Donald Trump's Ukraine Peace Plan Trashed by Experts: 'Incompatible'

A plan by Donald Trump's advisers to end the war in Ukraine if the former president is reelected has been dismissed by experts as unacceptable to both Moscow and Kyiv.

Trump has repeatedly said he could settle the war in Ukraine within a day if he defeats President Joe Biden in November, without presenting evidence of how he would do so.

But one proposal drawn up by Fred Fleitz and retired Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg, who were chiefs of staff in Trump's National Security Council, involves telling Ukraine it would get more U.S. military support only if it entered peace talks, Reuters reported.

The proposal would also mean warning Moscow that any refusal to negotiate would signify increased American support for Ukraine and would require a ceasefire based on prevailing battle lines, the outlet said.

Gordon "Skip" Davis, a senior fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis and retired U.S. Army major general, said such a plan is unlikely to impress either side in the conflict.

"I see the proposal as unbalanced in favor of Russia's aims and likely to reward aggression and brutal violence," he told Newsweek. "Western support is both a critical requirement and a critical vulnerability for Ukraine. Neither the West nor the U.S. and the West combined can exercise similar leverage against Russia."

Davis continued: "Threatening Russia with greater Western and U.S. support to Ukraine at this point in the war seems both ironic and unlikely to convince Putin to negotiate. Actually providing that greater support could."

The proposal's main components were published in April by the America First Policy Institute, a pro-Trump think tank, and included coaxing Moscow with the promise of delaying Ukraine's NATO membership for an extended period.

Peace would also require additional security guarantees for Ukraine, which would include giving it significant arms supplies, Kellogg and Fleitz said.

"The idea of a peace plan for Russia's war against Ukraine sounds nice, but the ideas proposed by two Trump advisers would not be acceptable to either Russia or Ukraine," said Brian Taylor, the author of The Code of Putinism and a political science professor at Syracuse University.

"The two countries' objectives are incompatible," Taylor told Newsweek. "Russia wants to have political control over Ukraine and eliminate the idea of Ukraine as a separate nation, and Ukraine wants to defend its territory, its people, and its democracy from Russian violence and domination."

Social media users dismissed the proposal as giving Moscow the upper hand in talks. "It's a plan written in the Kremlin, a wish list that Trump is only too happy to grant," wrote user @JayinKyiv, a pro-Ukrainian account on X, formerly Twitter.

The New Republic's account shared an article on the topic, writing in the post, "Trump Has a Ukraine Plan—and It Gives Putin Exactly What He Wants."

On X, Tatiana Stanovaya, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, said Putin did not want to pause the war, especially since he believes Russia has the upper hand. Even if there is a battlefield stalemate, Russia can continue targeting Ukraine's energy sector, hurting the civilian population.

"In Moscow's view, the threat of increased support for Ukraine will not significantly alter the existing situation or current threats," Stanovaya wrote.

"This plan overlooks the core issue of the conflict: Putin aims to dismantle the anti-Russia project in Ukraine. For him it's not about territory but about ensuring Ukraine becomes 'friendly,'" she continued.

Fleitz told Reuters Trump responded favorably to the proposal. When contacted for comment, Steven Cheung, the former president's spokesperson, told Newsweek that only statements by Trump or authorized members of his campaign were official.

Davis said, "On the surface, the proposal will likely appeal to Trump's base and a large slice of European publics more interested in peace than defending freedom of choice in government, territorial sovereignty, and international law."

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