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For a brief period, Trump seemed to adopt a resolute approach concerning Ukraine. Following issuing threats of "severe ramifications" last August in case Vladimir Putin continued hindering truce negotiations, Trump finally enacted considerable penalties on the Russian biggest petroleum corporations, these major energy companies. This decision substantially impacted the Russian leader's capacity to finance his aggression in Ukraine.

But, via his newly presented comprehensive peace plan for Ukraine, reportedly developed by American and Russian officials without Ukraine's or European involvement, Trump has clearly reverted to his pro-Putin approach.

Favoring Military Action

Trump's plan would in practice reward Putin for invading a sovereign nation while leaving the country's democracy in jeopardy. Although bold statements that "Ukraine's sovereignty will be affirmed", much of the proposal effectively undermine that essential independence. What represents a Kremlin dream would certainly be a catastrophe for the nation.

Demonstrating his business experience, the former president continues to view the war as a mere land disagreement, like giving Russia a section of Ukrainian soil will please the ruler. Yet, Putin's war is not simply about controlling a destroyed swath of economically weakened territory in eastern Ukraine. Instead, it's about Ukraine's political system – and the Russian leader's clear goal to weaken it so it no longer functions as an attractive model for the Russia's population of the accountable government that Putin's increasing dictatorship withholds them.

Land Giveaways

While freezing in place the presently separated regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, Trump's proposal would require the nation to surrender the entire this eastern territory. Aside from rewarding Russia with area that its forces have been unable to seize in more than a decade of fighting, this surrender would make Ukraine's military defenses critically undermined.

Donetsk is the location of the nation's highly-touted "fortress belt", the well-established military defenses that constitute a key barrier to Russian advances. Trump would have Ukraine leave these defenses, leaving Russian forces a unobstructed way to the capital in case he later choose to resume the war.

Military Reductions

Furthermore, in a move that would facilitate renewed conflict more feasible for Russia, the plan would force Ukraine to reduce the size of its troops from their present large number troops to a maximum of six hundred thousand. Notably, the proposal sets no similar limits on Russia's military.

Apparently as a accommodation to Russia's efforts to depict the nation's democratically elected leadership as extremists, the proposal declares: "Any Nazi belief system and practices must be rejected and prohibited." Apparently to underscore this element, it demands that "The nation will hold elections in this period" of a ceasefire agreement. Meanwhile, Trump sets no requirement that Putin risk his authoritarian rule by conducting democratic processes in Russia.

Defense Commitments

To be sure, the proposal makes the Russian Federation promise not to "invade other states" and to "incorporate in law its stance of peaceful relations towards the EU and the Ukrainian people". However taking into account that Putin has violated similar agreements in the history – such as the Budapest accord, in which Russia promised to respect the nation's borders in return for giving up its former Soviet nuclear weapons, and the Minsk accords, in which Russia committed to a halt in fighting and a restoration of seized areas in the region to Ukrainian control – for what reason should we trust Russia on this occasion?

That is why Ukraine has been so adamant on international security guarantees. While the plan threatens a "immediate coordinated defense action" if the Russian Federation resume its military campaign, and provides that "Ukraine will receive dependable defense commitments", the details range from unclear to troubling. The proposal would not only deny the nation accession to NATO but also prevent Nato members from stationing military personnel on Ukrainian territory, thereby precluding the security presence, likely headed by European powers, on which the Ukrainian government had been depending to deter Russia from replenishing his diminished troops, re-equipping, and resuming aggression.

World Concern

Another side agreement apparently would offer Ukraine with a alliance-like security guarantee, in which any subsequent "serious, intentional, and ongoing armed attack" by Russia on the country "would be considered as an assault jeopardizing the stability and safety of the Western nations." That suggests a armed reaction. But different from a strong Ukraine's armed forces – the nation's best deterrent against future Russian aggression – the effectiveness of the parallel accord would depend on the dedication of Western powers, including Trump, to act with force to Putin's hostilities, an action they have {not