COLUMN: Trump, Self-Proclaimed Mediator — the Danger of a Peace Imposed on Kyiv

Introduction: The Arsonist Firefighter Improvises as a Peace Referee

When Washington Dictates the Terms of a Disguised Surrender

Donald Trump hasn't changed. He has simply changed costumes. Yesterday a New York real estate salesman, today the grand architect of world peace — at least according to him. And that is precisely where the danger lies. In Evian-les-Bains, during the G7 Summit of June 2026, the American president stated that Russia should make a deal with Ukraine, promising to do "everything in his power" to end the war. Generous words. Empty words. Words that conceal a far more sinister reality.

I have been covering this conflict since the first hours of the full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022. I have seen presidents come and go, promises evaporate, and maps redrawn under the pressure of the powerful. What I see today deeply concerns me. Trump is not an impartial mediator: he is an agent whose personal, commercial, and geopolitical interests dangerously converge with those of Vladimir Putin. And Ukraine, with its 40 million citizens and its hard-defended sovereignty, risks paying the price.

The Architecture of a Plan That Reeks of Surrender

The American 28-point plan — because yes, Trump loves numbers as much as names on buildings — was presented in Kyiv with an explicit threat: sign or we cut off military aid and intelligence sharing. This plan, according to well-informed sources, endorses some of Russia's harshest demands, notably territorial concessions, limits imposed on the Ukrainian army, and NATO exclusion. In other words: hand over the keys, promise not to defend yourselves, and call it peace.

Rustem Umerov, the Ukrainian Minister of Defense, met with American delegates but was categorical: Kyiv will not accept any plan that violates its sovereignty. His visit was, according to him, purely technical. No agreement was approved. This courageous refusal to bend to Washington's pressure deserves to be highlighted — but it is not enough to ward off the threat hanging over Ukraine.

The Anchorage Summit: When Promises Dissolve in the Snow

One-on-One Without Witnesses, Without Agreement, Without Shame

Let's go back to August 2025. Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin met at a military base in Anchorage, Alaska. Two hours of discussions. No written agreement. No announced ceasefire. But both men declared "immense progress." This kind of vague phrasing is the diplomatic equivalent of a rubber check — it looks real until you check the balance.

What emerged from this meeting is deeply troubling. According to Bloomberg, Trump reportedly told European leaders and Zelensky in a call that Putin demanded the total withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the entirety of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. A demand that is not a negotiation — it is a requested surrender. And Trump conveyed it as if it were a reasonable starting point.

Lavrov and the Kremlin's Selective Memory

Sergey Lavrov never misses an opportunity to recall the "Anchorage agreements." According to the Russian foreign minister, Russia remains committed to Trump's proposals and is waiting to see how Washington plans to implement them. "Putin has said repeatedly that he accepted President Trump's proposal," Lavrov stated on June 15, 2026. This means, translated bluntly: Russia wants Trump to force Ukraine to accept Russian conditions.

The mechanics are perverse. Putin has refused to be arbitred by Europe, arguing that EU countries cannot be mediators since they "directly help the country with which we are in armed conflict." He wants Trump. He wants Trump because Trump, so far, has leaned in his direction. This isn't subtle geopolitics — it's manipulation in broad daylight.

Trump at the G7 in Evian: Showmanship Before Substance

Strong Words, Blurry Actions

On June 16, 2026, on the shores of Lake Geneva in the spa town of Evian-les-Bains, Trump spoke these words to reporters: "Russia should make a deal." He had met with Zelensky a few hours earlier — their first meeting in more than four months, thirty minutes in the wings of the summit. He had spoken to Putin the day before. And he seemed convinced that both sides were "open."

"Maybe" is not a ceasefire. "Open to it" is not a signature. Journalistic caution dictates not being carried away by the enthusiastic statements of a man who promised to settle the war in one single day. We are now in the fifth year of conflict. The clock is ticking. Ukrainian morgues are too.

Europe in Diplomatic Panic Mode

European allies at the G7 redoubled their efforts to keep Ukraine among Trump's priorities, knowing his attention span is narrow. The French presidency of Emmanuel Macron — his last before the end of his term in 2027 — orchestrated a diplomatic pressure operation. Ursula von der Leyen stated that "momentum is shifting in favor of Ukraine" and that "Russian fatigue is perceptible." Encouraging words. But if Washington lets up the pressure, this momentum can reverse in weeks.

European leaders know what many dare not say publicly: Trump is unpredictable. He could redirect his attention to another file — Iran, China, Mexico — and leave Ukraine alone to face Moscow. In fact, that is exactly what happened in the spring of 2026, when the Iranian crisis relegated Ukraine to the background for weeks.

