Trump's Russia-Ukraine "deal"

Vice President JD Vance demanded on Wednesday that Russia and Ukraine agree to an American peace proposal that would “freeze the territorial lines” in the three-year war, force Kyiv to accept the annexation of Crimea by Russia and block Ukraine from becoming part of the NATO alliance.

  NYT

Such a deal for Ukraine.

Mr. Vance, speaking during a trip to India, said the United States would “walk away” from the peace process if the two sides refused to accept the American terms.

And good riddance. Maybe a European broker would be a better idea.

The vice president’s comments came just hours after President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said his country will not accept Russia’s 2014 occupation of Crimea as legal, adding that doing so would violate his country’s constitution. He also said that Ukraine could not accept any prohibition against becoming part of NATO.

And, the US is on the verge of withdrawing from NATO formally, while essentially already having left its best allies for a cozier relationship with dictators. I suspect the only reason Trump hasn't pulled the US out of NATO already is that he likes having veto power over NATO decisions. The rest of the world might be better off if they kicked us out now. It's kind of like having Russia on the Security Council at the UN.

European-led peace talks set for Wednesday in London were downgraded when Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced he would no longer attend.

So who needs the little shit?

His decision to pull out prompted Britain’s foreign secretary, David Lammy, to decide that he, too, would not attend — though Mr. Lammy met separately with Ukraine’s foreign minister in London.

Coward.

Lower-level diplomats from Britain, France, Germany, Ukraine, and the United States still gathered for technical talks, according to the officials from Britain and France. But the sudden downgrading of what was meant to be a significant diplomatic gathering raised questions about efforts to negotiate a cease-fire.

Trump just wants the humiliating reports about his failure to deliver on that ridiculous promise to have settled the war between Russia and Ukraine before he even took office to end.

Those still meeting are expected to discuss details of the Trump administration’s proposed peace plan.

Well, I guess at least they let Ukraine have a seat at the table to discuss their own future this time.