US president Donald Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin agreed on a limited 30-day ceasefire after a telephonic conversation on March 18. The plan is that Russia and Ukraine will cease attacks on each other’s energy installations and other infrastructure.
Speaking after the call, Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country was favourable to the idea but added that he was waiting for the details of what exactly had been agreed. This is an opportunity to take the faltering peace process further. But there is a problem at the very outset.
Trump will find it difficult to convince Zelenskyy and, for that matter, European leaders, that he is indeed an ‘honest broker’. The disgraceful show put on by Trump and US vice-president JD Vance in humiliating Zelenskyy at the White House on February 28 undermined Trump’s credentials as a deal-maker in not just Zelenskyy’s eyes but also in those of that part of the world that wants a just end to the war.
Nevertheless, Trump has struck a deal that can take the peace process forward, and every nation that has a stake in the cessation of hostilities must work with this minimalist gambit. Europe, which has the most at stake, must get involved, for, without the European Union (EU) and other countries on the continent contributing, no meaningful pact can succeed.
It is to be noted, in this regard, that UK prime minister Keir Starmer’s prompt assurances of support to Ukraine after the White House spectacle, despite his country not being in the EU and having a special relationship with the US, went a long distance in soothing Ukraine’s concerns.
It is to be noted that Ukraine had made positive gestures in the negotiation process in Saudi Arabia, while Russia had stipulated the difficult condition that for peace talks to progress, Western nations would first have to cease all military aid to Kyiv while also ending intelligence-sharing initiatives.
Given that Putin has been inclined to play hardball from the time of the first invasion of Ukraine in 2014 and the escalation of hostilities in 2022, just over three years ago, some first principles will have to be iterated by the global community, especially European countries.
Principally, it must be underlined that the most important thing at stake is the sovereignty of nations. No country should be allowed to get away with infringing the sovereignty of an independent nation. An unconditional pullout by Russia from all occupied territories must be an essential condition of any solution.
Unfortunately, Trump does not seem to subscribe to this principle, and the US under him might well try to undermine Ukraine. The US and Russia must not be allowed to get away with land grabs anywhere.
