President Donald Trump has failed to bring peace to Ukraine as he believed he could. He has discovered a situation far more complex than he expected. Refusing to take sides, he has found himself plunged into a century-old conflict between two feuding brothers—a conflict that his predecessors, Barack Obama and Joe Biden, fueled and instrumentalized. He must therefore enlighten his fellow citizens before he can resolve the situation.
After examining President Donald Trump’s negotiations with Iran [ 1 ] , we now examine his negotiations with Ukraine. Unfortunately, we do not have the documents of the Ukrainian “integral nationalists” as we do those of the Israeli “revisionist Zionists.” This is because today’s Ukraine is truly a military dictatorship, while in Israel, the army is still the guarantor of what remains of democracy in the face of Benjamin Netanyahu’s “revisionist Zionists.”
The Ukraine issue is very different from the Iranian issue in that the United States does not share the same myths with that country as it does with Israel. In the Middle East, President Donald Trump is trying to negotiate a just and lasting peace while preserving Israel’s interests (and not those of the “revisionist Zionists” who favor Greater Israel). In Ukraine, he refuses to take sides and maintains a position of strict neutrality, while his predecessors, Barack Obama and Joe Biden, made a secret deal with the “integral nationalists” against Russia. Here too, he must uncover the reality, but this time, he must make his own administration aware of it before he can conclude anything.
Donald Trump’s clarification
On February 3, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) accused NATO of preparing the release of three surprising pieces of information [ 2 ] :
• 1.5 billion euros intended for the purchase of munitions was embezzled by the Ukrainian presidency;
• 130,000 Ukrainian soldiers, killed in combat, continue to receive their salaries and appear on the electoral lists;
• the unelected President Zelensky transferred—and not sold—real estate to foreign companies and compensation was discreetly paid to him into foreign accounts.
In response, on February 7, the unelected President Volodymyr Zelensky gave an interview to Reuters [ 3 ] . He stated that his country possessed a quantity of “rare earths” and proposed to exploit them with the Allies.
Contrary to their name, “rare earths” are not “rare” in the world, it is their refining that is. They are essential for new technologies, both civil and especially military.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent then went to Kiev to present a draft treaty for the transfer of Ukrainian subsoil as compensation for the US weapons delivered during the war. He received a cool reception from the unelected president, the weapons having been donated and not sold in the long term as had been initially envisaged (lend-lease).
We all watched with amazement as President Donald Trump and his Vice President J.D. Vance clashed with their unelected Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, on February 28, 2025, during his reception in the Oval Office of the White House.
The meeting ended without the signing of Scott Bessent’s planned agreement on the exploitation of “rare earths.” It should be noted that the unelected President Zelensky made several attempts to position his narrative, according to which Russia had invaded Ukraine in order to annex it; a narrative that had until then been supported by NATO. Meanwhile, his hosts accused him of conducting a “propaganda tour” and, faced with his denials, asked him to respect the administration that is trying to prevent the destruction of his country.
As the United Kingdom and EU members (except Slovenia and Hungary) rallied around Volodymyr Zelensky, Washington suspended its military intelligence sharing with Kyiv on March 5. Suddenly plunged into darkness, Kyiv retreated while trying to slow its withdrawal. Within four days, it became clear that, without US military intelligence, neither the Ukrainian nor the allied armies could win. This shock deeply shook the latter, which then met several times to discuss what they needed to do to regain their effectiveness.
A period of uncertainty
After the serious incident at the White House, Ukraine tried to replace US support with that of the European Union, the United Kingdom, and Canada. However, they do not have resources comparable to those of Uncle Sam.
President Donald Trump played hot and cold by letting the Europeans at large discuss together what they could do on their own. At first, he defended the representativeness of President Volodymyr Zelensky in the face of Russia, which criticized him for not having organized elections and for occupying the Ukrainian presidency without right or title since the end of his term in May 2024. Consequently, Moscow argued that any peace agreement signed by an unelected leader could be considered null and void and called into question.
The Ukrainians pointed out to President Trump that their Constitution prevents the holding of elections during a period of martial law. But Donald Trump was informed by Steve Witkoff that Volodymyr Zelensky was renewing martial law for three months at a time to avoid holding elections [ 4 ] . He then began to look for possible candidates to replace him and discovered that most of the soldiers who had died in combat were still on the electoral rolls. Elections are therefore impractical as they stand. Russia has proposed organizing them under the responsibility of the United Nations. The issue has not been resolved.
