The recent Trump, Vance, and Zelensky office blow-up was ugly. And yet, the moment revealed hard truths about the war in Ukraine: namely, the need to end it.
For years, the Biden administration repeatedly pushed for military aid to Ukraine to continue the fighting. But its efforts have ultimately kept peace out of reach.
Indeed, the Trump administration’s continued push for negotiations comes as the conflict, a functional stalemate between Russia and Ukraine, has resulted in a quarter-million deaths, left another 800,000 wounded, and caused $1 trillion in economic damages. And the Ukrainian government, meanwhile, is running out of troops who can fight.
“Battle lines haven't meaningfully moved since 2022, and declining support in the U.S. for continued war funding only adds to the greater sense of urgency this war needs to end for the sake of Ukraine, for its post-war security, for its prosperity, for its very future,” says Senior Video Producer, Khody Akhavi, in a new video produced for the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft.
“A negotiated settlement or compromise actually affords Ukraine the best opportunity to actually preserve its independence, a viable path towards reconstruction and eventual membership to the EU. That might not be the sort of end that Ukrainians had sought to this war, but it's very clear where the other path leads.”
Learn more by watching Khody Akhavi’s latest video:
Top photo credit: Ngô Đình Diệm after being shot and killed in the 1963 coup (US National Archives) 
