Now we know that Trump is upset with the pace of the Ukraine peace process. On Wednesday, he slammed Zelensky for his Crimea stance. Zelensky said he won’t officially recognize Russia’s occupation of Crimea. Trump said this stance was very harmful for peace negotiations. You see, while this could be an emotional thingy for Kyiv, Trump is being pragmatic here. He knows Russia would never ever cede control of Crimea and other regions in east currently held by Russian forces.
Vice President JD Vance has also threatened to walk away from the peace deal efforts. Talking to media in India, Vance said, “We’ve issued a very explicit proposal to both the Russians and the Ukrainians, and it’s time for them to either say yes, or for the United States to walk away from this process”.
The prospect of US walking away from the peace process and the further continuation of war has alarmed European nations. They fear their economies would continue to suffer if Trump fails to help broker peace. EU economies are already doing bad and Trump’s tariffs have just made things worst for them. That’s why, panic-stricken UK and France have now declared to fully back Russia’s claim over Crimea to build pressure on Kyiv.
The UK and France are now open to a peace deal where Ukraine might give up some land to Russia in return for security guarantees and ongoing aid from the West, as per the Wall Street Journal.
The WSJ says that while European leaders are uncomfortable officially accepting’s Russia’s control over Crimea or accepting a frozen conflict along current front lines, they are considering a model like the Korean War ceasefire — where there was no formal peace treaty, just a halt in fighting, and no legal acceptance of changes to borders.
In that 1953 Korean War truce, North Korea and the US signed the deal, but South Korea refused, meaning the war technically never ended. Now, the same template could be used for Ukraine where the US may sign a deal with Russia without Kyiv’s consent but with backing from UK and France. This will stop the war immediately.
But even as France, UK and the US now hope to reach a peace deal as soon as possible, the EU is stepping up to throw spanner in the works.
You see, the Trump proposal for peace involves easing of sanctions on Russia. Of course, you will have to remove those hundreds of sanctions to get Moscow to agree to end the war. But EU is outrightly refusing, much to Trump’s frustration.
According to media reports, Brussels has declared it “staunchly opposes” Russia’s request to lift EU sanctions before peace talks are wrapped up. Even on Crimea, the stance is same. EU has declared it will never back Russia’s claim. When you have these dim-witted officials in EU who are looking desperate to hurt Russia at the expense of their own economic security, it’s usual for any mediator to be livid and frustrated.
After EU’s stupid stance, the US boycotted a gathering of top European diplomats in UK. Both special envoy Steve Witkoff and Secretary of State Marco Rubio skipped the event.
This is not the first time that EU thugs have tried to derail talks. Last month, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU will not remove its sanctions on Russia. Also in March, the EU turned down Russia’s request to lift sanctions on the Russian Agricultural Bank. This was part of a larger discussion between Russia and the US about restarting the Black Sea Grain Initiative — a deal to allow grain exports from Ukraine.
Talks held in Saudi Arabia saw Russia and the US agree to work together on bringing the grain deal back. Russia’s condition was that, in return, the West should lift restrictions on its agricultural bank and other financial institutions. But the EU refused to do so.
But here the silver line is that at least UK and France are now showing some maturity and taking a pragmatic line. The only way forward for US and Donald Trump is to strike a side deal with Russia, end the fighting without formally ending the war and have quick peace.