Trump met with Vladimir Putin and several European leaders, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and expressed optimism about brokering a deal. Three possible outcomes exist for efforts to secure peace in Eastern Europe. One outcome is Trump becoming tougher on Putin and helping Russia and Ukraine reach a durable peace agreement. A second outcome is failure to reach agreement, leading to ongoing conflict, heavy casualties, continued attacks on civilians, and damage to Trump's reputation and Republican electoral prospects. The third and worst outcome is a Russian victory, producing severe moral, geopolitical, and political consequences similar to the fallout from the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Rove suggested that there are three possible outcomes to Trump's recent attempts to secure peace in Eastern Europe. One is that the American president becomes as tough on Mr. Putin as he has been on Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky. Then he could play a pivotal role in getting Russia and Ukraine to arrive at a deal that results in a durable peace, wrote Rove.
The second possible outcome: If Russia and Ukraine can't come to an agreement, the conflict would rage on over battlefields filled with dead soldiers from both countries as Moscow keeps pounding civilian targets from the sky. A failure to come to an agreement would hurt Mr. Trump's reputation as a strong leader and a great deal-maker. The outcome would strengthen Democrats and put Republicans on the defensive, he added.
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