Putin gets an early Christmas gift
President Trump proposed a 28-point plan for Russia and Ukraine that gives Putin almost everything he asked for. Ukraine’s letter to the North Pole must have been lost in the mail, as Ukrainian and European representatives were not included.
The plan gives Russia the territory it wanted when it invaded Ukraine: Crimea and most of Ukraine’s four eastern oblasts. It requires Ukraine to limit the size of its military and amend its constitution to reject membership in NATO.
The deal unfreezes $100 billion in frozen Russian assets for investment in rebuilding Ukraine. But the regions needing reconstruction are the ones Russia would be taking. It offers $100 billion from Europe, which was not consulted, which also has to unfreeze Russian assets and lift sanctions. And the U.S. will get “50% of the profit from the venture.” Europe pays, and the U.S. and Russia split the benefit.
It further separates us from our allies by saying that the U.S. will “mediate” a deal between NATO and Russia — as if we aren’t part of NATO. It gives Putin the ticket he wanted to rejoin the G7, from which Russia was excluded after invading Ukraine in 2014. And it gives Putin the ticket he wanted to rejoin the G7, from which Russia was excluded after invading Ukraine in 2014.
Another gift? Full amnesty on all Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilians, including well-documented rape, torture, murder and kidnap of children.
Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and Putin’s ally Kirill Dmitriev, who wrapped up these presents, clearly checked Putin’s list and checked it twice. If Zelensky is forced into this deal, it’s a Black Friday for the world.