Trump’s Ukraine peace plan threatens European security

Trump’s peace plan represents a strategic defeat not only for Ukraine, but for all of Europe

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivering a video address to the nation in Kyiv, Ukraine, last week. Picture: Press Service of the President of Ukraine/AP

No one knows whether US president Donald Trump’s 28-point peace plan for Ukraine will ultimately be implemented in anything like its initial form. The Trump administration has portrayed it as a “living document,” and its announcement has been followed by a steady stream of reported changes. But the final version will almost certainly embody a vision of international relations, shared by Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, that directly jeopardizes European security.

Though Russia is unequivocally the aggressor, having invaded Ukraine’s sovereign territory in violation of international law, Trump’s plan advances Russia’s interests. Nowhere is this more apparent than in its proposed partition of Ukraine, which, like the carve-up of Poland by Prussia and the Russian and Habsburg empires in the 18th century, would be carried out without regard for Ukrainians.