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For a brief period, Trump appeared to embrace a resolute stance on Ukraine. Following making threats of "serious consequences" last August in case Putin carried on blocking ceasefire negotiations, Trump finally introduced substantial restrictions on the Russian primary energy firms, Lukoil and Rosneft. This decision substantially affected the Russian leader's capacity to finance his aggression in Ukraine.

But, with his newly presented 28-point peace initiative for the conflict, which was created by US and Russian diplomats without Ukrainian or European participation, he has seemingly returned to his Russia-friendly approach.

Benefiting Invasion

Trump's initiative would in practice favor Putin for attacking Ukraine while putting Ukraine's democratic system in danger. Despite bold proclamations that "The nation's autonomy will be affirmed", much of the proposal in reality weaken that same independence. What represents a Kremlin dream would certainly be a Ukrainian nightmare.

Showing his business experience, the former president continues to consider the war as a basic border issue, implying ceding Russia a portion of Ukraine's land will please the leader. But, Putin's military campaign is not simply about controlling a destroyed area of deindustrialized area in Ukraine's east. It is about Ukraine's democratic governance – and the Russian leader's obvious desire to weaken it so it no longer serves as an enticing model for the Russian people of the democratic governance that Putin's deepening dictatorship denies them.

Territorial Surrenders

Although keeping in position the currently separated regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, the initiative would force Ukraine to surrender the entire this eastern territory. In addition to benefiting the Russian Federation with land that its military have been failed to seize in over a ten years of warfare, this giveaway would leave Ukraine's defenses severely compromised.

Donetsk is the place of the nation's well-known "fortress belt", the well-established defensive positions that constitute a critical barrier to invading forces. The proposal would have Ukraine abandon these defenses, providing Russian forces a clear path to Kyiv in case he eventually choose to restart the hostilities.

Military Reductions

Then, in a action that would facilitate future fighting easier for the Russian military, the plan would require the nation to diminish the size of its military from their existing approximately 800,000 troops to a limit of 600,000. Importantly, the plan imposes no equivalent constraints on the invading army.

Seemingly as a gesture to Putin's efforts to depict Ukraine's legitimate government as Nazis, the proposal declares: "All Nazi doctrine and actions must be rejected and banned." Apparently to emphasize this aspect, it insists that "The nation will hold elections in 100 days" of a peace deal. However, the proposal imposes no condition that Putin endanger his authoritarian rule by allowing democratic processes in Russia.

Protection Assurances

To be sure, the proposal makes Russia commit not to "enter neighboring countries" and to "enshrine in legislation its position of non-violence towards the EU and Ukraine". However considering that Putin has broken equivalent treaties in the past – such as the 1994 agreement, in which the Russian government committed to honor Ukraine's borders in exchange for giving up its former Soviet atomic arms, and the Minsk accords, in which Moscow promised to a truce and a restoration of captured areas in eastern Ukraine to the government – how should the international community believe Putin now?

This explains Ukraine has been so insistent on external protection assurances. Although the plan threatens a "decisive unified defense action" should Russia resume its invasion, and includes that "Ukraine will receive reliable protection assurances", the details vary from fuzzy to alarming. The proposal would not just prevent the nation accession to NATO but also prevent member states from deploying forces on Ukrainian territory, effectively preventing the security presence, presumptively headed by Britain and France, on which the Ukrainian government had been counting to stop Russia from rebuilding his weakened forces, rearming, and attacking again.

Global Concern

A separate supplementary accord according to sources would provide the nation with a Nato-style protection assurance, in which any future "significant, deliberate, and sustained military assault" by the Russian Federation on Ukraine "would be considered as an act of war threatening the peace and security of the Western nations." This indicates a defense action. Yet in contrast to a strong Ukraine's armed forces – Ukraine's most reliable deterrent against additional Russian aggression – the success of the parallel accord would depend on the dedication of Nato leaders, like the US administration, to respond militarily to Putin's aggression, an action they have {not