AMERICA’S junior imperialist allies in the UK and Europe were in a state of shock as details of US president Donald Trump’s climbdown over the war against Russia became apparent, with the release of peace proposals to end the conflict in Ukraine.
On Wednesday, the Axios news site and the Financial Times revealed that a US proposed peace plan for the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, developed jointly with Moscow, requires major concessions from the regime of Volodymyr Zelensky, that amounted to giving up Ukrainian sovereignty.
This 28-point framework agreement was delivered to the Ukrainian capital of Kiev this week by Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, who is reported to have made it clear the US is demanding that Zelensky accepts the terms.
According to the Financial Times (FT), this plan requires Ukraine to relinquish those areas of the new Russian regions in the eastern Donbass, still under Ukrainian control.
According to a report in yesterday’s Daily Telegraph newspaper, the Trump deal would cede control of the Donbass region to Russia while Ukraine still maintained legal ownership with Russia paying an undisclosed rental fee.
Alongside giving up its claims to the Donbass region, Ukraine would be forced to slash the size of its armed forces by half and be banned from possessing long-range missiles.
Under the terms of this proposed agreement, foreign troops would be blocked from being sent to Ukraine and foreign diplomatic aircraft would be prevented from landing.
This is a massive blow to the call led by Labour leader and PM Keir Starmer, for the creation of a ‘coalition of the willing’ to provide troops in Ukraine to ensure the survival of the fascist supported Zelensky regime and to keep the imperialist war to weaken Russia.
An addition this plan includes a ‘rollback’ of US military assistance – meaning an end to all the supplies of missiles and weapons that have prolonged the conflict.
The proposals reportedly also stipulates recognising Russian as an official state language in Ukraine and granting official status to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the largest Christian denomination in the country, which the Zelensky regime has repressed over its historic ties with Russia.
Sources in the Trump administration have told the media that Zelensky must agree the full terms of the agreement and that Trump has sensed weakness in the Ukrainian president, who is engulfed in a corruption scandal that erupted this week following the resignation of two Ukrainian ministers over claims of a $100 million embezzlement scheme.
It also represents the weakness of US imperialism.
In October, Trump was boasting that his focus was on defeating Russia and that he would be assuring Zelensky that the US would be supplying the Ukrainian regime with long-range Tomahawk missiles that could reach Moscow, proclaiming his policy of ‘peace through strength’.
Just weeks later, Trump has caved in and in the process left his faithful ally in the Labour government staggering around blindly.
In the UK, the effect of being completely ignored, along with Zelensky, of any involvement in this proposal that effectively gives Russia victory will be crushing for Starmer who has engaged in attempting to whip up support for an imperialist war.
When confronted with this plan, Starmer’s spokesperson insisted that the UK would continue support for Ukraine and ‘make sure they have the military resources they need’, while ‘sustaining economic pressure’ on Russia through sanctions.
Starmer’s government is prepared to carry on spending billions on a lost war, billions that will be paid for by the working class.
The time has come to force the TUC to get off its knees and take action against a Labour government determined to make workers pay for imperialist war.
Workers must demand a special conference of the TUC to instruct their leaders to call a general strike to bring down the Starmer government and bring in a workers government.
These leaders who refuse this demand must be removed and replaced with a new leadership prepared to mobilise the strength of the working class to take power. Join the WRP and Young Socialists to build up the leadership required for the victory of the British Socialist Revolution.
