That is the message Trump and Putin are giving Zelensky together. They keep doing so, because they know Zelensky will not do it.

That is why they keep hammering away at it. This makes it seem as if Zelensky is the one being obstructive.

Meanwhile, Russia is making no concessions whatsoever. It only wants to acquire Donbas, and Trump's guarantees are worthless. If Ukraine were to surrender Donbas entirely, Russia would still attempt to occupy all of Ukraine within ten years. After all, you have given a dictator what he wants, and that implies he wants more.

So, a ceasefire might more or less come about, but if Russia continues to occupy Ukrainian land, Ukraine will never acknowledge that it has become Russian territory. Therefore, there will never be peace until both countries jointly recognize a claim without any remaining points of contention.

It is therefore clear that neither party wants peace at this moment. After all, they both still think they can win. The reason Trump is on Putin's side is that:

1. Putin likely has 'something' with which he can blackmail Trump

2. Trump sees more merit in a deal with Russia than a deal with Ukraine/Europe

3. Trump has enormous respect for dictators like Putin

4. Trump has a huge dislike for democracy and democratically elected leaders like Zelensky

5. Trump remained wealthy in the 1990s thanks to Russian black money

As unpleasant as it is, I personally think Zelensky must stand his ground and keep hurting Russia until they realize in Moscow that the war is leading to nothing and will only result in more losses for Russia. They are really doing a good job from Ukraine, because the internet is already down in parts of Russia and Russia has already lost more than 40% of its oil export capacity.

The recent development of the FP-9 ballistic missile gives Ukraine a striking power it did not have before. They can now inflict heavy damage on Russian industry and the economy deep inside Russia. Russia's desperation is evident in the fact that it is terrorizing the Ukrainian civilian population. As if that would still win the war after four years... Something like that only works in the first week of a war, when everyone is still in shock.

After that, it only makes people more determined to win the war. The worst thing Russia could do now is stop attacking all of Western Ukraine. They would already be living in peace by then, and the appetite to enter a war would be low. However, now that Russia is attacking everywhere and you can die anywhere, entering the war is no longer a huge step. Certainly not if you can become a drone pilot.

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