Ukraine: vying for peace under fair terms
- hh7003
- Apr 26, 2025
- 4 min read
Owen Armentrout
March 3, 2025
On Thursday, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the White House to conduct a joint press conference and sign the U.S. proposed mineral deal. However, the meeting was cut short after heated debate engulfed the Oval Office and Zelenskyy was asked to leave; he did so without signing the deal. This story is developing.
In their meeting, Trump did little more than belittle Zelenskyy, saying the Ukrainian leader has “allowed himself to be in a very bad position” as his Vance berated him from the sideline, criticizing him for not saying “thank you”. At one point Trump went on to state that if Ukraine does not move to broker a deal with Putin then the U.S. will be “out”.
Zelenskyy attempted to illuminate Putin’s untrustworthiness, explaining that there have been 25 instances in which Putin has defied his own signature on ceasefire agreements since 2014, although his words appeared to have fallen on deaf ears.
Following the meeting, Trump signaled that he may pull the rug out from under his own ultimatum. Senior officials have reported the administration is heavily considering cutting military aid because, according to Trump’s posts on Truth Social, “President Zelenskyy is not ready for peace if America is involved”.
Both House Speaker Mike Johnson and Sen. Lindsey Graham, who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, went as far as calling for Zelenskyy to resign.
It is important to note that on Monday, two days prior to the meeting, Putin said on state television that he would be willing to offer the U.S. joint mining projects that would include the Russian-annexed regions; the estimated value of resources concentrated in that area alone is over 3 trillion dollars according to Al Jazeera.
The map above shows regions of Ukraine that have either been partially or entirely annexed by Russia. So, what is the estimated resource value of each region?
Luhansk: 3-4 trillion
Donetsk: 3-4 trillion
Zaporizhia: 200-800 billion
Kherson: Up to 10 billion
Crimea: 200-800 billion
For reference, political science professor Paul D’anieri from the University of California, Riverside says the Ukrainian mineral deal would be rather miniscule.
And let it be known that while Trump demands Ukraine reach an agreement with Russia, it was only 2 weeks ago that peace talks were held between the U.S. and Russia in Saudi Arabia and Zelenskyy was not permitted to attend.
Ukraine protested the decision saying that they would not accept ceasefire terms without being able to participate.
That being said, during Wednesday’s press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Trump said that the peace talks were moving “rapidly”.
Political science professor Ian Kelly of Northwestern University says a deal will require cooperation from all parties.
The situation is becoming foggier each day.
On Sunday, Starmer assured the press that he, French President Emmanuel Macron, and
Zelenskyy would be forging a plan to propose to the U.S.
However, as time drags on it seems that Europe may be forced to bolster the majority of Ukrainian resistance.
Friedrich Merz recently secured victory for the Christian Democratic Union in Germany’s national election. And although he is still in the process of forming a coalition government, Merz has pledged to increase Germany’s aid to Ukraine; all the while, openly voicing concerns regarding the Trump administration’s commitment to Europe, furthermore stating that Germany should work to achieve “independence” from the United States.
And how can one wonder why when its commander in chief is rolling on a log of global affairs, backpedaling on his claims of Ukrainian dictatorship, then running ahead, emboldening Putin by doubling down on his statement that Ukraine started the war by saying Zelenskyy got himself in this position.
It seems as if it’s been long forgotten how Ukraine forfeited their nuclear arsenal at the behest of the U.S. in exchange for security in 1994.
As it currently stands, this war has no concrete death toll, the true numbers are classified, but there have been numerous reports and estimations of varied severity. Trump has claimed that there have been over 1.5 million casualties on both sides.
According to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, Russia suffered over 430,000 casualties in 2024 alone. As of Feb. 1st, 2025, the total losses have tallied over 800,000, according to the Official Website of Ukraine.
Keep in mind that “casualties” encompasses deaths as well as wounded.
According to the BBC, the number of deaths between Russian military forces and militiamen has reached over 115,000 total.
In a February interview with Piers Morgan, Zelenskyy disclosed that since 2022 Ukraine has amassed over 45,000 dead and 390,000 wounded.
Perhaps this is all just a temporary setback and the conflict curtain will soon fall, or maybe it serves as an indication that warfare will continue to rage on; only time will tell.
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