President Donald Trump deserves credit for his whirlwind diplomacy since last Friday. Trump has met with Russian president Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and European leaders toward reaching a just end to the now three and a half year war in Ukraine. Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. The war is the largest and bloodiest in Europe since the Second World War ended in 1945.
It’s now clear that Zelensky and America’s European allies are ready to make painful concessions and expensive investments to secure a durable peace. Unfortunately, however, it’s equally clear that Putin is again manipulating Trump’s good intentions to buy time to continue his war of conquest. Kremlin actions over the past 24 hours underline how Russia doesn’t want to take any substantive steps toward advancing the peace process.
