The Guardian view on Ukraine peace talks: Putin is taking Trump for another ride on the Kremlin carousel | Editorial

AAs Donald Trump’s Thanksgiving deadline for a Ukraine peace deal passed this week, Russia expert Mark Galeotti pointed to a telling indicator of how the Kremlin is handling the White House’s latest wave of diplomacy. Writing in the government newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta, a foreign policy expert close to Vladimir Putin’s regime bluntly stated: “As long as hostilities continue, influence remains. As soon as they cease, Russia finds itself alone (we have no illusions) in the face of coordinated political and diplomatic pressure.”

Mr. Putin has no interest in a ceasefire followed by negotiations in which Ukraine’s rights as a sovereign nation would be defended and reaffirmed. It seeks the capitulation and reabsorption of Russia’s neighbor into Moscow’s orbit. Whether this is achieved by battlefield attrition or a Trump-backed deal imposed on Ukraine is a matter of relative indifference. On Thursday, the Russian president reiterated his demand that Ukraine cede more territory in the east, adding that the alternative would be to lose it by “force of arms.” Once again, he called Volodymyr Zelensky’s government “illegitimate” and questioned the legally binding nature of any future agreement.

The simultaneous assertion that a peace plan discussed this week by the United States and Ukraine could “form the basis for future agreements” is therefore as false as Mr. Putin’s empty praise for Mr. Trump’s previous diplomatic efforts. The plan — which emerged as a counter to White House proposals effectively copied and pasted from a Kremlin wish list — would call for an end to the fighting as a precondition for negotiations over the territory. It is precisely this path that the Kremlin remains determined to resist. The news that Mr Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, resigned after being investigated by anti-corruption authorities – a damaging development that could hardly come at a worse time for the Ukrainian president – makes it even less likely that Mr Putin will be persuaded to make concessions he had never previously considered.

Mr. Trump is in trouble again. But the obvious and present danger is that a combination of presidential vanity as “peacemaker in chief,” a desire to do business with Russia and Mr. Zelensky’s sudden political vulnerability will tempt him to do Mr. Putin’s dirty work for him. After four years of resistance, sacrifice and suffering, Ukraine must not allow itself to be drawn into a cynical fragmentation, which would leave it permanently vulnerable to Russian aggression, jeopardize the future security of Europe and inspire authoritarian regimes around the world.

The responsibility to ensure that this does not happen lies with Europe. Although Russian forces continue to make small, incremental gains in eastern Ukraine, their progress is extremely slow and enormously costly. By demonstrating their commitment to providing kyiv with sufficient financial and military resources to resist in the medium term, European leaders can begin to change the dynamics of the current negotiations.

The question of whether this aid should come from a “reparation loan” secured by frozen Russian assets, from the EU budget or through joint borrowing by member states must be resolved quickly after months of delay. A signal must be sent to Mr Putin and Mr Trump that Europe will resolutely defend Ukraine’s right to a just peace. As the Kremlin seeks to wield influence on the battlefields of eastern Ukraine and in the halls of the White House, there is an urgent need to give Mr. Zelenskyy some of his own.

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