Editorial written by The Dallas Morning News Editorial Board.
Since President Donald Trump took office, we have worried that he would leave the brave people of Ukraine to Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s brutal intentions. Those fears are still very much alive.
The administration’s 28-point peace plan for Ukraine, announced recently, did shrink by several points after negotiations in Europe last weekend. But Ukraine remains on the short end of the stick, with Putin likely to achieve a good deal of what he wants.
The original proposal’s most obvious defect? Ukraine was not included from the start. The United States consulted first with Russia, the country that launched an unprovoked invasion in February 2022. This new plan was, essentially, the fourth verse of the same song Putin has been singing since Trump reclaimed the Oval Office.
The original version required Ukraine to relinquish more territory than Russia now occupies, renounce its goal of joining NATO, and significantly reduce the size of its armed forces. Those are basically Putin’s terms.
It is absurd and immoral to expect Ukraine to acquiesce. Ukraine has repeatedly and rightly rejected such concessions. The plan was all the more shocking because two months ago, Trump said he thought Ukraine might be able to win the war.
The element of surprise can be useful in negotiations, but Trump’s weird foreign policy reflects impatience and impulsiveness rather than strategy. He may be genuinely distressed by the senseless suffering and destruction in Ukraine, but he seems unable to accept that Putin does not seek peace.
Instead, Putin seeks dominance, even at a terrible cost to his own nation. The war has accelerated Russia’s demographic decline and caused economic stagnation, yet Putin persists.
That self-inflicted damage is trivial compared to what Russia has visited on Ukraine. Russian forces seized — kidnapped — thousands of Ukrainian children early in the war and took them to Russia. It has relentlessly targeted Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure.
Putin constantly tests the unity and resolve of Ukraine’s European allies. Russian-backed operatives have tried to blow up Polish rail lines and a London warehouse stocked with communication devices bound for Ukraine, flown drones into NATO allies’ airspace, cut undersea power and internet cables, and interfered in European elections.
Despite all that, and with no guarantee that Putin won’t try the same tricks in our hemisphere, Trump seems comfortable letting Putin have Ukraine. That has emboldened Chinese Premier Xi Jinping, who has designs on the island democracy off China’s southeast coast.
Trump’s wavering support for Ukraine undermines our national interest and demoralizes Ukrainians. The U.S. should instead pressure Putin by increasing military aid to Ukraine and vehemently rejecting territorial concessions. Congress should pass the bill to raise sanctions against countries that import Russian energy products.
Conceding to Putin is like inviting a serial killer into your home. You don’t know what happens next, but you’ll never be safe again.
