To get to peace, warring countries need to know what the other wants, expects and will resist. For the first 11 years of the Ukraine-Russia conflict and three U.S. presidencies, neither side got to such granular detail as they traded barbs, bombs and propaganda.
But that all changed Wednesday after a whirlwind week of shuttle diplomacy by President Donald Trump and his team.
For the first time, Kiev and Moscow articulated specific visions this week for a peace deal. And while they remain apart on big issues like land borders and NATO membership, the two sides have a meaningful framework that eluded past negotiations and presidents.
"I think it’s a defining moment, and actually ratchets up the heat on both sides now to come to the table, now that they’ve basically put their cards on the table," Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., a co-founder of the War Powers Caucus in Congress, told the Just the the News, No Noise television show Wednesday evening.
He added: "If you’ve ever negotiated anything, and virtually everybody has, if you don’t understand what you want and what the other side wants, you can never get to yes. It’s always going to be a no. And so to see that, that now both sides have defined their interests and their goals, it allows President Trump to come in and set additional parameters time wise."
For those who know Trump, the relentless effort to get Ukraine and Russia to brush aside past failures and focus on the details is ripped right from his trademark book "The Art of the Deal."
"After this very strong first ten months in office, he [Trump] is seen as a credible broker by each side. They may not like him, but they respect him, and that’s the important thing in this sort of process," former Deputy National Security Adviser Victoria Coates told Just The News on Wednesday.
Even the legacy media — often the critics of Trump policy — marveled at the breakthrough.
“The level of optimism projected by both the U.S. and Ukraine is staggering," Axios crowed hours after Ukraine agreed to its version of the framework.
Still, much difficult work remains, and all sides are realistic. But Trump willed the United States to this point by flashing a willingness to consider any idea that would jumpstart fresh talks.
His administration originally crafted a 28-point deal that has since been streamlined to 19 points, designed to bring the nearly four-year Russia-Ukraine war and 11-year conflict to an end. Crafted with contributions from key U.S. negotiators such as Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the framework incorporates both concessions and benefits tailored to the interests of both Ukraine and Russia within the agreement.
The framework establishes reciprocal commitments, including Ukraine’s potential acknowledgment of Russian authority over certain Donbas territories (such as Donetsk), the removal of Western sanctions on Russia, a bilateral U.S.-Russia agreement for joint Arctic resource development, and the reallocation of approximately $100 billion in seized Russian assets to fund Ukraine’s postwar rebuilding.
Source:
https://justthenews.com/government/white-house/russia-ukraine-need-js-top
Diem ‘Richard’ Nguyen
Liên Minh Bảo Hiến Mỹ Gốc Việt
Vietnamese American Conservative Alliance (VACA)
https://freedom-vaca.org/vaca-blog-tieng-viet-nam/