Editorial | China plan could yet help deliver peace to war-torn Ukraine
Beijing’s 12-point strategy may be worth reconsidering as US fails to create negotiating atmosphere of trust and respect
US President Donald Trump promised last year to broker an end to the Russia-Ukraine war in 24 hours once he was elected, even before his inauguration in January. By then, however, his special envoy for the Ukraine war, Keith Kellogg, had told an interviewer it could take 100 days to resolve the situation – 100 times as long.
Now Trump says Washington and Moscow will begin negotiations “immediately” on ending the war after speaking with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. It does not matter.
What matters is an end to the war, and to death, destruction and suffering on a scale that can never be justified by the outcome.
It will be a difficult, fraught negotiation however long it takes. Trump may have won credit for pushing through the Gaza ceasefire and prisoner/hostage swap, but that was the result of months of negotiation and detailed planning by the previous Joe Biden administration.
A resolution in Ukraine will be a daunting challenge.