After three years of fighting, Ukraine's war with Russia is at a stalemate, Russia controls about 20 percent of Ukraine, and the Ukrainians can't drive them out.
Last August, in a surprise move, Ukrainians staged what the Western media called an incursion into the Kursk region of Russia and captured about 500 square miles of Russian territory. The United States, Ukraine's closest ally, claimed to be surprised by this move, but I suspect the Americans helped plan this mini-invasion.
Ukraine hoped to use the captured territory as a bargaining chip to improve its position during peace talks, which were bound to occur sooner or later. Unfortunately for the Ukrainians, the Kursk invasion brought North Korean troops into the war as Russian allies, and now Russia has pushed the Ukrainians out of Russian territory.
President Trump has pushed aggressively to end the Ukraine war--this "ridiculous war," as Trump has described it. He's taken a lot of heat from Democratic politicians and the Trump-hating media for his efforts. His enemies at home would rather continue the senseless bloodshed than allow Trump to get credit for brokering a peace deal.
Trump may have made some tactical errors in his vigorous efforts to push Ukraine President Vladimir Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin to the bargaining table. Trump cut off arms shipments to Ukraine for a short time, giving his enemies an opening to accuse Trump of being Russia's ally.
Nevertheless, Trump's diplomatic pressure, asserted against both Ukraine and Russia, has changed the dynamics of the conflict. This war will end before the year is out.
Ukraine and its allies must face the fact that Russia will control Crimea and much of the Donbas region when this war is over. Crimea has been part of Russia since the 18th century, and Russia has critical military installations there. Moreover, Russia must control the Sea of Azov and at least part of the Donbas to safeguard its supply line from the Russian Motherland to the Crimean peninsula.
The sooner the warring nations reach a peace deal, the fewer young soldiers will die in this nonsensical conflict. I predict someone involved in bringing peace negotiations to fruition will be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
However, it will not be President Trump. The leftist media, afflicted with a terminal case of Trump Derangement Syndrome, would never allow it.
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Cover of Crimean Blunder by Pete Gibbs. Image credit: Amazon |