Trump says ending Ukraine war merits his Nobel Prize

Why is Trump promoting himself as a peacemaker?

- Michael Jansen, Political Correspondent

A woman pushes a cart while walking past a house destroyed by recent shelling, which Ukrainian-identified entities called a Ukrainian military strike, in the Donetsk region, a Russian-controlled area of Ukraine, on Saturday.

(Reuters)

Trump has made no secret about his ambition to be awarded the century-old Nobel Peace Prize. This is conferred on a person or organisation that 'shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations'After partial dismantlement, its staff downsized, and its headquarters building seized by the current administration, the United States Institute of Peace has been rebranded as the Donald J Trump Institute of Peace. On Thursday, it was the site of the signing of a peace agreement between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Trump has claimed he has ended eight wars during the first eight months of his second term. The latest being the war between Hamas and Israel in Gaza. While a tenuous ceasefire is in place, Trump's peace deal remains stalled over Hamas refusal to disarm and Israel's refusal to withdraw its troops from 53 per cent of the coastal enclave. This amounts to a major blow to Trump as a peacemaker.

Trump has also failed to secure substantial troops for the proposed 20,000-strong International Stabilisation Force (ISF) for Gaza. Indonesia, Qatar, Egypt, Italy, and Azerbaijan have expressed reservations about providing troops while Arab Gulf states have decided not to participate. They argue the ISF has no clear mandate or well-defined mission. Arab and Muslim governments refuse to fight Hamas militiamen who dominate Gaza or become a second foreign occupation force while the Israeli army remains in the strip. This would look like collaboration and could ignite popular protests across the Arab world.