As the war between Ukraine and Russia rages on in Eastern Europe, President Trump is pushing for a peaceful resolution. The conflict has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of soldiers on both sides, along with thousands of innocent Ukrainian civilians. Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on August 15 in Anchorage, Alaska. Before the two met, Trump claimed there was a “25% chance this meeting will not be a successful meeting” on a Fox News radio show.
After hours of conversation and a shared lunch at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, no agreement had been reached. Even still, President Trump claimed “progress has been made”. Three days later, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sat down with President Trump and several other European leaders in Washington, D.C., where Trump seemed to guarantee that, if a ceasefire deal between Russia and Ukraine could be achieved, security guarantees for Ukraine would have to be in place. French President Emmanuel Macron also noted that, “When we talk about security guarantees, we’re also talking about the matter of the security of the European continent”, highlighting European nations’ shared fears of a Russian offensive.
However, the war remains an ongoing and ever-violent conflict. On August 21st, Russia launched one of its largest series of strikes on Ukraine, where 574 drones and 40 missiles bombarded the nation. Ukraine also warned that the Russian military had entered a key region of Ukraine, Dnipropetrovsk, on the 26th, where violence is sure to ensue.
Trump has remained determined in his goal for peace between Ukraine and Russia, but has yet to confirm what the terms of a ceasefire could look like. One thing is for certain: Trump aims to arrange a meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin, brokered by the US. He believes this could be done within weeks, saying that Putin had agreed to the meeting and they had “begun arrangements”. If this meeting successfully comes to fruition, there is no telling how long it will take for the establishment of a lasting peace, agreed upon and honored by both the Russian and Ukrainian nations, that would finally bring an end to the bloodiest conflict on European soil since World War II.