The 28-Point Plan: A Deal or a Disguised Surrender?

Unacceptable Terms That Kyiv Refused

The famous American 28-point plan deserves closer attention, because its content reveals Washington's true intentions. According to available information, this plan required Ukraine to recognize Russian sovereignty over occupied territories, that its armed forces be capped at 600,000 soldiers, that it definitively renounce NATO membership, and that a Russian-American investment vehicle be created with $100 billion from frozen Russian assets. This is not a peace treaty — it is a treaty of vassalization.

Washington even threatened to cut off intelligence sharing and weapons deliveries if Kyiv did not sign by a deadline. This coercive pressure on a wartime ally — a country defending its sovereignty and, with it, the entire European security architecture — is of a diplomatic brutality that exceeds anything we have seen since the Cold War. Forcing the hand of a country under bombardment is a form of betrayal.

Kyiv's Resistance as an Act of Sovereignty

Volodymyr Zelensky refused to bend. And this resistance is not stubbornness — it is strategic consistency. Zelensky has repeatedly stated that Ukraine will not accept any territorial concessions in exchange for a ceasefire, because the Donbas would become a launching pad for the next Russian offensive. Putin has no intention of ending the war — he just wants a pause to reload.

This lucid analysis by Zelensky is corroborated by every serious expert who has studied Russian strategy. Un cessez-le-feu sans garanties de sécurité n'est pas la paix — c'est l'armistice de 1939. History has a cruel way of repeating its lessons to those who refuse to learn them. And Trump, in any case, clearly hasn't read his history books.

What Ukrainians Really Want: The Numbers That Bother Trump

A Population That Refuses to Surrender Under Pressure

While diplomats negotiate in palaces, what are ordinary Ukrainians saying? The Kyiv International Institute of Sociology published a poll in June 2026 conducted between May 7 and June 3, 2026, among 2,007 citizens ukrainiens. The results are unambiguous. 61 % des Ukrainiens rejettent catégoriquement un cessez-le-feu sans garanties de sécurité. Only 32% would favor one under those conditions — a score that looks less like a consensus than a resigned minority.

The same poll reveals that the support level rises to 61 % for a ceasefire if European troops were deployed near the front line with a mandate to defend Ukraine against further Russian aggression. The lesson is clear: the Ukrainians want peace, but not just any peace. They want a peace that protects their future, not one that sacrifices their territory for the comfort of Western chancelleries.

Popular Will vs Diplomatic Pressure

These figures are a slap in the face to all those who claim to "know what's good for Ukraine." Ukrainians are not pawns on a chessboard — they are people with an opinion, a historical memory, and a deep understanding of what it means to live under Russian occupation. They have known Bucha, Mariupol, the missile strikes on Kyiv, Dnipro, Kharkiv. They know what "compromise" means when Putin is the one proposing the terms.

Yet Trump and his envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner seem impervious to this reality. According to reports from The Guardian, the American representatives have not yet visited Kyiv — they negotiate from Moscow, from Washington, from luxury hotels, but without ever setting foot in the city enduring the bombs. This imbalance is revealing of a deeply biased mediation.

Witkoff, Kushner, and the Millennium's Amateur Diplomacy

Two Envoys Without a Compass in a Merciless War

Steve Witkoff, a real estate developer and friend of Trump, and Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law, are the two faces of American diplomacy in this conflict. These two men have the president's absolute trust, a certain form of entrepreneurial energy — and wartime diplomatic experience that looks like... zero. Witkoff reported "significant progress" after trilateral negotiations in Geneva in February 2026. The progress in question? Both sides had "agreed to update their respective leaders." In other words: they agreed to talk to each other. Congratulations.

The reality is that Kremlin officials easily outmaneuvered these naive negotiators, according to analysts cited by The Guardian. Putin has a polished diplomatic machine, seasoned professionals, and a culture of manipulation and double-speak decades old. Facing them, Witkoff and Kushner look like MBA students discovering for the first time what a geopolitical tug-of-war is.

The Glaring Absence of Professional Diplomacy

This lack of professionalism translates into concrete results: no binding agreement, no ceasefire, no security guarantees for Ukraine despite months of negotiations. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, for his part, stays in the background — he approves his boss's decisions rather than playing the role of architect of true diplomacy. The absence of experienced figures like a Richard Holbrooke, a Kofi Annan, or even a John Kerry is cruelly felt.

And meanwhile, the soldiers die. Des dizaines de milliers de jeunes gens des deux côtés, as Trump himself acknowledged in Evian, are losing their lives in a war that could have been stopped much earlier with serious mediation. Amateurism has a price. In Ukraine, that price is counted in human lives.

