OPINION:
Are we rewarding an invader (“Trump says renewed transactions with Russia are possible,” Web, Feb. 23)?
Let me start by saying I am and have been a Donald Trump supporter for more than nine years, including this past election, when I flew a MAGA flag in a town full of liberal Democrats. I agree with almost everything he is doing— with the exception of how he is handling the Ukraine war. Why is he including the invader in meetings, and not the country that was invaded?
In 1938, England took that route with Germany when it excluded Czechoslovakia from talks that involved giving some of that country’s land to Germany. England said this was done to avert war. Look how that turned out.
Vladimir Putin is the aggressor in this case, having made incursions into a sovereign nation. Iran is supplying the effort with ammunition and North Korea is sending men to fight.
The stop-the-war-at-any-cost people are making it sound like Ukraine will try to take over Russia, when in fact all Ukraine wants is Russia out of its borders. So why are we trying to broker a deal? When has deal-making with an invader ever worked? If Russia does agree to the terms, Putin will believe he’s gotten away with his warmongering, and he will only be emboldened.
We should aim to achieve “peace through strength, not “peace through the deal.”
RON WOOTTERS
Lambertville, New Jersey
Please read our comment policy before commenting.