In an interview with Le Figaro , unelected President Volodymyr Zelensky said [ 5 ] : “The second motivation [that keeps me going] is hatred of the Russians who killed so many Ukrainian citizens. I know that in peacetime, it is not polite to use that word. But when you are at war, when you see soldiers entering your territory and killing innocent people, I promise you, you can feel that hatred.”
He has made similar statements many times, saying that he “hates Russians.” When asked if he meant to say that he hates Vladimir Putin, he replied, “No, all Russians!” In doing so, he is echoing the rhetoric of the “integral nationalists.” Their founder, Dmytro Dontsov, claimed that Ukrainians were born to destroy the culture and the people of Moscow; principle that he implemented with his Nazi allies at the head of the Reinhard Heydrich Institute.
Far from being a piece of propaganda, the Russian accusation of the Nazification of Ukraine is a reality.
President Trump had secretly sent his friend Steve Witkoff, also a special envoy for the Middle East, to discuss an initial prisoner exchange with Kirill Dmitriev in St. Petersburg in early April. During their discussion, Dmitriev presented himself as the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, but also as a Russo-Ukrainian interested in the Trump administration’s efforts. Having quickly concluded an initial exchange, he also arranged an unannounced meeting with President Vladimir Putin on April 11. Putin presented Witkoff with the Russian version of the conflict. Witkoff listened attentively and immediately verified the information. Back in Washington, he explained to President Trump the extent of the misunderstanding: Democratic Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden had indeed reached an agreement with neo-Nazis to take over Ukraine. The latter persecuted Russian-speaking Ukrainians. Russia did not invade the country to annex it, but implemented Security Council Resolution 2202 (the Minsk Agreements), for which it had guaranteed. Instead of helping, loyal to Democrats Barack Obama and Joe Biden, Germany and France, who had also guaranteed the implementation of Resolution 2202, had consciously accused Russia of invading Ukraine.
Donald Trump, who had long known Witkoff personally and trusted him, instantly understood the Democrats’ manipulation. Having observed Zelensky’s attitude against him during Russiagate and his involvement in the Biden-Harris election campaign, he quickly formed new convictions.
On April 14, President Donald Trump adopted the Witkoff version and lamented Zelensky’s initiation of the war, stating, “You don’t start a war against someone 20 times superior and then hope that people will give you missiles.” On April 17, he sent both sides a peace proposal, which Ukraine rejected and Russia accepted with reservations.
There remain four points of disagreement between the United States and Russia:
• Moscow continues to bomb military targets in civilian areas during negotiations. Since the Hague Conferences (1899 and 1907), it has been accepted that civilized nations will not place military installations among civilians; however, the Ukrainians use their own population as a “human shield.” Similarly, it is accepted that during negotiations, both sides are scrupulously careful to fight only military personnel, so Russia is also wrong.
• Washington only accepts the demilitarization of Ukraine if foreign forces can ensure security there. Moscow therefore proposes the deployment of UN peacekeepers, while the Allies demand that they deploy themselves. But, in view of previous episodes, Moscow believes that they will not ensure peace, but will continue the war.
• Moscow intends to conquer all the oblasts that voted to join the Russian Federation, while Washington considers that the few unoccupied areas of these oblasts must remain Ukrainian, with the final borders being those of the ceasefire.
For several years, Ukraine has organized an annual international demonstration to reaffirm its sovereignty over Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014. However, when the Soviet Union collapsed, Crimea had proclaimed its independence before Ukraine. Moscow continued for several years to pay civil servants and pensions there until President Boris Yeltsin abandoned this expensive territory and Crimea agreed to join Ukraine. In 2014, when “integral nationalists” overthrew the elected president, Crimea voted for independence a second time, then to join the Russian Federation. President Donald Trump considers this annexation legal for two reasons: first, it was a referendum in accordance with international law, and second, Ukraine did not obstruct it at the time.
• Kyiv wants the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam, which is essential for cooling the nuclear power plant, handed over to it, something Moscow strongly opposes. This demand contradicts the previous point, since these two facilities are now controlled by Russia. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), at the beginning of the war, the Zaporizhzhia power plant housed an incredible stockpile of plutonium and enriched uranium, accumulated in violation of international treaties. Russia, considering the plant a priority target, seized it at the beginning of its special military operation. It managed to recover the fissile material and transfer some of it to what was then Russian territory. Numerous battles took place at the time, suggesting that not everything had been removed.
