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For a brief period, Donald Trump appeared to adopt a strong position concerning Ukraine. Following delivering statements of "significant repercussions" last August if Putin persisted blocking truce negotiations, Trump eventually enacted considerable sanctions on the Russian biggest petroleum corporations, Rosneft and Lukoil. This move seriously hindered the Russian leader's ability to support his war effort in the region.

Yet, with his latest 28-point peace proposal for Ukraine, that was drafted by American and Russian representatives lacking Ukraine's or European input, he has clearly gone back to his Russia-friendly position.

Favoring Aggression

The former president's initiative would essentially reward Putin for occupying Ukraine while putting Ukraine's democracy in danger. Although bold declarations that "Ukraine's sovereignty will be affirmed", large portions of the initiative in reality undermine that same sovereignty. Seen as a Russian ideal would certainly be a Ukrainian nightmare.

Reflecting his corporate past, the former president continues to view the war as a mere land disagreement, implying giving Putin a portion of Ukrainian territory will please the ruler. But, Putin's military campaign is not merely about controlling a destroyed swath of industrial-devastated area in the Donbas region. It is about Ukraine's democratic governance – and Putin's clear intention to weaken it so it stops functions as an enticing standard for the Russian people of the accountable leadership that Putin's growing authoritarian rule withholds them.

Territorial Giveaways

While keeping in position the presently separated regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, the proposal would force Ukraine to give up all of this eastern territory. In addition to favoring the Russian Federation with land that its military have been unsuccessful to capture in more than a ten years of warfare, this concession would render Ukraine's military defenses critically undermined.

Donetsk is the location of Ukraine's well-known "fortress belt", the well-established military defenses that are a critical obstacle to enemy progress. The proposal would have Ukraine surrender these positions, giving Putin a clear path to Kyiv should he subsequently decide to resume the conflict.

Military Restrictions

Additionally, in a move that would make renewed conflict easier for the Russian military, the plan would require the nation to reduce the size of its armed forces from their existing approximately 800,000 troops to a limit of 600,000. Importantly, the plan sets no similar constraints on the invading army.

Apparently as a accommodation to Russia's efforts to depict the nation's chosen by the people administration as radicals, Trump's plan declares: "Every extremist doctrine and activities must be condemned and prohibited." Seemingly to highlight this point, it insists that "Ukraine will hold elections in this period" of a ceasefire agreement. At the same time, Trump imposes no condition that Putin jeopardize his regime by conducting democratic processes in his own country.

Security Commitments

Admittedly, the proposal has Russia pledge not to "enter bordering nations" and to "establish in regulation its stance of peaceful relations towards the EU and Ukraine". Yet considering that the Russian leadership has broken similar agreements in the previous instances – such as the 1994 agreement, in which Russia committed to honor Ukraine's sovereignty in exchange for giving up its historical nuclear arsenal, and the 2014-2015 Minsk agreements, in which Moscow committed to a halt in fighting and a handback of seized areas in the Donbas to Ukrainian control – for what reason should we trust Putin on this occasion?

This explains the Ukrainian government has been so adamant on external protection assurances. While the plan threatens a "strong unified armed reaction" in case the Russian Federation restart its aggression, and includes that "Ukraine will receive dependable defense commitments", the particulars range from fuzzy to alarming. The initiative would not just block the nation Nato membership but also preclude Nato members from positioning troops on Ukraine's soil, thereby blocking the security presence, reportedly commanded by the UK and France, on which Ukraine had been depending to stop Putin from replenishing his diminished military, rearming, and resuming aggression.

Global Concern

An additional supplementary accord according to sources would offer the nation with a similar to NATO defense commitment, in which any later "serious, intentional, and ongoing aggression" by Russia on the country "would be considered as an act of war endangering the peace and security of the Western nations." This indicates a armed reaction. But in contrast to a powerful national defense – Ukraine's best defense against renewed Russian aggression – the success of the side agreement would depend on the dedication of alliance members, like the US administration, to act with force to Putin's attacks, something they have {not