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For a brief period, Trump appeared to take a resolute approach on the Ukrainian conflict. After delivering threats of "severe consequences" last August if Putin continued blocking peace discussions, Trump eventually imposed major penalties on Russia's two largest energy firms, these major energy companies. This action seriously impacted the Russian leader's ability to fund his military invasion in the region.

Yet, via his latest 28-point peace initiative for the conflict, that was drafted by American and Russian diplomats lacking Ukraine's or EU input, Trump has apparently reverted to his favorable to Russia stance.

Benefiting Aggression

The former president's plan would effectively favor the Russian leader for invading Ukraine while placing the country's democratic system in danger. Despite strong declarations that "The nation's sovereignty will be affirmed", much of the plan actually undermine that very autonomy. What represents a Moscow's wish would probably be a disaster for Ukraine.

Showing his corporate experience, the former president seems to treat the war as a mere land disagreement, implying handing Putin a portion of Ukraine's land will satisfy the president. But, Russia's military campaign is not merely about controlling a charred swath of industrial-devastated territory in eastern Ukraine. Rather, it is about the nation's political system – and the Russian leader's clear goal to eliminate it so it stops acts as an enticing standard for the Russian citizens of the democratic leadership that Putin's increasing autocracy withholds them.

Border Surrenders

Although maintaining in status the presently separated regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, the proposal would require Ukraine to abandon all of Donetsk region. Aside from favoring Russia with area that its military have been failed to seize in more than a ten years of conflict, this concession would render Ukraine's defensive positions dangerously undermined.

Donetsk is the location of the nation's much-vaunted "defensive line", the well-established protective structures that are a critical barrier to invading forces. The proposal would have the Ukrainian military surrender these positions, providing Putin a unobstructed way to Kyiv in case he eventually choose to restart the conflict.

Armed Forces Reductions

Furthermore, in a step that would enable renewed hostilities more feasible for Russia, Trump would force the nation to reduce the size of its armed forces from their current approximately 800,000 troops to a maximum of six hundred thousand. Significantly, Trump's plan places no such restrictions on Russia's military.

Seemingly as a accommodation to Putin's efforts to characterize Ukraine's chosen by the people government as Nazis, the proposal asserts: "All radical belief system and actions must be condemned and prohibited." Seemingly to emphasize this element, it insists that "The nation will hold democratic votes in this period" of a ceasefire agreement. Meanwhile, the proposal imposes no condition that Putin endanger his dictatorship by conducting elections in his own country.

Defense Guarantees

Admittedly, the initiative includes the Russian Federation commit not to "attack bordering nations" and to "enshrine in regulation its policy of non-aggression towards the EU and the Ukrainian people". But considering that the Russian leadership has broken comparable treaties in the past – including the 1994 Budapest memorandum, in which the Russian government committed to respect the nation's borders in return for surrendering its Soviet-era nuclear arsenal, and the Minsk accords, in which Moscow committed to a ceasefire and a handback of seized areas in eastern Ukraine to the government – for what reason should anyone believe this commitment now?

This explains the Ukrainian government has been so insistent on western protection assurances. While the plan threatens a "strong unified armed reaction" if the Russian Federation restart its aggression, and provides that "The nation will receive dependable protection assurances", the particulars include unclear to troubling. The initiative would not just prevent Ukraine accession to NATO but also prohibit Nato members from stationing troops on the nation's land, thus preventing the peacekeeping contingent, reportedly commanded by the UK and France, on which Ukraine had been relying to prevent Putin from restoring his weakened military, rearming, and reinvading.

International Reaction

Another supplementary accord reportedly would provide Ukraine with a similar to NATO security guarantee, in which any subsequent "serious, intentional, and continuous aggression" by Russia on Ukraine "would be considered as an act of war jeopardizing the stability and safety of the allied countries." This indicates a defense action. But unlike a strong Ukraine's armed forces – the nation's best defense against future Russian aggression – the success of the side agreement would depend on the commitment of Nato leaders, such as the US administration, to respond through arms to Russia's aggression, something they have {not