First Step To a Lasting Peace In Europe

In less than a week, President Zelenskyy went from claiming that nothing would get him to the negotiating table to making a trip to DC to meet with President Trump and sign the first phase of an agreement to end the war. What changed?

 

Perhaps it was the realization that his stubbornness, which Dementia Joe Biden found so endearing, was not working on the current American President. He was finally up against the author of The Art of the Deal, not some bumbling old fool.

So, on Friday, President Zelenskyy will make an appearance at the White House in his customary brown sweater to readily agree to the terms which will be presented. They will include a ceasefire, American access to rare earth minerals and other materials, in exchange for an American non-military presence, European-provided peacekeeping troops and dropping his insistence in Ukraine’s membership in NATO.

Russia has indicated, instead, that Ukraine joining the European Union, would be acceptable, since it is an economic, not a military, membership.

And his ego will be massaged because he met with Trump first before Putin did. Doesn’t take much, does it?

“We’re going to do the best we can to make the best deal we can for both sides, but for Ukraine, we’re going to try very hard to make a good deal so that they can get as much back as possible. We want to get as much back as possible,” Trump told reporters when asked about any land recovery.

Russia currently occupies Crimea and large swaths of territory in Eastern Ukraine, amounting to approximately 20% of the country.

The New York Post Wednesday evening edition reported that the current deal, according to a readout provided to the Financial Times, doesn’t have any direct security guarantees, but establishes a mineral fund between the US and Ukraine.

The fund, Trump said, will serve as “sort of automatic security” for Ukraine, since American workers will be present on Ukrainian territory once the war concludes to extract the minerals. And since the peacekeepers will be present, Russia will be precluded from attacking Ukraine with Americans on-site, without risking an American response.

Within a short time, Trump, Putin and Zelenskyy will meet in Saudi Arabia to complete the peace treaty. Hopefully, before they do, the ceasefire will have successfully taken hold and be in place. And it all starts on Friday.

Promises Made, Promises Kept.