Phillips P. OBrien - The Trump "Final" Proposal For Ukraine

Phillips P. OBrien
Apr 23, 2025

Hi All,

We have now, from the news service Axios, a list of points that make up the Trump plan which has been presented to Ukraine as a take it or leave it offer. This is what Trump has been pressuring the Ukrainians to sign, using the threats of the US walking away from the negotiations. The plan that Axios has seen is arguably the worst possible deal for Ukraine—far worst that most were saying Trump would try to impose. Here are the salient points.



To understand the most terrible parts of the deal, and where the US is bending over backwards to help Putin, you have to start with points 1 and 4.

Point 1 on Crimea ends the strategic world that the US has tried to institute since 1945 and in particular would end the European settlement that has governed the continent as well. It might come as a shock to you, but not a single European state has expanded its borders by conquest since 1945. Yes there have been countries dissolve (Yugoslavia and the USSR) but they broke up into constituent parts. However there has been no case of a country expanding its size by militarily seizing the territory of another for 80 years.

This will end that world, and establish a new principle that basically puts every European state on Russia’s (and Belarus’s) borders in real jeopardy. Now if you invade, ethnically cleanse and hold—its yours legally.

I will write much more about this later—but if Ukraine gives up legal claim to Crimea (which would require a constitutional change in Ukraine) Ukraine is establishing legal precedent that could be used by Russia to take over the rest of the country eventually.

/snip