Dem
47
GOP
53
Earlier this week, Donald Trump announced his "plan" to end the conflict in Ukraine. Truth be told, it's the sort of plan we might have come up with... if you gave us 2 minutes to work, and advised that an unsatisfactory proposal would result in an unhappy encounter with a sixth-story window, or a cup of polonium tea.
Here, in brief, are the elements of the proposal. Russia gets:
Meanwhile, Ukraine gets:
This deal is a clear nonstarter for Ukraine. Speaking generally, they give up much and get little. Speaking specifically, the Ukrainian constitution forbids the cession of Crimea. And so, shortly after the plan was unveiled, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said "no." Well, OK, he actually said "nyee," but you get the idea.
This, in turn, caused Trump, J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to all pitch fits, and to threaten to walk away from the negotiating table. Here is the rant that Trump posted to his for-men-who-are-compensating-for-something social media platform:
Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is boasting on the front page of The Wall Street Journal that, "Ukraine will not legally recognize the occupation of Crimea. There's nothing to talk about here." This statement is very harmful to the Peace Negotiations with Russia in that Crimea was lost years ago under the auspices of President Barack Hussein Obama, and is not even a point of discussion. Nobody is asking Zelenskyy to recognize Crimea as Russian Territory but, if he wants Crimea, why didn't they fight for it eleven years ago when it was handed over to Russia without a shot being fired? The area also houses, for many years before "the Obama handover," major Russian submarine bases. It's inflammatory statements like Zelenskyy's that makes it so difficult to settle this War. He has nothing to boast about! The situation for Ukraine is dire—He can have Peace or, he can fight for another three years before losing the whole Country. I have nothing to do with Russia, but have much to do with wanting to save, on average, five thousand Russian and Ukrainian soldiers a week, who are dying for no reason whatsoever. The statement made by Zelenskyy today will do nothing but prolong the "killing field," and nobody wants that! We are very close to a Deal, but the man with "no cards to play" should now, finally, GET IT DONE. I look forward to being able to help Ukraine, and Russia, get out of this Complete and Total MESS, that would have never started if I were President!
It is worth noting that even if you buy Trump's argument, Zelenskyy was not president of Ukraine 11 years ago, and so has nothing to do with the decisions made then. Is it lies, or is it ignorance? You can never be sure with #47.
In any case, Trump put forward an ultra-Russia-friendly proposal, and then lambasted and threatened Zelenskyy when he did not immediately fall on his knees so that he might kiss Trump's feet (or whatever else Trump wants to have kissed). You don't have to be Henry Kissinger to foresee what would happen next. Russia, led by a fellow who knows when to press the advantage, launched a massive strike on Kyiv, the largest since July of last year.
Again, you don't have to be Kissinger to have guessed this would happen. Heck, Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) might have been able to predict it, and he may well be the dumbest senator of the last half century. Nonetheless, Trump apparently can't clear the Tuberville bar, intellectually, and he was apparently shocked and outraged over the Russian attack. So, the President got back on his social media platform to register his views:
I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying. Lets get the Peace Deal DONE!
Maybe Trump really is unhappy, or maybe this was just a little political theater for all of our benefits. At this point, we just don't know. We will point out that Trump is addressing Putin by first name, however, which is rather familiar, and friendly.
Meanwhile, behind the scenes, according to reporting from CNN, Trump is frustrated, and is admitting to insiders that ending the war in Ukraine is much harder than he thought it would be. Who knew? In any event, we now have an answer to the question of "What do ending the war in Ukraine and bringing down the price of eggs have in common?"
We do not know what these recent developments (and note, Trump described the peace deal as his team's "final offer") mean, and what the effect of the White House's change in posture might be. However, he tends to get bored and frustrated with anything that takes more than a few days and, in this case, that becomes extra true if he thinks there's no Nobel Peace Price there for the winning. So, perhaps he'll drop the whole Ukraine War like a bad habit, and let, well, ANYONE else deal with it. (Z)