Trump-Putin Peace Plan Advanced, But There's a Twist

The Russo-Ukrainian peace deal arrangements have advanced in recent days significantly, but some challenges have been encountered.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Mike Waltz in Saudi Arabia meeting with accolades to Vladimir Putin of Russia.

For the first time since the war's unfortunate and sudden emergence in global geopolitics, talks of peace have just begun.

On Monday, a U.S. diplomatic envoy sponsored by President Donald J. Trump was sent over to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to negotiate possible peace terms with Russia. Although Vladimir Putin did not show up himself, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, a close ally to President Putin, did show up as a messenger.

On the American side, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz went to negotiate possible concessions on both sides, and fortunately they were both able to reach agreements to create inquiry teams to consider certain peace concessions to be made.

Marco Rubio did not state any specific concessions to be made, but rather "any" concessions, no matter the severity. Both him and Waltz highlighted their willingness to put the end of the war first over any other matters of diplomacy. Although the Russians did not make any immediate concessions, they have expressed interest in doing so in that respective meeting.

This is the first time that American leaders negotiated peace terms with Russia since before the start of the war. Having a formal meeting like this one proved that the Russo-Ukrainian War is one step closer to demise.

Yet, some problems have arose as a result of these peace terms. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has stated that he would not accept any terms in which Ukraine was not present for or negotiated with, and has remained resilient in his fight to reclaim all lands occupied by Ukraine. Although President Putin expressed interest in ending the war for good, he greatly desires the land which he is currently occupying, posing challenges with Ukraine over territorial sovereignty and the aftermath of the conflict.

Ukraine is a critical supplier of grain and rare earth materials which has set those respective markets in constant volatility over the past few years. President Trump specifically talked about this as a factor for his opinion that the war must end. Furthermore, U.S. sanctions on Russian goods have driven up energy prices and damaged the equilibrium of the global interconnected consumption economy. Americans, Russians, and Ukrainians continue to bear the weight of the fiscal cost on themselves and their families.