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At first, the former US president seemed to take a strong approach concerning the Ukrainian conflict. Following issuing threats of "significant ramifications" last August in case Russia's president continued obstructing truce talks, the former president finally imposed major penalties on the Russian primary oil companies, Lukoil and Rosneft. This move significantly impacted Putin's capability to support his military invasion in Ukraine.

However, through his recently unveiled detailed peace initiative for the conflict, which was created by both nations' representatives excluding Ukraine's or European involvement, he has clearly gone back to his pro-Putin position.

Benefiting Military Action

This plan would essentially benefit Putin for attacking a sovereign nation while placing Ukraine's democratic system in danger. Although bold proclamations that "The nation's autonomy will be upheld", significant aspects of the initiative in reality weaken that very sovereignty. This constitutes a Russian ideal would likely be a catastrophe for the nation.

Demonstrating his real-estate background, the former president seems to consider the war as a basic territorial dispute, as if handing Russia a portion of Ukrainian territory will satisfy the president. Yet, Russia's military campaign is not only about controlling a charred swath of industrial-devastated area in eastern Ukraine. Rather, it is about Ukraine's democracy – and the Russian leader's apparent goal to weaken it so it stops acts as an attractive standard for the Russian people of the responsible government that Putin's increasing authoritarian rule denies them.

Border Concessions

Although maintaining in status the presently divided regions of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, the proposal would require the nation to give up the whole this eastern territory. Beyond benefiting Russia with land that its military have been unable to seize in exceeding a decade of conflict, this concession would render Ukrainian defensive positions severely compromised.

The area is the place of Ukraine's highly-touted "defensive line", the fortified military defenses that constitute a critical obstacle to Russian advances. Trump would have Ukraine leave these positions, leaving Putin a unobstructed path to the capital should he later decide to resume the conflict.

Military Limitations

Additionally, in a step that would enable future fighting more feasible for the Russian military, the plan would force the nation to reduce the scale of its military from their existing approximately 800,000 personnel to a maximum of six hundred thousand. Notably, the plan imposes no similar limits on Russian forces.

Seemingly as a concession to Putin's efforts to characterize the nation's democratically elected government as radicals, the proposal states: "Any Nazi ideology and actions must be rejected and prohibited." As if to emphasize this point, it requires that "Ukraine will hold democratic votes in 100 days" of a ceasefire agreement. Meanwhile, Trump sets no obligation that the Russian leader risk his authoritarian rule by holding elections in his own country.

Security Guarantees

To be sure, the proposal has the Russian Federation promise not to "enter bordering nations" and to "incorporate in regulation its stance of peaceful relations towards European nations and the Ukrainian people". But given that Putin has violated comparable treaties in the previous instances – including the 1994 Budapest memorandum, in which the Russian government committed to respect the nation's territorial integrity in return for relinquishing its historical atomic arms, and the 2014-2015 Minsk agreements, in which Russia promised to a ceasefire and a handback of occupied territory in the region to the government – for what reason should anyone have confidence in Putin now?

For this reason Ukraine has been so adamant on western protection assurances. While the proposal promises a "decisive joint armed reaction" if Russia resume its aggression, and provides that "Ukraine will receive dependable defense commitments", the details range from unclear to troubling. The proposal would not just block the nation accession to NATO but also preclude alliance nations from deploying troops on Ukrainian territory, thereby precluding the peacekeeping contingent, likely headed by Britain and France, on which Ukraine had been counting to deter Putin from rebuilding his diminished forces, restocking, and resuming aggression.

World Concern

An additional side agreement according to sources would grant Ukraine with a alliance-like defense commitment, in which any subsequent "major, planned, and ongoing aggression" by Russia on Ukraine "shall be regarded as an assault threatening the stability and safety of the allied countries." That suggests a military response. Yet unlike a capable Ukrainian military – the nation's best protection against additional hostilities – the credibility of the supplementary deal would rely on the willingness of Nato leaders, like the US administration, to act with force to Russia's attacks, a response they have {not