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Initially, the former US president appeared to adopt a firm position on Ukraine. Following issuing statements of "significant consequences" last August in case Putin carried on blocking truce discussions, he finally enacted major restrictions on Russia's two largest energy firms, Lukoil and Rosneft. This decision substantially impacted the Russian leader's ability to fund his military invasion in the region.

But, via his newly presented comprehensive peace proposal for Ukraine, reportedly drafted by both nations' officials without Ukraine's or European involvement, Trump has apparently gone back to his Russia-friendly approach.

Favoring Military Action

Trump's proposal would in practice benefit the Russian leader for attacking Ukraine while putting the country's democracy in danger. Despite strong statements that "The nation's independence will be upheld", large portions of the proposal effectively compromise that essential independence. Seen as a Kremlin dream would certainly be a Ukrainian nightmare.

Showing his corporate background, the former president persists to treat the Ukrainian conflict as a basic territorial dispute, like handing Putin a section of Ukraine's territory will appease the president. But, Putin's invasion is not simply about occupying a destroyed region of industrial-devastated land in Ukraine's east. It is about the nation's democracy – and Putin's apparent intention to eliminate it so it no longer serves as an enticing example for the Russia's population of the democratic governance that his increasing autocracy denies them.

Border Concessions

While maintaining in status the presently split Ukrainian provinces of these areas, the plan would force the nation to surrender the entire Donetsk region. Aside from favoring Russia with territory that its troops have been unsuccessful to capture in more than a lengthy period of conflict, this concession would render Ukraine's military defenses critically undermined.

This region is the place of Ukraine's much-vaunted "stronghold system", the entrenched military defenses that are a critical obstacle to Russian advances. The proposal would have Ukraine surrender these defenses, leaving Russian forces a clear path to the capital should he eventually opt to restart the conflict.

Defense Restrictions

Additionally, in a move that would enable additional hostilities more feasible for Russia, Trump would require the nation to cut the scale of its troops from their present large number troops to a maximum of this lower number. Importantly, the proposal places no such limits on Russian forces.

Seemingly as a accommodation to Putin's efforts to depict Ukraine's democratically elected leadership as extremists, Trump's proposal asserts: "Any radical ideology and practices must be rejected and prohibited." Apparently to underscore this aspect, it requires that "Ukraine will hold democratic votes in this period" of a peace deal. Meanwhile, the proposal imposes no obligation that Putin endanger his authoritarian rule by conducting democratic processes in his own country.

Defense Assurances

Admittedly, the initiative has the Russian Federation pledge not to "attack neighboring countries" and to "incorporate in law its position of non-aggression towards the EU and Ukraine". But given that the Russian leadership has violated similar treaties in the history – such as the 1994 agreement, in which Russia promised to respect Ukraine's sovereignty in exchange for surrendering its historical nuclear arsenal, and the 2014-2015 Minsk agreements, in which Moscow committed to a halt in fighting and a return of occupied land in the Donbas to Ukrainian control – how should anyone have confidence in Russia on this occasion?

That is why Ukraine has been so insistent on international defense commitments. Although the initiative threatens a "decisive coordinated military response" if the Russian Federation restart its aggression, and provides that "Ukraine will receive dependable protection assurances", the details range from vague to troubling. The initiative would not just prevent Ukraine accession to NATO but also preclude Nato members from positioning troops on Ukraine's soil, thus preventing the security presence, presumptively led by the UK and France, on which the Ukrainian government had been depending to deter Putin from replenishing his weakened troops, re-equipping, and resuming aggression.

World Reaction

An additional parallel deal according to sources would offer the nation with a alliance-like protection assurance, in which any future "serious, planned, and continuous armed attack" by Russia on the country "would be considered as an attack jeopardizing the peace and security of the allied countries." That suggests a military response. Yet in contrast to a strong Ukrainian military – the nation's best protection against renewed Russian aggression – the credibility of the side agreement would depend on the commitment of Nato leaders, like the US administration, to react with force to Putin's attacks, something they have {not