At Pope Francis’s funeral in Rome on April 26, Presidents Trump and Zelensky met again in St. Peter’s Basilica for a quarter of an hour. It seems they agreed to start anew, with the United States and Ukraine putting everything that came before aside. They would no longer talk about war, but about a month-long truce, and would engage together in reconstruction. Of course, this reconciliation wouldn’t resolve much, but it would allow them to consider the future from a new perspective.
Scalded by the failure to comply with Resolution 2202 as much as by the recent Easter truce, Russia immediately declared itself opposed to a prolonged truce. Instead, it unilaterally announced a cessation of hostilities on the anniversary of the victory over Nazism, on May 9; an affront to the Ukrainian “integral nationalists,” allies of the Nazis, which they quickly rejected.
The creation of the United States-Ukraine Reinvestment Fund
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko signed an agreement in Washington on April 30 creating a “U.S.-Ukraine Reinvestment Fund.” Contrary to news agency reports (and what we have reported, see VAI 3394), this is not a simple restatement of the U.S. proposal for rare earth mining, but a radically new system.
The study of the text, now available, shows that the United States is waiving reimbursement for the weapons it delivered to Ukraine, while Ukraine is waiving security guarantees [ 6 ] . Washington is proposing to the Ukrainians to manage with them both the continuation of the war and the reconstruction of the country. Kiev will only have new money in proportion to the profits that Ukrainian-American companies make in Kiev, half of which will be managed by the Joint Fund. Kiev will be able to either spend this income on buying weapons and losing them in combat, or on rebuilding its country.
Ukraine will retain “full control over its subsoil, infrastructure, and natural resources,” Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said. The creation of the fund will also not harm Ukraine’s membership in the European Union.
Addressing the nation on May 1, unelected President Volodymyr Zelensky said: “We have spoken with the President of the United States, Donald Trump, about our readiness to conclude the agreement – we discussed it at our meeting in the Vatican. In fact, this is the first tangible result of this Vatican meeting, which makes it truly historic. ” [ 7 ]
The Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada (parliament) is expected to ratify the agreement between May 13 and 15.
The US Treasury Secretary said: “The United States is committed to helping facilitate an end to this cruel and senseless war. This agreement sends a clear message to Russia that the Trump Administration is committed to a peace process centered on a free, sovereign, and prosperous Ukraine for the long term. President Trump envisioned this partnership between the American and Ukrainian people to demonstrate the commitment of both parties to lasting peace and prosperity in Ukraine. And to be clear, no state or individual that financed or supplied the Russian war machine will be allowed to benefit from the reconstruction of Ukraine. ” [ 8 ]
According to Reuters, given political uncertainties and the time it takes to build mines and factories, the United States and Ukraine could wait a decade or more to reap revenues from a minerals deal [ 9 ] .
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Vice President JD Vance said he has given himself 100 days from the signing of the agreement to reach peace between Ukraine and Russia.
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[ 1 ] “ The stakes of Donald Trump’s negotiations with the Islamic Republic of Iran ”, by Thierry Meyssan, Voltaire Network , April 29, 2025.
[ 2 ] Зеленского ”, Пресс-бюро СВР России, 3 February 2025.
[ 3 ] “ Quotes from President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s interview with Reuters ,” Reuters , February 7, 2025.
[ 4 ] продовження строку дії воєнного стану в Україні” “, ерховна Рада Ukrainny.
[ 5 ] “ Volodymyr Zelensky: “Stopping the war means stopping Putin” ”, Isabelle Lassere, Le Figaro , March 27, 2025.
[ 6 ] “ United States-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund ”, Voltaire Network , April 30, 2025.
[ 7 ] історичною – звернення Президента “, Президент України, 1 травня 2025 rock
[ 8 ] “ Treasury Announces Agreement to Establish United States-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund ”, US Department of the Tresuary , April 30, 2025.
[ 9 ] “ US, Ukraine may wait decade or more to see revenue from minerals deal ”, Eric Onstad & Pavel Polityuk, Reuters, May 1, 2025.
