A Badly Flawed 'Plan' for Peace
The U.S. shouldn’t formally recognize Russia’s claim to Crimea.
The Trump administration’s diplomatic bungling continues:
Talks to end the war in Ukraine are stalled, leaving President Trump increasingly frustrated and blaming Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for failing to accept a U.S. peace plan.
A meeting Wednesday in London that was billed as a make-or-break moment for talks fizzled after Secretary of State Marco Rubio and U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff abruptly canceled plans to attend. That followed Zelensky’s pushback against a U.S. proposal for a peace deal—that Washington legally recognize Russian sovereignty over the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia has occupied since 2014.
Trump criticized Zelensky for his comments, pointing out that Ukraine itself wasn’t being asked to recognize Crimea as Russian.
The administration’s “plan” is a significantly flawed one. The U.S. shouldn’t formally recognize Russia’s claim to Crimea. It is easy to understand why this is unacceptable to the Ukrainians, but it should also be unacceptable to our government.