Putin Is Playing Trump Like a Fiddle

The Master Manipulator from Saint Petersburg

At the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum in June 2026, Vladimir Putin stated that Trump's ideas "could bring peace to Ukraine" — on the condition that Kyiv is "ready to compromise." Translation: if Ukraine cedes its territories, abandons its Atlantic ambitions, and reduces its army, Putin will deign to stop bombing. Legendary generosity.

Even more revealing: Putin has rejected the role of mediator for Europe, claiming that EU countries cannot be impartial since they support Ukraine. But he gladly accepts Trump as a referee. Why? Because Putin knows that Trump is easier to maneuver than the European bureaucracy. Because Trump wants a "deal," and Putin can give him the appearance of a deal while keeping the bulk of his territorial gains. It’s diplomatic judo — and Trump, so far, falls for it every time.

The Shadow of Anchorage Over All Future Negotiations

The Anchorage summit of August 15, 2025 left a deep mark on the diplomatic memory of this conflict. No signed agreement, but two leaders who left congratulating one another. Putin used this summit to legitimize his maximalist demands — the total withdrawal of Ukraine from occupied oblasts — as if they had received Washington's tacit stamp of approval. Since then, Moscow cites Anchorage every time Europe tries to propose its own peace terms.

The strategy is brilliant in its perversity: Putin uses Trump to exclude Europe from negotiations, then uses the "agreements" obtained with Trump to impose his conditions on Ukraine. It is a pincer movement of which Kyiv is the victim. And the instrument of this maneuver, perhaps without being fully aware of it, is Donald Trump himself.

Zelensky, the Man Alone in the Ring

A Courageous Public Stance in a Context of Extreme Pressure

On June 4, 2026, Volodymyr Zelensky published an open letter to Vladimir Putin — the first direct address since 2022 — proposing a face-to-face meeting to discuss an end to the war. The tone was "combative rather than conciliatory," according to analysts. Zelensky proposed Switzerland, Turkey, or "Arab world countries" as possible locations. He specified that a meeting could take place neither in Moscow nor in Kyiv.

Putin responded with contempt: he "saw no interest in a meeting with Zelensky." This stinging rebuff did not dent Ukrainian determination. On the contrary, according to sources in the Rada cited by Meduza, the letter and the Ukrainian drone strikes on Saint Petersburg during the Economic Forum are part of a coordinated campagne militaro-diplomatique aimed at forcing Putin to negotiate seriously by the fall of 2026.

The Dignity of One Who Refuses to Beg for Peace

What is remarkable about Zelensky is that he maintains a double iron-fisted posture: he is ready to negotiate, but not to surrender. He engages in diplomacy but refuses to enter it from a position of weakness. He asks for direct talks with Putin but sets clear conditions — real security guarantees, the front line as a starting point, the intangibilité des frontières internationalement reconnues.

At the G7, he demanded missiles de défense aérienne supplémentaires, weapons production licenses in Ukraine, a paquet de soutien hivernal, and increased pressure on Russia. This is not a man who implores. This is a head of state who negotiates as an equal — even when his interlocutors would like to treat him otherwise. For this, he deserves a respect that too few in Washington still grant him.

Europe Between Its Fears and Its Ambitions

The Macron-Starmer-Merz Triangle Facing American Pressure

European leaders are not inert. On June 7, 2026 in London, the French, British, and German heads of government — Emmanuel Macron, Keir Starmer, Friedrich Merz — published a joint declaration setting out cinq conditions pour une paix juste et durable in Ukraine: an immediate and complete ceasefire, the current line of contact as a starting point for negotiations, the intangibilité des frontières par la force, robust and legally binding security guarantees, and the opening of a path toward Ukraine's membership in the European Union.

These conditions are reasonable. They are even the decent minimum. But they clash directly with the Trumpian vision of a quick "deal" that would involve Ukrainian concessions. Europe and Washington are talking about two different wars: one of values and international law, the other of transactions and immediate interests. This hiatus is dangerous for the unity of the West.

The European Union Plays Its Historical Credibility

The ambassadors of the 27 États membres de l'UE agreed to officially open accession negotiations with Ukraine during the G7 — a symbolically powerful decision, even if real timelines remain uncertain. Ursula von der Leyen affirmed that "the circumstances of 2026 will be radically different from those of 2025." The path to Brussels is open, even if the road remains long.

But here is the paradox: Europe offers Ukraine a horizon of prosperity and collective security — NATO and the EU — that the American 28-point plan would like to close off definitively. Si Trump impose son "deal", l'Ukraine obtient peut-être la fin des combats mais perd l'avenir que l'Europe lui promet. This is the tragic choice taking shape: the peace of the conquered or the war of hopes.

