Why America’s pandering to Putin is no “peace plan,” why the rest of the West must reject appeasement, and why Ukraine must be prepared for perpetual war.
By Lubomyr Luciuk
April 28, 2025
Kyiv Post
President Donald Trump’s proposed “peace plan” for Ukraine is touted as pragmatic and final. It is neither. It is nothing less than a betrayal of Ukraine and a mitzvah for Vladimir Putin. It sets a dangerous precedent that threatens not only Canada’s national security, international credibility and democratic values, but those of the entire Free World.
The “plan” offers formal recognition of Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea and implies de facto acceptance of Moscow’s legions investing portions of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. It also calls for a permanent ban on Ukraine joining NATO.
In return, Ukraine recovers slivers of occupied territory and receives vague European security assurances – without any commitment of American backing, in effect rewarding Putin’s warmongering while sidelining Ukrainian sovereignty. More significantly, accepting this “deal” would undermine the post-World War II rules-based international order whose architecture rests on a foundational principle – borders cannot be changed by force. Signaling otherwise would reaffirm for imperialists everywhere that “might makes right.”
Turning a blind eye to Russian revanchism will certainly encourage other dictators to follow suit – the security of countries like Taiwan or the Baltic states would therefore become far more problematic. Indeed, Trump’s unlettered initiative undermines the credibility of NATO, the European Union, and Canada’s role as a principled international actor. Negotiated in private, excluding Ukraine’s core allies and bypassing the multilateral frameworks Canadians have long championed, it sets a dangerous precedent, auctioning off global stability in the interests of political expediency.
For Canada, this is not some distant geopolitical squabble. Our country is home to over 1.4 million Ukrainian Canadians – the largest Ukrainian diaspora outside Eastern Europe. Russia’s genocidal war against Ukraine and Ukrainians has torn families apart, left communities devastated and in mourning, and displaced millions of Ukrainians across the world. Many have already found shelter amongst us. Many more will flood into Europe or seek asylum in North America if President Trump’s fiat prescribes Ukraine’s mutilation.
A world where democracies placate autocrats is not a world made safer for Canadians, Americans or Europeans. It becomes a more dangerous, unstable, and unpredictable place. If the principle of sovereignty means anything, it must apply when it is most at risk – not only when it is convenient.
Ukrainians have not asked for our pity. They have asked for solidarity. They have not surrendered. They won’t. Any settlement imposed upon them that sacrifices their future and sanctions an illegal occupation of almost 20 percent of their country is not a formula for peace – it is a capitulation, sowing the seeds of distrust, resentment, revenge and future conflict. Ukraine will be abandoned to a state of perpetual war.
Canada, and our friends in the United States, must reject appeasement – unequivocally and publicly. Together we must reaffirm our stalwart commitment to Ukraine’s political sovereignty and territorial integrity, press for real diplomacy grounded in law, and ensure no “peace plan” rewards a fascist aggressor.
The West still has the moral authority, diplomatic credibility, and responsibility to lead on this issue. For this is not just Ukraine’s fight. It is ours. Allowing the dictators of our time to erase borders will not herald a just, true, or lasting peace but only augur the coming of a Great War.
The views expressed in this opinion article are the author’s and not necessarily those of Kyiv Post.
Lubomyr Luciuk is a retired professor of political geography from the Royal Military College of Canada but remains a Senior Research Fellow with the Chair of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Toronto. He was declared a persona non grata by the Russian Federation on April 28, 2022.