When concessions on Ukraine risk far more
President Donald Trump greets Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy outside the White House's West Wing on Oct. 17. Trump was hosting Zelenskyy for a lunch in the Cabinet Room in hopes of advancing a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. Credit: Getty Images/Andrew Harnik
On Dec. 5, 1994, the Budapest Memorandum was signed by the United States, Britain, Russia — and Ukraine, the country with the world’s third-largest nuclear arsenal.
Ukraine gave up those nuclear weapons in exchange for an eventually worthless pledge from the three other signatories to respect Ukrainian independence, existing borders, sovereignty, and to refrain from the use of armed force or threat.
Russia first violated the agreement in 2014 by illegally annexing Crimea and then in 2022 by invading Ukraine.
After talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin — without Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy — President Donald Trump decided Ukraine must reduce the size of its army, agree to never join NATO, and give Russia some of its territory [“Zelenskyy, U.S. officials discuss peace plan,” News, Nov. 24].
This smells much like the Munich Agreement of 1938 when Britain was one of four countries agreeing to allow Nazi Germany to annex the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia — without including the Czechs in the negotiations.
Appeasing dictatorial aggressors has never brought peace. It only encourages more aggression. Sadly, here, our president is proving that the one thing history teaches us is that history doesn’t teach us.
— Bernard A. Bilawsky, North Massapequa
I never thought I would ever see 1938 revisited, but Donald Trump has done it. He has single-handedly turned himself into another Neville Chamberlain, then the cooperative British prime minister.
Trump only seems interested in his Nobel Peace Prize candidacy. He wants peace at any price as long as he is not paying for it.
— Michael J. Moonitz, Massapequa
Donald Trump seemed to support Ukraine’s position of not wanting to concede to Russia the land taken from it and Ukraine being an active participant in formulating a peace agreement. For all his bravado, Trump simply does not stand up to Vladimir Putin.
Meanwhile, Trump seeks other ways to exert his thirst for power on less threatening victims, attacking and killing Venezuelans whom he claims are drug runners without proof and filling their neighboring waters with a display of military strength.
He’ll take credit if Volo-dymyr Zelenskyy accepts the peace plan, but it would be no win for the Ukrainian people. It would be a win for the Russian tyrant who is more formidable than Trump.
— Linda Durnan, Wading River
Donald Trump’s proposal is misguided. His so-called 28-point blueprint is one-sided, offering concessions that would leave Ukraine weakened and reward Russian aggression. The countless Ukrainians who have sacrificed their lives to defend their land and sovereignty deserve better. Their courage should not be dismissed or negotiated away for the sake of expedience.
Supporting Ukraine is not just a strategic choice — it is a moral obligation. Abandoning them now would signal to the world that democracies can be bullied into surrender. That is not the message America should send.
— Martin Blumberg, Melville
Donald Trump’s statements regarding Ukraine made my head spin. He again insists that Ukraine did not have to be invaded. Ukraine did nothing to provoke Russia. The reality is that Vladimir Putin has this grand crusade to reunite the Russian states as they were during the Cold War. All of Europe has reason for concern.
Regarding the ongoing purchase of Russian oil by Europe, Trump ignores his friend Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s eagerness to keep buying Russian oil. And, of course, his friend Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is of the same mindset. But there is no specific reference to them.
Zelenskyy has constantly stated his gratitude to Trump. At the White House, he tried to remind Trump of Putin’s history of not keeping his word.
— John Darr, Port Jefferson
I am flabbergasted and horrified at the proposals by Donald Trump and the U.S. administration. If Ukraine were in NATO, this warfare likely never would have happened. Basically, Trump is folding, and all he apparently cares about is potential monetary gains, not the preservation of freedoms. As a nation, aren’t we better than this?
— Arthur Bernstein, Massapequa Park
Trump’s “peace” plan for Volodymyr Zelenskyy sounds like it was written by Vladimir Putin.
— Bruce L. Hecht, New Hyde Park
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