Peace at a Forced March: Why Trump's Timeline Is Dangerous

Deadline Pressure as a Negotiation Weapon

Trump loves ultimatums. It’s his trademark from the towers in Manhattan to bilateral treaties. In the Ukrainian file, this approach translates into demands for a signature "before Thanksgiving," menaces de couper les aides, and unilateral deadlines imposed on a country that cannot afford to lose American support in the middle of a war. It is a form of pressure that perverts the diplomatic process by transforming it into blackmail.

Yet a lasting peace is not negotiated under pressure. Agreements signed under duress are the first to be violated — history is full of them. Si l'Ukraine signe un accord qu'elle considère injuste sous la menace d'un arrêt de l'aide américaine, that agreement will not hold. Zelensky cannot return to his people with a treaty that cedes Donetsk and abandons NATO without triggering a major political crisis. And a politically destabilized Ukraine is even less capable of defending itself.

The Iranian Precedent: Lessons from a Rushed Mediation

Look at what happened with Iran. Trump announced an agreement on June 14, 2026, promising the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. A success presented with great fanfare. But parallel negotiations with other parties remain fragile, and observers point out that Trump's haste to announce success before the formal signing created dangerous ambiguities. Un deal annoncé n'est pas un deal réel. This lesson applies doubly to Ukraine.

The danger of a rushed peace in Ukraine is real and documented. L'Occident ne peut pas se permettre de voir un accord s'effondrer six mois après sa signature because Putin will resume the offensive as soon as he has reconstituted his forces. A media "victory" for Trump followed by a resumption of fighting in 2027 would be a catastrophe — not only for Ukraine but for the credibility of the entire Western security architecture.

Russian Strikes as a Response to Peace Hopes

Massive Bombings on June 14-15, 2026 on Ukrainian Cities

While diplomats were congratulating one another in Evian, the reality of war imposed itself with brutality. On June 14 and 15, 2026, Russia launched a wave of massive missile and drone strikes targeting Kyiv, Dnipro et Kharkiv. These bombings, which deliberately targeted civilian populations, killed and injured dozens of people. They took place during the G7 summit — as if Putin wanted to remind the world, with his usual brutality, who really holds decision-making power on the ground.

These strikes have a precise diplomatic meaning: they demonstrate the absence totale de cessez-le-feu, the total absence of Russian good faith, and the hollowness of the Anchorage statements regarding "immense progress." Poutine bombarde les villes ukrainiennes tout en prétendant vouloir la paix selon les termes de Trump. It is the very definition of bad faith. And Trump, for his part, continues to look for a "deal."

The Logic of the Trap: Advancing on the Ground While Negotiating

Russian strategy is transparent to anyone willing to look at it directly: continuer à avancer sur le terrain — "my troops are advancing every day," Putin said in Saint Petersburg — while formally engaging in negotiations that lead nowhere. Every day of negotiation without a ceasefire is a day when Russia consolidates its positions. Every delay is a tactical victory for Moscow.

That is why l'Ukraine insiste sur un cessez-le-feu immédiat et complet comme première condition of any negotiation. Not because it is fanatical or intransigent — but because it understands that negotiating without a ceasefire allows the adversary to dictate the terms of its own position on the ground. Trump, however, does not seem to grasp this elementary dynamic. Or perhaps he understands it and chooses to ignore it.

China, Iran, and the Axis of Disruptors: The Real Long-Term Threat

Beijing Observes, Calculates, and Waits for Its Hour

Behind the Ukrainian theater, another play is being performed. Chine observes with calculating interest how the United States handles — or mishandles — the Ukrainian crisis. If Washington imposes a humiliating peace on Kyiv, Pékin retient la leçon: Western democracies can be forced to abandon their allies under economic and diplomatic pressure. This precedent would be of invaluable value to Xi Jinping in his thinking on Taiwan.

The Russie-Chine-Iran-Corée du Nord axis functions as a mutual support network: North Korea provides ammunition to Russia, Iran provides Shahed drones, China provides electronic components and diplomatic support. If Trump resolves Ukraine with a "deal" favorable to Moscow, he strengthens this axis and weakens the credibility of Western deterrence across the entire planet. The war in Ukraine is not a regional issue — it is a test of the West's will to defend its world order.

The West as a Moral and Strategic Center of Gravity

I deeply believe that l'Occident est le centre du monde — not out of cultural arrogance, but because the values it embodies, imperfectly but resolutely, are the only ramparts against the brutality of authoritarian regimes. La démocratie, l'État de droit, la souveraineté des nations — these principles are not philosophical abstractions. They are concrete conditions for the free existence of peoples.

