Trump card missing for peace

S PRESIDENT DONALD Trump pledged to end the two wars that broke out between Russia and Ukraine and Hamas and Israel during his predecessor Joe Biden's term within 24 hours of assuming office.

- Harsh V Pant Kartik Bommakanti Vice president and senior fellow, national security and defence, Observer Research Foundation (ORF)

During the presidential President Trump excoriated Biden for allowing the two wars to break out and underlined that had he been president neither would have even occurred.

To his great dismay, these wars that are still raging three months after Trump assumed office have compelled him to discover why wars are easy to start but difficult to end. Negotiations in each have reached a stalemate. In the war following Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack, a fragile ceasefire that had emerged collapsed on March 18, 2024, after Hamas baulked at releasing all the Israeli hostages in its captivity unless Israel agreed to release more Palestinian prisoners and conclude a permanent ceasefire coupled with a complete military withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. Trump warned Hamas that the hostages must be released; if not there would be "hell to pay".

As things stand, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio made clear that if Moscow and Kyiv do not end hostilities and reach a settlement, Washington will be compelled to move on to other priorities. In the case of Hamas and Israel, Trump has had no more success than yielding largely to Tel Aviv's quest to completely vanquish or annihilate Hamas and the latter has no interest in meeting Trump's demands when its existence is at stake.

Thus, we are faced with a familiar problem that third parties face when they attempt to broker an end to hostilities and a peace settlement between belligerents who are still motivated to fight — and in Israel's case, it believes it can comprehensively defeat Hamas and the latter believes it can hold out long enough to prevent it.