Trump Rubs Salt in Ukraine’s Wounds
Contrary to his rhetoric, the self-proclaimed peacemaker has already prolonged the war, Ukrainians tell Zeteo.
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KYIV, Ukraine – In a bustling bookshop near Kyiv’s Independence Square, the store’s patrons suddenly fell quiet. I was seated across from Denys Pilash, a Ukrainian political scientist and socialist, who gestured to the street. “Another funeral for someone fallen,” he told me.
Outside, a procession of cars passed on Khreshchatyk Street, some with the Ukrainian flag hanging out the window. We, and those around us, rose to our feet until the motorcade had passed. Then, Pilash and I returned to our conversation, which began, naturally, with Donald Trump’s recently revealed 28-point “peace plan” for Ukraine.
The contested plan, referred to by some as Putin’s wish list (including, allegedly, by Secretary of State Marco Rubio), would have set limits on the size of the Ukrainian military; ceded entire regions of the country, including portions not currently occupied by Russia; lifted Russian sanctions; granted amnesty for Russian war crimes; and prohibited Ukraine from joining NATO.
A peace deal that is the “result of clandestine talks, unknown to Ukrainians and Europeans … is obviously outrageous,” Pilash said. “When you recognize Russian oversight over [occupied territories], it’s not about the land.” It’s about people who have been displaced, people “damned” to life under Russian occupation, and those who have been disappeared, abducted, or killed.
Many have questioned whether “peace plan” is an accurate label at all. According to The Guardian, parts of the text appeared to have been originally written in Russian. “It’s a carefully crafted propaganda piece,” Vladyslav Starobudtsev, a Ukrainian leftist and soldier, told me, citing this detail. It’s “worse than nothing,” he said.
Artem Chapeye, a Ukrainian writer and soldier, echoed the sentiment. The document was not a peace plan, but a partition – not unlike that of Poland in the 18th century – which represents “imperialism at its purest,” he said. To analyze the language of the plan would be to analyze “aggressive, non-truthful marketing.”
He also noted the short attention span of global politics. “In a week, there will be another plan, and in a month, there will be a third plan,” he said, but the general principle remains the same. The fate of Ukraine should be decided by Ukraine.
Hours after our conversation, his prediction had already come true. A new plan, with 19 points, was drafted by the US and Ukraine in Geneva. It is said to have rolled back some of Russia’s maximalist demands, but the document is a working one, with many important points undecided. Following discussions with US and European officials on Monday, Volodymyr Zelensky said territorial issues remain the biggest challenge.
But the starting point for ongoing negotiations should not be forgotten. Trump is attempting to replicate his approach to Gaza in Ukraine, through bulleted lists that blur the lines between “peace” and business.
Real estate mogul and White House envoy Steve Witkoff, who Bloomberg revealed coached a Putin aide on how to pitch a Ukraine deal to Trump, and the US president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, met with the Russian leader in Moscow on Tuesday. Both Witkoff and Kushner played a role in the so-called “ceasefire” agreement reached with Israel as well.
Thus far, the US has positioned itself as an investor in Ukraine’s reconstruction – with language reminiscent of the minerals deal struck earlier this year — and as Russia’s partner for joint mining projects in the Arctic. Peace, it seems, is big business.