Trump's Ukraine peace strategy puts Europe in charge of new buffer-zone plan

In a post-election development Donald Trumpʼs team has outlined a unique peace-plan for Ukraine that would need European military presence to maintain an 800-mile buffer-zone between opposing forces

The proposal suggests Ukraine should put-off NATO membership for two decades while getting US weapons support; however European countries (not America) would need to provide troops and money for the buffer-zone supervision

There should be no illusions that a just peace can be bought by showing weakness. Peace is a reward only for the strong

Vladimir Putin spoke at Sochiʼs Valdai forum showing interest in Trumpʼs ideas: he praised the ex-presidents courage during a July rally incident and mentioned readiness for talks

The plan includes several key-points:

• Freezing current front-lines
• European troops (not US) patrolling buffer areas
• Heavy weapons support from America
• 20-year pause on Ukraineʼs NATO plans

Emmanuel Macron raised concerns about Europeʼs role saying they need to “write their own history“ instead of following others decisions. The French leader pushed for more defense spending across EU nations

JD Vance‚ the vice president-elect suggested in Sept that Russia might keep current positions while Ukraine stays independent. He mentioned Ukraine would need to stay neutral and avoid joining western alliances

Russian expert Dmitri Trenin indicated that Moscow wants more than just frozen front-lines - they seek changes in Ukraineʼs military potential and political status. The Kremlin believes it can handle war costs for at-least another yr

The final shape of this peace-initiative might depend on Trumpʼs cabinet picks (Mike Pompeo could lead Pentagon). Some advisers support autonomous zones in Ukraine - similar to 2014-15 arrangements that didnt work well