Donald Trump is saying that an end to the war will be up to Zelensky because, according to him, he has the decision power to concede lands to Russia for a peace settlement. According to Trump, Putin has proposed that Ukraine give over the rest of the Donbas region to Moscow in exchange for Russia to cease fighting in the rest of the warfront. Trump backed the idea of Ukraine relinquishing territory, saying that “President Zelenskyy of Ukraine can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight”. So it looks like Trump is thinking that if Ukraine does cede territory that he can say that it was Zelensky’s choice. Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witcoff, said that Trump could not agree to any giving up of lands for Ukraine, but that Ukraine will have to make that decision and determine what they can “live with.”

So it seems that the US’s strategy is to push Ukraine to give up territory and make it look like it is Ukraine’s decision so that later one, Zelensky can take the blame. There has been talk of the United States guaranteeing Ukraine’s security, but Trump has not expressed an absolute commitment to this. Europeans have also talked a lot about deploying troops to Ukrainian territory that is still under Kiev after the war, but Russia has made it clear that any presence of troops from NATO countries would be considered to be an act of aggression. The Russian Foreign Ministry said a statement: “We reaffirm our repeatedly stated position of categorical rejection of any scenarios involving the presence of a military contingent from NATO countries in Ukraine”.

So if NATO countries sending NATO troops would trigger a war with Russia, then what will the US do for Ukraine after the war? The idea of the Russians agreeing to allow some Western troops to be deployed in Ukraine is extremely unlikely given the fact that the whole reason for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was to keep NATO out of Ukraine. Russia wants Ukraine to be a buffer zone between itself and Europe. The Russians could allow the Americans to establish American companies in Ukraine as a form of security guarantee. But will the Europeans thinking the whole time? Germany wanted sought to control Ukraine in both World Wars. After the fall of the Russian empire in 1918, the Germans demanded from the Bolsheviks (in the Brest-Litovsk conference) that Ukraine be independent. Russia relinquished Ukraine and Germany saw it as part of its sphere of influence. In the Second World War, the Germans invaded Ukraine. Will the Germans today do nothing as Russia gets closer to its borders by controlling the Donbas region of Ukraine? Germany is seeking to have the most powerful military in all of Europe, and this is not for no reason. Germany’ defense minister, Boris Pistorius, stated in June of 2025: “We must be ready for war by 2029”. War with who? It is obviously Russia. According to a strategy report from the German armed forces, Russia is an “existential risk” that could have around 1.5 million soldiers on active duty by 2026. Germany can only counter this threat “with a consistent development of military and society-wide capabilities,” the document concludes. According to Reuters:

“Military personnel and experts developed the strategy paper over the past 18 months to serve as a guideline for the future direction of Germany’s Bundeswehr”

Since the future direction of the German military is to prepare for Russia, then it is clear what we can expect for the future: a rising German power, with its European allies, against Russia.