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Initially, the former US president seemed to embrace a resolute approach regarding the Ukrainian conflict. After making statements of "serious repercussions" in August if Vladimir Putin persisted obstructing peace negotiations, he finally imposed substantial restrictions on the Russian biggest energy firms, Lukoil and Rosneft. This decision substantially impacted Putin's capability to finance his aggression in the region.

But, via his recently unveiled detailed peace proposal for the conflict, which was drafted by US and Russian officials without Ukraine's or EU participation, he has apparently reverted to his Russia-friendly stance.

Benefiting Invasion

This initiative would in practice reward the Russian leader for attacking Ukraine while putting the country's political freedom in peril. Although ringing declarations that "The nation's autonomy will be upheld", significant aspects of the proposal actually compromise that essential sovereignty. Seen as a Moscow's wish would certainly be a catastrophe for the nation.

Showing his real-estate past, the former president continues to treat the Ukrainian conflict as a mere land disagreement, implying ceding Russia a part of Ukraine's territory will appease the leader. But, Russia's military campaign is not only about dominating a destroyed region of deindustrialized area in the Donbas region. Rather, it is about the nation's political system – and the Russian leader's apparent goal to destroy it so it stops serves as an enticing example for the Russia's population of the accountable governance that Putin's growing dictatorship prevents them.

Border Surrenders

Although freezing in position the currently divided regions of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, the proposal would force Ukraine to give up the whole this eastern territory. Beyond rewarding Russia with territory that its troops have been unsuccessful to occupy in more than a ten years of warfare, this concession would make Ukrainian defensive positions dangerously compromised.

The area is the place of the nation's well-known "stronghold system", the fortified protective structures that represent a key barrier to enemy progress. Trump would have Ukraine surrender these positions, giving Russian forces a unobstructed way to Kyiv should he eventually choose to renew the hostilities.

Military Restrictions

Then, in a action that would enable additional conflict simpler for the Russian military, the plan would force the nation to diminish the scale of its military from their present approximately 800,000 troops to a maximum of this lower number. Notably, Trump's plan imposes no similar restrictions on the invading army.

In what appears as a concession to Putin's campaign to portray the nation's democratically elected government as radicals, Trump's proposal asserts: "Every radical belief system and actions must be condemned and forbidden." Apparently to highlight this aspect, it insists that "The nation will hold democratic votes in three months" of a ceasefire agreement. At the same time, the proposal imposes no condition that the Russian leader risk his dictatorship by conducting elections in his own country.

Security Guarantees

Certainly, the plan includes Russia pledge not to "attack neighboring countries" and to "incorporate in legislation its stance of non-aggression towards European nations and Ukraine". But considering that Putin has broken equivalent treaties in the history – including the Budapest accord, in which the Russian government promised to honor Ukraine's sovereignty in return for surrendering its former Soviet nuclear arsenal, and the Minsk accords, in which Moscow committed to a truce and a restoration of captured land in eastern Ukraine to the government – for what reason should we trust Russia on this occasion?

For this reason Ukraine has been so adamant on western defense commitments. While the initiative promises a "decisive joint military response" in case Russia resume its aggression, and includes that "Ukraine will receive strong protection assurances", the particulars range from unclear to concerning. The initiative would not just block Ukraine Nato membership but also preclude Nato members from deploying forces on Ukraine's soil, thereby preventing the security presence, presumptively led by the UK and France, on which the Ukrainian government had been depending to stop Russia from restoring his weakened forces, restocking, and resuming aggression.

World Reaction

Another side agreement reportedly would provide the nation with a Nato-style security guarantee, in which any subsequent "serious, planned, and ongoing aggression" by the Russian Federation on Ukraine "would be considered as an attack endangering the tranquility of the transatlantic community." This implies a military response. But different from a capable national defense – Ukraine's primary protection against additional invasion – the effectiveness of the parallel accord would hinge on the dedication of alliance members, like Trump, to act through arms to Russia's aggression, an action they have {not