OPINION:
A few days before Christmas, Ukraine dispatched a series of attack drones hundreds of miles into Russian territory. These unmanned, fixed-wing aircraft deliberately crashed into residential high-rises in the Russian city of Kazan in a 9/11-style attack that must have been approved by Washington.
Kyiv acted in retaliation for the five Russian ballistic missiles that targeted the capital city’s infrastructure the previous week as part of the war that has raged since 2022. The longer the violence continues, the more the suffering spreads to the innocent.
Drone attacks put Moscow on edge on Friday, leading to trigger-happy air defense forces in southern Russia mistaking an Azerbaijan Airlines flight for a hostile incursion. With 67 souls aboard — including 16 Russian citizens — the jet took incoming fire. With its control systems failing, the pilots did their best to land the heavily damaged plane, saving 29 of the passengers.
The civilians who lost their lives in these incidents had nothing to do with the war. President-elect Donald Trump campaigned on his intention to negotiate an end to the conflict, and Russian strongman Vladimir Putin has said he is open to the idea.
“We are ready — we have repeatedly stated this — to talk to any Western representatives who are willing to have an equal dialogue, find a balance of interests, and make mutually beneficial arrangements,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said last week.
Moscow’s demands include a binding agreement keeping Ukraine out of NATO and an end to efforts suppressing the Russian religion and language in eastern Ukraine. “If Washington takes our legitimate interests into account, the dialogue will be productive rather than meaningless,” Mr. Lavrov said.
Mr. Trump appointed Keith Kellogg, his former acting national security adviser, as special envoy to resolve the dispute. Continuation of the military stalemate is to nobody’s advantage.
Instead, the incoming commander in chief’s America First strategy seeks to redirect our attention away from European blood feuds and toward more relevant but neglected problems in the Western Hemisphere.
“Merry Christmas to all, including the wonderful soldiers of China, who are lovingly, but illegally, operating the Panama Canal,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social as he set in motion plans to restore U.S. control of the modern wonder built with American blood and capital 110 years ago, only to be given away in 1977.
After reclaiming the canal, Mr. Trump hopes to cut a deal with Denmark to acquire Greenland. Its position in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean holds much more strategic value to the United States than the small Scandinavian nation of 6 million.
Mr. Trump also sent holiday greetings to “Governor Justin Trudeau of Canada, whose Citizens’ Taxes are far too high, but if Canada was to become our 51st State, their Taxes would be cut by more than 60%, their businesses would immediately double in size, and they would be militarily protected like no other Country anywhere in the World.”
It’s a fair bargain. Canada would enjoy guaranteed peace and prosperity in return for their enlisting in the American way of life. While the incoming president is likely having a bit of fun, his tongue-in-cheek plan illustrates the correct way to think about foreign affairs. Instead of imposing U.S. demands on other nations, as previous administrations have done, Mr. Trump seeks exchanges that provide mutual benefit. That’s what’s needed to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.
May the new year bring the new administration success in encouraging peace and prosperity around the world.
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