"First, Trump embraced it, giving Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky till Thanksgiving to accept its terms or continue to " fight his little heart out." Then, Marco Rubio, who'd been cut out of the plan's drafting despite the two hats he wears as secretary of state and national security adviser, told American lawmakers attending a security conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia, that the plan was not a U.S. proposal (a report he later denied) and, in any case, amounted to a Kremlin wish list-an appraisal matching that of many analysts (including mine)."
"On Sunday and Monday, European diplomats-who were surprised by the document and alarmed by its contents-met in Geneva with U.S. and Ukrainian counterparts to hammer out a rewrite that looks more like a reasonable proposal than a Ukrainian white flag. Once they present it, Russian President Vladimir Putin- who said on Monday that he liked the original draft just fine -will no doubt reject it."
"And so, the war will rage on, and America's role as leader of the free world-or as a general guarantor of security worth taking at all seriously-will take another hit, perhaps the most severe of Trump's presidency, which is saying a lot."
A leaked 28-point Russia-Ukraine peace plan created diplomatic chaos as the Trump administration initially embraced terms requiring significant Ukrainian concessions. President Trump publicly pushed the plan with a deadline for Ukrainian acceptance while senior officials offered conflicting statements about its origins and status. European diplomats, surprised and alarmed, met with U.S. and Ukrainian counterparts in Geneva to draft a revised proposal that appears more balanced. Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed approval of the original draft and is likely to reject the rewrite. The episode undermines Ukrainian sovereignty and further weakens U.S. credibility as a global security guarantor.
Read at Slate Magazine
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