Peace in Ukraine still far from a reality after new talks

Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky (Photo: ZUMA)

Western leaders have praised talks between Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky and United States president Donald Trump on Monday as a breakthrough.

They discussed the possibility of European states providing “security guarantees” for Ukraine, with “coordination” from the US.

Last time Zelensky visited the White House he was given an ­infamous dressing down by Trump.

Zelensky said this time the talks were “good and normal”. But Trump is still piling pressure on the Ukrainian president to make ­concessions in exchange for security.

US defence secretary Pete Hegseth previously told Ukraine it would not be realistic to grant it membership of the Nato ­imperialist alliance. Nor could its pre-2014 borders be restored—and Ukraine could still be forced to give up more territory.

The leaders of Britain, France and Germany want a more ­interventionist role in Ukraine but with the backing of the US.

Some have suggested that Ukraine could be given the Article Five security guarantees that ­usually apply to Nato members.

But, according to US defence expert Benjamin M Friedman, “The Russians are asking for Ukrainian withdrawal from land that they’re not about to withdraw from.

“Trump is talking about security guarantees with Article Five-type guarantees that Russia will never agree to, as part of a peace deal. 

“So I think we’re a long way from any deal.”

It is unlikely that the US will put boots on the ground to support Ukraine. This doesn’t mean Trump is “pro-Russian”.

But his strategy for waging the proxy war over Ukraine differs from other Western leaders. Former US president Joe Biden backed Ukraine because he saw an opportunity to assert US interests.

Trump has broken from Biden’s approach, pushing for the war’s end to greater focus on its main ­geopolitical rival, China.

These manoeuvrings at the top have done nothing to end the bloodshed. On Monday, Russia fired cruise missiles towards ­central Ukraine and a Ukrainian drone set fire to a hospital in Russia’s Volgograd region.

The anti-war movement was right to call it a proxy war and to say, “Russian troops out, no to Nato.”