Has Trump handed victory to Putin? ‘This isn’t what was meant by peace’
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President Trump has said Russian leader Vladimir Putin is ready to speak with him about ending his invasion of Ukraine – adding that Russia should keep some of the land seized from the neighbouring state.
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In brief…
- Trump has said he will meet Putin in Saudi Arabia to discuss peace with Ukraine, but there have been international calls to make sure more voices are involved in the negotiations.
- The News Agents say Trump is always speaking about what a great negotiator he is – but in offering Putin everything he’s asking for before talks begin, he’s proven he is quite the opposite.
- They say the situation highlights a “chilling” shift towards a world where super-powers dictate how smaller countries function, as they did before the first World War.
What’s the story?
Donald Trump said he could end the Russia-Ukraine war in 24 hours if he became president, which he did - over three weeks ago. So it’s a little later than expected, but Trump is now turning his attention to negotiations with Vladimir Putin.
Russia first illegally invaded its neighbour in 2022, and Trump has said that Russian leader Putin is now ready to begin negotiations to bring things to a close.
Trump says it is unlikely that Ukraine borders will return to what they once were, while defence secretary Pete Hegseth has shut down any likelihood that Ukraine will join Nato if the war comes to an end.
He adds that Russia, having "fought for that land", should be able to keep parts of Ukraine, and that Ukrainians "have to make peace" with that.
He reportedly spoke with Putin for an hour and a half on the phone, and claims the two will meet in Saudi Arabia to discuss the region's future.
Foreign ministers from Britain, France and Germany have insisted that Europe and Ukraine must be part of any negotiations, and called for strong guarantees about Ukraine's future security.
Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, says the country is working with the US to "stop Russian aggression and ensure a lasting, reliable peace."
Has Trump surrendered to Putin?
Who wins, and who loses, here?
The winner is fairly obvious: it's Vladimir Putin.
Before he invaded Ukraine, he had two main objectives – to take control of the Donbas region and its mineral reserves, and ensure its smaller neighbour remained outside of Nato.
And these have now been offered to him on a plate.
"I think Putin had the best day that he's had for a very, very long time yesterday," says Lewis Goodall.
"Trump gave him everything that he wanted before the negotiations even began."
Emily Maitlis says it makes no sense why Trump would offer up all his bargaining chips so soon – and questions what it shows the world about this great showman of a president, as his actions betray his words about his own capabilities.
"We always hear what a great deal-maker Trump is. We always hear what a great negotiator he is," Emily says.
"I definitely think it's true that he gets things moving, he has speed, but actually, what we keep on seeing is that he doesn't seem to be very good at negotiations, because you don't start with the easy part."
She describes Trump as having "caved" to Putin's demands.
"It's incredibly easy to stop the war: You just give Putin what he wants," she adds.
"But that's not really what we mean when we say we're seeking peace."
Jon Sopel says the person who stands to lose the most here is Zelensky – along with the people of Ukraine.
“No wonder he was left out of the phone call," he says.
"Zelensky has to accept he's lost territory and that he's not going to join NATO.
"In the election campaign Donald Trump promised that he would more or less do exactly this. It has come to pass now."
What's The News Agents take?
Alongside the immediate concern of essentially conceding victory to Putin, The News Agents say Trump's intentions towards Russia also highlight a concerning shift in global political power.
"This was the return to great-power politics, the sort of thing that we used to see before the First World War," says Lewis.
"This is about great powers deciding amongst themselves how lesser powers should be, what the political regime would be in those places and where borders should be.
He says the situation is "chilling", yet also a fundamentally "important" moment in European post-war history.
"It was the day that an American President decided to side with an autocrat," Lewis adds.
"It would have been like Roosevelt phoning Hitler after he invaded and saying: 'You know what, let's have a peace treaty, and you can basically keep most of it'."
Jon says the situation also presents questions around how the world has funded Ukraine during the Russian invasion, which is now approaching its third year.
"For all the tens of billions – probably hundreds of billions – of dollars that have been spent by the West arming Ukraine, the West was only giving Ukraine enough not to lose and never enough to win," he says.
"So everything was slightly behind the curve, and that has prolonged the battle, and increased the number of casualties."
But none of that matters to Trump. He's just got one thing on his mind – his own legacy and the rewards he can claim along the way.
"Donald Trump is going out to get the Nobel Peace Prize," says Emily.
"So he will do anything that it takes to get himself a Nobel Peace Prize, as long as it doesn't involve spending a lot of money."
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