Letting Trump sell out Ukrainian sovereignty for a headline in American newspapers weakens these ramparts. Si l'Ukraine tombe sous des conditions humiliantes, les démocraties de la région — Géorgie, Moldova, pays baltes — enregistrent la leçon avec terreur. And autocrats worldwide take note that with enough pressure, even America drops its allies. It is a dynamic the West cannot afford.

What Ukraine Must Demand — and What the West Must Hear

The Minimum Conditions for Real Peace

A just peace in Ukraine cannot simply be a peace of arms. It must rest on garanties de sécurité contraignantes et vérifiables — not simple political declarations that dissolve with election cycles. Ukrainian precedents are painful: the Mémorandum de Budapest de 1994, by which Ukraine gave up nuclear weapons in exchange for security guarantees signed by Russia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. We know what followed. Those paper guarantees did not stop Russian tanks.

This time, the guarantees must have teeth. European troops deployed, permanent military support, automatic response mechanisms to any violation. This is what the KIIS poll showed: 61 % des Ukrainiens approuveraient un cessez-le-feu avec des troupes européennes en première ligne. The population is ready. Ukrainian politicians are ready. It is Western leaders — and especially Trump — who are still hesitating.

The Call for Diplomacy Worthy of the Name

This conflict demands diplomates professionnels, seasoned negotiators, mediators who understand culture, history, and power dynamics. It demands that Europe and America speak with one voice — not that Washington negotiates behind Brussels' back with Moscow. It demands that the Congrès américain, which voted in a bipartisan manner for new sanctions against Russia and aid for Ukraine despite Trump's opposition, continue to play its role as a safeguard.

L'Ukraine doit rester souveraine. Not because it’s romantic. Not because it’s convenient. But because the fundamental rules of international law — the intangibility of borders, the prohibition of military conquest — are the foundations on which the entire world order has rested since 1945. Dismantling them to satisfy an autocrat's territorial appetite and the impatience of a businessman turned diplomat would be an unforgivable historical mistake.

Conclusion: The Price of a Botched Peace Will Be Higher Than the Cost of War

When Haste Becomes a Geopolitical Sin

A peace imposed on Kyiv by a Trump eager to claim a media victory would be a delayed-action catastrophe. Not only for Ukraine — whose legitimate rights would be sacrificed on the altar of the deal — but for the entire Western security architecture. La crédibilité de l'OTAN, la cohésion de l'UE, la confiance des alliés régionaux dans les promesses américaines — all of this would be weakened by a peace that rewards Russian aggression and punishes Ukrainian resistance.

Trump may want a trophy. But a trophy built on the surrender of a free people is an infamy. L'histoire a une mémoire longue. Munich 1938 remains etched in every history book as the example of what must never be done — yielding to aggressors to buy an illusory peace. Eighty-eight years later, we are starting the same movie over again. Someone must have the courage to say stop.

Ukraine Deserves Better Than a Trump Deal

Volodymyr Zelensky, his people, his soldiers falling every day in the trenches of the Donbas, the women and children fleeing Russian missiles — they all deserve a real, just, lasting peace. Not a paper ceasefire that doesn't hold until the next American elections. The West as a whole — Europe, the United States, Canada, Japan — must demand of Trump that he does not sell out Ukraine's future to satisfy his ego as a negotiator.

The danger of a peace imposed on Kyiv is real, documented, and close at hand. The coming weeks will be decisive. They must be approached with lucidity, with courage, and with the conviction that les démocraties ont le devoir de protéger les démocraties — even when it is difficult, even when it is costly, even when it displeases a president who prefers deals over principles.

Signed Maxime Marquette, columnist

Sources

Primary Sources

Kyiv Independent — "Let them deal," Trump says of Ukraine-Russia talks — June 5, 2026

Euromaidan Press — 61% of Ukrainians reject ceasefire without security guarantees (KIIS poll) — June 8, 2026

Ukrainska Pravda (eng) — Moscow awaits Trump's envoys, Lavrov statements on Alaska agreements — June 15, 2026

Secondary Sources

Al Jazeera — G7 leaders meet in France, Trump says "Russia should make a deal" — June 16, 2026

The Guardian — Trump's failure to maintain ceasefires is part of the new world disorder — June 7, 2026

Ground News — US threatens to cut intel, weapons to press Ukraine into 28-point peace deal — June 3, 2026

United24 Media — Zelenskyy and Trump's Representatives Discuss Path to Ending Russia's Invasion — June 8, 2026

Council on Foreign Relations — War in Ukraine: Global Conflict Tracker (updated June 17, 2026)