Marco Levytsky, Editorial Writer.
Leaders from 31 countries reaffirmed their long-term support for Ukraine during a summit in Paris on March 27 but made little progress on their role in providing security guarantees if a peace deal is struck with Moscow.
However, several did agree to create what French President Emmanuel Macron called a “reassurance force” that would be deployed in the event of a peace deal to deter future Russian aggression.
“It was not unanimous today, as we all know, and we don't need unanimity,” Macron told a press conference. A Franco-British mission was being put together, and emissaries from both countries will travel to Ukraine to discuss the plans.
There was broad agreement at the summit that prematurely easing sanctions on Russia would be a strategic error. “There was absolute clarity that Russia is trying to delay, is playing games, and we have to be absolutely clear about that,” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who co-hosted the Summit with Macron, said after the meeting. There was “complete clarity that now is not the time for lifting of sanctions, quite the contrary,” he added.
New agreements were also reached on partner investments in Ukraine's defense industry in order to manufacture more drones and other weaponry this year to protect lives. Prior to the meeting, Macron announced an additional EUR 2 billion (C$3.1 billion) defense package for Ukraine. According to Starmer, any potential force deployed to Ukraine would boost the country's army with “a force designed to deter, in order to send that message to Putin that this is a deal that is going to be defended.”
Although Sir Keir is still publicly holding out for a U.S. “backstop” that could provide backing for such a force, Macron stated that Europe will send its troops to Ukraine “with or without the U.S.” And that is what is going to have to happen. For not only has the Trump administration flatly refused to provide any kind of security guarantees, its most recent actions have clearly indicated that it is not only biased towards Russia, but hopes to join Moscow in plundering Ukraine of its resources.
The latest mineral deal being offered by the Trump administration states that Ukraine and the US would split the royalties from oil, gas, and all minerals. The profits would be paid to the US, in dollars, and put into a joint investment fund which would be run by Americans holding three of five seats on the governing board.
It further requires that the US contribution to Ukraine’s war effort be paid back immediately and not for the actual amount of $130 billion – most of which was spent in the United States, but at Trump’s grossly inflated figure of $350 billion. It covers all infrastructure used for the exploitation of mineral products – trains, roads, airports, ports, pipelines, processing plants and refineries and gives the US veto power over the sale of resources to other nations or entities. It is unconscionable beyond words because it calls for the victim of genocide and countless other Russian war crimes to pay for the privilege of not yet having been murdered.
Ahead of the latest round of peace talks in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Trump’s lead negotiator Steve Witkoff was interviewed by the Kremlin’s chief US mouthpiece, Tucker Carlson, during which he heaped praise on mass murderer Putin as “a pretty good guy”, “gracious” and “super smart”. He went on to state that the largest issues to resolve in the war are the fate of Crimea and the four regions Moscow wants to annex, which he claimed are all Russian-speaking and “overwhelmingly” voted to join Russia in a referendum. This is totally false. The October 2022 referendums in Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk and Donetsk Oblasts were held at gunpoint and were condemned worldwide as fraudulent. UN Secretary-General António Guterres called them a “violation of the UN Charter and international law”. The numbers were so grotesquely exaggerated as to defy all credulity. In Donetsk, for example, Russia claimed no less than 99.2% of the electorate voted in favour of annexation, a margin historically surpassed only by the 99.73% of Austrians who Hitler claimed voted to join Nazi Germany in March 1938. The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution declaring that the staged referendums and attempted annexation were invalid and illegal under international law. In view of this, only one conclusion can be drawn from Trump’s statement that Russia has fought hard to conquer Ukrainian territories and has lost a very large number of soldiers in the process, so why shouldn’t it be allowed to keep the lands it has captured? In a word, Trump cares not a whit about justice or doing what is right. Instead, he clearly favours a peace agreement rewarding Russia for its aggression and restoring normal relations with that country for personal gain, American economic aggrandizement, and the return of rule by force by the world’s superpowers.
Moreover, Politico reports that Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, along with other prominent figures in his administration, including Donald Trump Jr., Carlson, and Witkoff, have engaged in secret discussions with Ukrainian political leaders who oppose Zelenskyy. These include former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and members of ex-President Petro Poroshenko's party. These talks reportedly explored the possibility of early presidential elections in Ukraine despite the country's current martial law, which constitutionally delays such elections. If true, this means that President Trump is prepared to seek regime change in Ukraine, but not in Russia. What is even more ominous, is that he denies that Putin has been behind attempts at regime change in America. This is all simply outrageous!
There are two things behind this blatant interference in Ukraine’s internal politics– bowing once again to Putin’s demands and feeding Trump’s megalomania. The US President is noted for sustaining personal grudges, and his hatred of Zelenskyy harks back to the Ukrainian President’s refusal to fabricate evidence against former President Joe Biden’s son during Trump’s first term.
While many believe that a lasting peace cannot be achieved without US support and members of the Coalition of the Willing are still optimistic that Trump may yet come around, this is wishful thinking. It is becoming very clear that Trump is out to divide Ukraine up between himself and Putin to plunder the already ravaged country of whatever the two of them may manage to salvage. What’s left of the Free World must recognize this unfortunate reality and bolster their support for Ukraine so that the principles of the UN Charter will triumph over the increasing worldwide trend towards might is right realpolitik.
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