Trump and Putin met in Alaska to discuss the fate of the Sovereign Democratic Republic of Ukraine. The backdrop for this meeting was relevant; the United States purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867, for $7.2 million. Donald Trump, author of “The Art of the Deal” should admire Secretary of State William H. Seward for negotiating such an advantageous deal. The purchase represented an enormous windfall for the U.S., and who doesn’t like “winning” more than Trump. At the end of the day, the only winner at the summit in Anchorage was Vladimir Putin.
Trump chickened out, and backed down from his condition that a ceasefire be implemented before entering into negotiations. Instead, Trump agreed with Putin’s demand for territory, even areas still controlled by the Ukrainian military. Trump placed the onus of securing peace on the Ukrainian president stating, “Now it is really up to President Zelensky to get it done.” These statements have the affect of sidelining Ukraine and weakening Western negotiating unity. As Trump admonished Zelensky earlier this year, saying, “You don’t have the cards,” his acquiescence to Putin implies the United States of America doesn’t have any cards either. We do hold multiple cards that could effectively thwart Putin’s aggression, but for some reason Trump is unwilling to play them. Why did Trump fold so easily?
It is worth noting that in 1991, Ukraine had the worlds third largest arsenal of nuclear weapons. The country gave up those weapons in exchange for political commitments and security assurances; including respect for their independence and existing borders, economic assistance, and full international integration. Had Ukraine kept its nuclear arsenal, it would have plenty of cards to play. We are not simply throwing money away on Ukraine, the U.S. and our allies owe Ukraine our support — that was the deal.
Trump’s humiliating failure in his negotiations with Putin is reminiscent of British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s notorious Munich Agreement of 1938. Chamberlain agreed to cede the Sudetenland (a region of Czechoslovakia) to Nazi Germany in exchange for a “promise” of peace. Soon after, the Nazis occupied the rest of Czechoslovakia, and went on to invade Poland in 1939. The result was WWII. Historians have brutally characterized Chamberlain’s policy as dangerously naive and disastrously unsuccessful.
The comparison is not entirely apropos — it’s not fair to Neville Chamberlain. There was no war in Europe in 1938, as opposed the ongoing war in Ukraine that Putin started in 2022. Hitler was attempting to consolidate power, while Putin is an aggressor actively waging war and claiming sovereign Ukrainian territory. Chamberlain believed appeasement would mollify Hitler’s ambitions, Trump has actually signaled support for Putin’s ambitions, such as the demilitarization of Ukraine, and denial of any future inclusion in NATO. These concessions weaken the Western alliance’s ability to negotiate, and reverses nearly 80 years of bipartisan U.S foreign policy.
Again, the big winner here is Putin. He did not stop with Crimea in 2014, and there is no reason to believe Putin will be appeased with just a portion of Ukraine; he has openly stated his intention to rebuild the former Soviet Empire to its pre 1917 “greatness.”
For those who wish to Make America Great Again, appeasing Putin contains no hint of greatness. As I see it, greatness implies hubris and superiority. Let’s Make America Respectable Again. Respect derives from excellence. “Frosted Flakes are Grrreat!” but I’ll take respect and excellence over greatness every time.
