OPINION:
President Trump buried the good news in his marathon speech to Congress on Tuesday. The president’s diplomatic exertion brought Moscow and Kyiv to the point where they were ready to finalize a deal ending hostilities.
“We’ve had serious discussion with Russia and have received strong signals that they are ready for peace,” Mr. Trump said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had relented, saying, “My team and I stand ready to work under President Trump’s strong leadership to get a peace that lasts.”
Many were quick to criticize the American president over the Oval Office dustup Friday. Near the end of the lengthy conversation with Mr. Trump and his team, Mr. Zelenskyy began interrupting his host and making demands of the people of the United States. He was willing to end the war only on his terms.
Mr. Trump wasn’t going to let that happen. He had invited Mr. Zelenskyy to Washington to finalize a deal to end the protracted war with Russia that has laid waste to large portions of Ukraine and inflicted about 1 million casualties.
Instead of resorting to the polished but empty phrases a typical diplomat might use, Mr. Trump forced the Ukrainian leader to confront the reality of his situation. It took a few days, but the truth of the U.S. leader’s words sank in.
Under Mr. Trump’s lifeline, Ukraine would share mineral rights with the United States so we could recoup the $200 billion this nation has invested to blunt Moscow’s incursion. This would serve as a security guarantee.
If U.S. mining and transportation interests have a large presence in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin would know he can’t make any move that threatens American civilians without risking war with a superpower.
This arrangement also eliminates Moscow’s consistent sticking point. Mr. Putin doesn’t want Ukraine to join NATO because that would park Western military forces on his border. The United States thinks the same about Russia’s sphere of influence.
When the Soviet Union transformed Cuba into a military base 90 miles off the Florida shoreline, the United States launched the half-baked Bay of Pigs invasion in a failed attempt to oust Havana’s communist regime. A year later, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev sent Fidel Castro nuclear missiles, and President Kennedy responded by drawing up plans for a second invasion.
Diplomacy, fortunately, prevented that plan’s execution. Moscow withdrew its missiles after the United States agreed to dismantle the medium-range ballistic missiles it had installed in Italy and Turkey to threaten the Soviet motherland.
One doesn’t need to be a fan of Mr. Putin or an “apologist” to recognize the similarity of his complaint to the one Kennedy made in the 1960s. Recent reckless talk of NATO membership for Ukraine should have been suppressed simply because it never made sense to enter a mutual security pact with what has long been considered one of Europe’s most corrupt countries.
Europe has no alternative to Mr. Trump’s peace gambit. As British Ambassador Peter Mandelson said on “This Week,” his government urged Mr. Zelenskyy to sign Mr. Trump’s initiative because “it is the only show in town.”
Much remains to be done, but all sides agree on peace as the goal for the first time. None of this would have happened without Mr. Trump’s assertiveness.
As much as Ukraine’s Western backers insist that this conflict has been about “saving democracy,” democracy has been on hold in that country since Mr. Zelenskyy declared martial law in 2022. It’s past time for democracy and peace to return.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.