Donald Trump is absolutely right to end the war in Ukraine

The US president has changed the game in a way nobody else has

- Hamish de Bretton-Gordon

Love him or hate him, you have to take your hat off to Donald Trump; he said he would end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours and, though it’s not quite on that timeline, he may just pull off an extraordinary feat. Volodymyr Zelensky is heading to the US to hand over some raw materials in return for silencing the guns on the eastern front. Everyone on the planet, especially those with a bit of moral compass and even those without, wants the end of this dreadful war and almost at any cost. But it must be a just settlement that the people of Ukraine can accept for today and tomorrow. Vladimir Putin’s three-week military operation has now extended to three years and until recently has shown no signs of end. So whatever we think of President Trump, it looks as though he is going to make the peace when all others have failed.

This war has cost hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian and Russian lives — while Russia has robbed Ukraine of a fifth of its territory.

Though the West has supported Ukraine financially and militarily, it has not given enough to help the Ukrainians actually win. Instead they have been kept in a kind of stasis: too strong to lose, but too weak to win. Let’s not forget that Putin’s illegal war has had consequences for Britain and Europe too in the form of the energy crisis — and peace would help on that score. We have spent a great deal too, giving over £12 billion in aid to help our allies.

This deal would mark an end to all of that — peace which Western leaders have failed to achieve. It is notable that there were no major outbreaks of war under Trump in his first term.