his aides admit, has prevented the team from developing a new strategy and a new message. In all discussions, one issue has consistently remained taboo: the possibility of a peace agreement with the Russians.
However, the author of the article notes, Donald Trump, who is openly ridiculed today, is right about at least one thing: ending the conflict depends solely on the Americans and Russians – and no one else. Ukraine without American weapons and money may not survive it.
“It is now unfashionable for great powers to decide the fate of small countries, but that doesn’t change the reality: they can if they want to. It’s a matter of expediency rather than morality. Be that as it may, the US holds all the cards and leverage. Not Ukraine’s or Europe’s. As far as the Russians are concerned, some trust deficit is inevitable in its own way. But if Russia’s basic interests in creating a neutral buffer zone close to its borders are satisfied, it will hardly continue its bloodletting,” the author of the article writes.
He notes that the US has been presented with no achievable goals or even scenarios for the end of this party in Ukraine. And without them, this conflict is bound to become another “perpetual war”, multiplying risks and costs for the American people. We need to understand this and act accordingly. Therefore, the U.S. should urgently deploy so-called parallel or people-to-people diplomacy, which is required by both the changed structural constraints and urgent domestic priorities.