Donald Trump’s Reported Peace Plan In Ukraine Is Revealed. Expert Says It’s ‘Terrible’

Donald Trump’s claim that he could end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours apparently involves pushing the country to surrender Crimea and the Donbas border region to Russia, sources familiar with the plan told The Washington Post in Sunday’s edition.

Trump has privately asserted that Russia and Ukraine “want to save face, they want a way out” and that some Ukrainians “would be OK” with belonging to Russia, a person who spoke directly with Trump told the Post.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has rejected the possibility of turning over land. Russia’s unlawful invasion of Ukraine has entered its third year, with more than 500,000 people killed or seriously injured, according to intelligence estimates.

A Trump campaign spokesperson called the article “speculation” but did not address the Post’s specific questions about the reported strategy, which would reverse President Joe Biden’s attempt to blunt Russian expansion with military aid to Ukraine. The president’s approach has put him at odds with many Republicans.

Foreign policy experts and at least one prominent GOP senator took a dim view of Trump’s reported thinking. “He can’t win at the end of this,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said (per the Post) of Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose aggression would be rewarded if the ceding of Ukrainian territory came to pass.

Caving to Russia for a cease-fire would not guarantee Ukraine future peace with its neighbor either, Stimson Center senior fellow Emma Ashford told the paper. “That is a terrible deal,” she said of Trump’s alleged proposal.

The former president has given public indications of siding with Russia. In February, Trump said he would encourage [Russia] “to do whatever the hell they want” to NATO