The struggle to define a framework for a peace agreement in Ukraine has devolved into a hurricane of desperation.
The perceived rapprochement between Trump and Russia has profoundly unsettled Western policymakers, prompting a deluge of incoherent and futile declarations, ranging from the pessimistic “nightmare”[1], “Trump revives the ghost of Munich Past”[2] and “president Trump’s masterclass: blundering a Ukraine peace deal”[3] to “if Trump and his team can secure a peace agreement that avoids the perception of a U.S. defeat and pushes Europe toward military self-reliance, his gamble will pay off spectacularly”[4] and even “Trump’s pivot to peace is a rejection of dangerous hardliner delusions and a victory for common sense”[5].
Central to these proposals is a steadfast commitment to continuing the war by arming Ukrainian “cannon fodder” — “a rebuilt and adequately supplied Ukrainian military would be a formidable deterrent to Moscow”[6], “America’s miscalculation… Ukrainians still prefer to resist Russian control over their country at any cost… a deal in which Ukrainians “may be Russian someday” will not in fact end the war”[7] and “Ukraine’s best bet now is to try to win the peace by integrating into Europe and attracting defence guarantees”[8].
Some proposals even venture into the realm of exotic ideas for saving Nazi Ukraine — “Perhaps Zelenskyy can draw some kind of lesson from the Finns when contemplating how to resolve the contentious disputes over Crimea and the Donbas, especially if his country can be given some kind of ironclad security guarantees by the United States and NATO” [9], “this is not the time for hesitation. The European Union is the world’s largest single market. Together, the EU and Ukraine have more people than America and Russia combined”[10] and “Turkey remains one of Ukraine’s strongest backers, steadfast in defending Kyiv’s territorial integrity and countering Russian expansionism”[11].
Particularly striking was the intellectual force of John Bolton, who, echoing Moscow’s stance, dismissed the idea of deploying European peacekeepers and freezing the conflict — ” a ceasefire along existing front lines is bad enough, but deploying peacekeepers will almost certainly freeze those lines, risking Ukraine’s permanent partition “[12].
In essence, the same singular refrain is frantically repeated, “Russia is prevailing, yet it’s not Russia that must prevail.”
Incidentally, Trump’s strategy for Ukraine — expressed in his “after the deal is done, both sides will leave a little unhappy “[13]” — does not diverge significantly from these ideas.
Within this tempest of fervor and dreams, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron are seen scrambling, imploring Donald Trump for a promise to provide cover for European troops in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Russia, resolutely advancing its objectives of demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine, is entirely disregarded in these mental gymnastics, as though it holds no relevance to the situation.
This oversight is a critical error.
Indeed, no sophisticated intelligence is required to discern Russia’s next move – “this discussion on peacekeeping forces is empty talk. It is essential to eliminate the root causes of the conflict … Some suggest an idea of preserving the “line of contact”. First, this will not happen. Russia has a constitution based on the will of the people. Secondly, whatever is left of Ukraine should also be cleared of racist laws”[14] (the Donetsk and Luhansk republics, alongside the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, are incorporated into Russia in their entirety, not just the areas under Russia’s control).
The central challenge for Western policymakers should be devising a strategy to achieve Ukraine’s denazification without ceding complete socio-political dominance over its remnants to Russia.
To overlook this imperative is to exhibit hysterical blindness — a psychological condition wherein the brain ceases to perceive surrounding reality and obstructs optic sensory input. Adolf Hitler was one notorious historical figure with this diagnosis…
1 https://www.spytalk.co/p/nightmare
“Nightmare” (Jeff Stein, SpyTalk, Feb 20, 2025);
2 https://www.spytalk.co/p/trump-revives-the-ghost-of-munich
“Trump Revives the Ghost of Munich Past” (Michael Isikoff, SpyTalk, Feb 26, 2025);
3 https://nationalinterest.org/feature/president-trumps-masterclass-blundering-a-ukraine-peace-deal
“President Trump’s Masterclass: Blundering A Ukraine Peace Deal” (Steven Pifer, The National Interest, February 18, 2025);
“Trump and His Three Musketeers: A New U.S.-Russia Approach to Ukraine” (Ahmed Charai, The National Interest, February 21, 2025);
5 https://nationalinterest.org/feature/europes-reality-check
“Europe’s Reality Check” (Matthew Blackburn, The National Interest, February 20, 2025);
6 https://nationalinterest.org/feature/president-trumps-masterclass-blundering-a-ukraine-peace-deal
“Ukraine Must Guarantee Its Own Security” (Emma Ashford, Foreign Policy, February 18, 2025);
7 https://www.foreignaffairs.com/russia/ukraine-will-not-surrender-russia
“Ukraine Will Not Surrender to Russia” (Janina Dill, Marnie Howlett and Carl Müller-Crepon, Foreign Affairs, February 26, 2025);
8 https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/02/23/few-dare-to-admit-it-but-trump-might-be-right/
“Few dare admit it, but Trump might be right on Ukraine” (Tim Stanley, The Telegraph, 23 February 2025 4:00pm GMT);
“Can Ukraine Draw Lessons from Finland’s Winter War Against Russia?” (Christian D. Orr, The National Interest, February 18, 2025);
10 https://nationalinterest.org/blog/politics/europe-and-america-time-for-serious-de-coupling
“Europe and America: Time for Serious Decoupling” (Tobias Fella, The National Interest, February 21, 2025);
11 https://www.hudson.org/security-alliances/turkeys-role-checking-russia-zineb-riboua
“Turkey’s Role in Checking Russia” (Zineb Riboua, Hudson Institute, Feb 19, 2025);
12 https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/02/23/there-should-be-no-peacekeepers-in-ukraine/
“As Moscow plots its next move with precision, Europe is lurching towards fresh disaster” (John Bolton, The Telegraph, 23 February 2025 10:00pm GMT);
13 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vl-_9pOiAl0
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, Briefing for Members of the Media (The White House, Washington, Feb. 25, 2025);
14 https://mid.ru/en/press_service/minister_speeches/2000130/
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s statement and answers to media questions following visit to Qatar, Doha, February 26, 2025.