When news broke that President Trump was preparing to present Ukraine and Russia with a plan for peace, many were wary of what the proposal might entail. As details began to leak last night, it appears that at least some of those concerns were warranted. However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appears open to discussion, even if many of the nation’s European allies are not.
Axios reported the complete list, but some of the most important points are:
- Ukraine would not be allowed to join NATO now or in the future, and NATO would not be allowed to station troops in Ukraine. Ukraine would, however, be eligible to join the EU and would receive short-term preferential access to the European market.
- Ukraine would receive what one US official described as “an explicit security guarantee” from the US, although the details of what that guarantee would entail are still unclear. The current plan marks the first time Trump has been willing to offer such a guarantee officially.
- The eastern Donbas region would be officially recognized as Russian territory, while the 14 percent currently controlled by Ukraine would become a demilitarized buffer zone between the two nations.
- $100 billion in frozen Russian assets will be used to help rebuild Ukraine, while the proposal also calls for Europe to invest $100 billion in the reconstruction.
- All prisoners and civilians currently held captive by either side—including the children taken by Russia—will be returned, while “a family reunification program” will be implemented as well.
Overall, the plan appears to clearly favor Russia over Ukraine, though the circumstances of the war meant that this scenario was always the most likely. The question now is whether the plan provides enough room for both sides to agree.
Ceding the land currently controlled by Russia—much less giving up territory still controlled by Ukraine—has long been the most difficult aspect of any negotiations for peace. Doing so is technically illegal under Ukraine’s constitution, and many in Europe are wary of any end to the war that makes it seem as though Russia won.
So, what changed? Why does Zelensky seem more open to this kind of agreement now than he has been in the past?
Why Zelensky may be more motivated for peace
When Zelensky was first elected president of Ukraine, he ran on a promise to clean up the government and crack down on those who abused their positions of power for personal gain. And while he has made some progress in that regard, a series of scandals has begun to rock his hold on the government.
Earlier this summer, he was forced to quickly backtrack after attempting to limit the organizations responsible for investigating corruption. Now he faces renewed pressure after two top officials were caught embezzling $100 million from the nation’s energy sector through kickbacks.
While the two officials have since resigned and Zelensky has not been accused of taking part in the crime, his political opponents are calling for more. Namely, they want him to force out his longtime chief of staff and political “gatekeeper,” Andrii Yermak, arguing that it’s difficult to see how corruption on that scale could have escaped his notice.
Yermak has played a key role in managing Ukraine’s relationships with its western allies and in negotiating a potential end to the war. Losing him would be a blow to Zelensky without any guarantees that it would restore the trust lost with his people.
As such, it seems as though he might be more willing to consider conditions of peace that were off the table in the past over fears that his position—both militarily and politically—is only going to get worse from here.
So, while it’s unlikely that every part of Trump’s proposed ceasefire will be enacted, something akin to this deal may be the best offer that Ukraine gets. The question now is whether Zelensky and his allies can accept that reality.
However, they are far from the only ones who struggle with such decisions.
Redeeming our fallen reality
Jonah Goldberg once noted that “Self-awareness is indispensable to seeing the lines between what you want to be true and what is actually true.” Unfortunately, self-awareness tends to be a quality that many of us struggle to consistently live out. And the results are often catastrophic.
If it helps, though, humanity has been fighting against false self-perceptions of our abilities and limitations from the start.
In many ways, Satan’s temptation to Adam and Eve in the Garden was rooted in the idea that they were not only capable of being equals with God but that they deserved to be as well (Genesis 3:5–6). Israel’s issues with God in the wilderness and their refusal to worship him alone in the centuries leading up to the Exile stemmed from much the same place. And the call to submit our sense of need and entitlement to the Lord in order to find peace with him and with each other is one of the most frequent themes throughout Paul’s letters.
When we refuse to accept the reality of our situation and of our own limitations, it makes accepting God’s will for our lives extremely difficult. And when we evaluate his will through the lens of what we feel entitled to or from the perspective of our own selfish desires, it will often seem lacking.
The truth is that God loves us enough to disappoint us when he knows doing so is in our best interests (Matthew 7:9–11). In those moments, learning to offer Christ’s prayer from the garden that “not as I will, but as you will” is crucial to walking in step with the Lord (Matthew 26:39).
So, where are you struggling with self-awareness today? Are there any areas of your life where you’re finding it difficult to accept God’s will because it conflicts with your own?
This side of heaven, all of us will face moments where it’s difficult to accept the reality of our lives and where our choices have brought us. However, your situation isn’t going to improve by simply wishing things were different or—even worse—trying to live as though it already is. The sooner we accept that fact, the quicker we can join God in his plans to redeem our fallen reality in ways that only he can.
Are you willing to make that choice today?
Quote of the day:
“Faith is acting like God is telling the truth.” —Tony Evans
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