Trump's Worrying Peacebuilding

Peace talks usually spark hope and optimism. However, what US President Donald Trump started for Ukraine is the opposite.

It initially began with a boast that he could end the war in Ukraine in just one day. However, that boast has now brought about anxiety.

Without mentioning which official or representative did it, Trump said that Washington had communicated with Moscow. Russia neither confirmed nor denied it. The world was shocked.

It did not stop there, without consulting with partners in Europe, especially the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and Ukraine, Trump suddenly called Russian President Vladimir Putin. In short, during the conversation that lasted approximately 1.5 hours, they agreed to immediately end the war in Ukraine. The world was astonished.

The dynamics then became the center of global attention. For some parties, those two initial steps by Trump were considered beneficial to Russia, lifting Moscow's morale. Why is that? All this time, Washington—during President Joe Biden's era—has been the main actor pushing the world to isolate Moscow for invading Ukraine.

However, at present, the US under the Trump era is taking steps that undermine that policy and its partners in Europe. So much so that French President Emmanuel Macron emphasized that, in fact, only Ukraine can drive solid and sustainable peace talks.

The statement does not automatically disregard the capacity of the US. However, many parties have become doubtful about Trump's target for the peace dialogue. Just a few hours after Trump called Putin, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, in front of a NATO defense ministers' meeting in Brussels, Belgium, said that there is no point in expecting the Ukrainian territory to return to its pre-2014 state, the territory before Russia annexed Crimea. Currently, after the February 2022 invasion, Russia controls four regions of Ukraine, namely Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk, Donetsk, and Kharkiv.

If in 2018 and 2019, when meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, President Trump and his aides were in tune with the world's intentions, namely to disarm Pyongyang's nuclear weapons, now the US President's attitude is the opposite. Hegseth's statement implies that if Ukraine and Europe want the war to end, they must be willing to accept the fact that their territory has been lost. This US attitude seems to acknowledge Russia's annexation of Ukrainian territory.

With the US's attitude that seems to justify the violation of sovereignty, the world's hope for peace in Ukraine is no different from the proverb "hanging smoke to carve the sky". Negotiations are indeed not as easy as turning the palm of your hand. However, it would be good for the US to pay attention to the records of its close partners so that the steps and actions of the international community so far do not reap in vain.