FLASH
Shkruar nga Bohdan Nahaylo
In February 2014, Viktor Yanukovych fled Ukraine in the middle of the night, abandoning his luxurious palace as his country burned. The Ukrainian president had made a choice: Moscow over the West, Russian money over European integration, and embracing Vladimir Putin over the aspirations of his people...
Twelve years ago this month, the Euromaidan protests began in Kiev against a pro-Russian kleptocratic president who was preventing Ukraine from aligning with democratic Europe. They quickly developed into the Revolution of Dignity. Among the many foreign visitors who came to Kiev at the time to show support were Republican U.S. Senator John McCain and Democratic Senator Chris Murphy, an embodiment of U.S. bipartisan empathy.
In February 2014, Viktor Yanukovych fled Ukraine in the middle of the night, abandoning his luxurious palace as his country burned. The Ukrainian president had made a choice: Moscow over the West, Russian money over European integration, and embracing Vladimir Putin over the aspirations of his people. That decision cost nearly 100 Ukrainian lives in the Maidan protests and, ultimately, cost Yanukovych his presidency.
Now we're seeing a strange parallel unfold. Except this time, the leader who is choosing Putin over his Democratic allies isn't in Kiev. He's in Washington.
In its current form, the Trump administration’s 28-point peace plan for Ukraine represents a capitulation so complete it would make Yanukovych blush. The Ukrainian president merely delayed his country’s path to Europe. Trump proposed to give Putin a victory he could not win on the battlefield. He is doing so while betraying an American ally who has fought for three years to defend the very principles the United States claims to uphold.
-Trump's plan approved by Russia
The details of Trump's initial peace proposal read like a Kremlin wish list. The plan was developed with significant input from Russian officials, particularly Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev, who told aides: "We think the Russian position is really being heard."
Let's understand this phrase. The Russian position is being heard. In an American peace plan. For a war that Russia started. And without prior consultation with Ukraine and other concerned friends and allies.
In the draft presented by Trump's people on Ukraine, the omissions are shocking. CNN called the proposal "a terrible step backwards for Kiev" that was "co-designed by the Russians." Many analysts have noted that it is "very biased towards Russia" and "very comfortable for Putin."
-Parallel betrayal
The parallels are striking. Both leaders chose Russian interests over Western democratic allies. Both faced considerable domestic opposition, Yanukovych from his own people on the street, Trump from members of his own party and the foreign policy establishment. Both enabled Putin’s strategic goals: to fragment Western unity and establish Russian dominance over its neighbors.
European leaders express the same sense of betrayal that Ukrainians felt in 2013. The transatlantic alliance, built over 75 years, has been treated as an inconvenient obstacle to Trump's desire for a quick deal with Putin.
But here's the critical difference that makes Trump's stance even more important: Yanukovych was the president of Ukraine itself, selling out his own country. Trump is the president of the United States. The guarantor of the international order after World War II. Potentially betraying an ally that has relied on American support and promises.
-Crisis of credibility
The dangers extend beyond Ukraine's borders. If the US brokers a deal that rewards Putin's aggression with territorial gains that he could not secure militarily, what message does that send?
That the invasion will pay off. That it will be right. That American security guarantees will be negotiable when they become inadequate. China is watching how the US treats a partner that gave up nuclear weapons in exchange for security guarantees. Taiwan is watching whether American promises have any value when put to the test. Every NATO ally in Eastern Europe is recalculating whether Article 5 commitments would be honored if Putin decided to test them.
The plan also undermines the fundamental principle that has prevented major wars in Europe since 1945: borders cannot be changed by force. By legitimizing Russia’s territorial conquests, Trump would dismantle the rules-based international order that has guaranteed American prosperity and security for generations. And force Ukraine to demobilize while leaving Russian forces intact? This is not a peace plan. It is a pause before the next act of Russian expansion.
-The choice of Ukrainians
Yanukovych's story did not end well. Not for him, nor for the region. His choice to embrace Putin over the aspirations of his people led to revolution, war, and hundreds of thousands of deaths. He lives in exile now. A cautionary tale of a leader who chose the wrong path.
Trump still has time to choose differently. He can listen to the bipartisan voices in Congress, the European allies, the foreign policy experts who understand that appeasing Putin will not bring lasting peace. It will only invite further aggression. He can recognize that American leadership means standing by democracies under attack, not negotiating their surrender.
The comparison with Yanukovych should serve as a warning. When leaders prioritize their relationship with Putin over their commitments to allies and democratic principles, they don’t just fail their countries. They fail the test of history. Yanukovych learned that lesson on the cold February night when he fled his palace. The question now is whether an American president will learn it before doing similar damage to the international order that America built and to allies that depend on American leadership.
The Ukrainian people rose up against a president who chose Putin over their future. Will the Americans allow their leader to do the same? /Adapted from “Pamphlet” by “KyivPost”
Ky pseudo analist,nuk i ka lexuar 28 pikat e planit të paqes...Ky injorant,që ka guxim për të bërë gjithollogun...nuk ka kuptuar se asnjë nga këto pika nuk është në favor të Rusisë...
Kështu është kur vendin tuaj e ktheni në vegël në duart e Perëndimit! Ku është tani ajo shterpa Viktoria Nuland dhe ai pjellori Boris Johnson!? Kur kruan bythën e mushkës me shkop,prite shkelmin e saj ballit.... Kishit dhjetra mundësi të gjenit gjuhën me rusët por u pëlqeu të luanit karderrin se kujtuat o budallenj se do t'ju mbronte NATO,tani i dilni zot kësaj pune .... Trump tradhëtar!? Mos e dëgjoni propozimin e tij,dhe eja flasim pas një viti...kur rusët të jenë në Kiev