[UPDATED] Russian asset Donald Trump proposes recognizing Crimea, lifting sanctions against Russia

A ceasefire or peace settlement in Ukraine at present is a dangerous illusion. Trump may be the Neville Chamberlain of the 2020's. Appeasement will not lead to "peace for our time".

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BACKGROUND

See,

1)Siobhán O’Grady, John Hudson and Steve Hendrix,”U.S. proposes recognizing Crimea as Russian ahead of new round of talks; Ukraine and its European allies will be meeting with top U.S. officials in London on Wednesday to discuss the proposals, which may not sit well with Kyiv.,” Washington Post, April 22, 2025 (updated at 1:44 p.m. EDT).

2) James Rowles, “Now everyone knows the truth: Trump and Vance are Russian puppets,” Trenchant Observations, February 28, 2025.

3)James Rowles, “International Law and the structural impediments to a ceasefire or peace settlement in Ukraine,” Trenchant Observations, November 8, 2022.

4)James Rowles, “The lawless Trump regime, a stupid bully, pressures Ukraine for an illegal ceasefire,” Trenchant Observations, March 11, 2025.

This column discusses the Munich Pact in 1938 and the context in which it was reached.

Just as I was planning to work today on other priorities, I saw the Washington Post article on Trump’s proposal to recognize Russia’s 2014 military conquest and continued occupation of Crimea.

This idea is so wrong-headed that I felt constrained to lay down a marker in the form of a preliminary draft of this column. You are now reading the revised and updated version.

We should not be surprised that Donald Trump is acting on behalf of the Russians. The evidence is overwhelming that Trump is a “Russian asset”. If we look at his actions, it is fair to say that he has been acting as a Russian agent.

Trump is and always has been carrying water for Putin.

It will be a good thing if Trump is “done with Ukraine” insofar as a ceasefire or peace settlement is concerned, provided the U.S. does not cut off intelligence cooperation with Ukraine. It should also resume supplying new military aid, beyond the Biden aid that is in the pipeline.

Trump is ignorant of international law and many other aspects of foreign policy, including in particular the realities of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.

It was stupid for Trump to even propose a ceasefire given the current circumstances and Russia’s adamant refusal to consider making concessions from its maximalist demands.

The bottom line for the Europeans and those who believe in international law and the United Nations Charter is that there can be no recognition of territories conquered by military force.

Nor can criminal liability for violations of international humanitarian law (e.g., the kidnapping and removal to Russia of 20,000 Ukrainian children)) be pardoned.

Moreover, even if the U.S. recognized Crimea as Russian territory, that recognition would be void under international law because it would violate several peremptory norms of international law (jus cogens), as explained repeatedly in previous articles here. See, e.g., item 3) in the BACKGROUND section above.

The reality which no government leaders want to acknowledge is that we are in for a long war.

We need to prepare militarily for such a long war, while imposing increasingly draconian sanctions against Russia for continuing its war of aggression and war crimes in Ukraine.

We may need to reintroduce the draft as several European countries are doing.

Secondary sanctions against Russia- sanctions against companies and countries who violate the primary sanctions, (e.g. by buying Russian oil) will probably be needed to induce the Russian government to agree to withdraw its troops from Ukraine. Only then will a ceasefire or peace settlement be possible.

That is unlikely to happen so long as Putin remains in power. Orr Trump.

Of course, appeasement of Putin is another option, one being pushed by Trump.

Appeasement didn’t stop Hitler, and it won’t stop Putin. The cost of a nee Munich would be to undermine the United Nations Charter and its prohibition of the use of force across international frontiers.

It is worth recalling what Winston Churchill said to Neville Chamberlain after Munich:in 1938:

“You were given the choice between war and dishonor. You chose dishonor, and you will have war.”

Trump, pursuing peace and his mad illusion of a Nobel Peace Prize, is choosing dishonor and, tearing down the cornerstone of the U.N. Charter, the prohibition of the use of force, he or those who follow and many other countries will know war.

Unless America, Europe, and other countries stand up for international law and the U.N. Charter, and stop him.

What is at stake

T)o establish a ceasefire leaving Russians in possession of territories acquired through the illegal use of force, however worded, would eviscerate the bedrock principles of the United Nations Charter and the Charter-based international legal order.

If such a precedent were established, nations would feel free to invade other countries, and retain possession of conquered territories in “frozen conflicts” established by ceasefires.

Meanwhile, the United States needs to reassert its sovereignty by removing Russian assets or agents from the government, in order to ensure that U.S. foreign policy is not being steered from Moscow.

While there are many other reasons to impeach and remove Donald Trump, it is of utmost importance to do so urgently in order to safgegard the national security interests of the United States.

FURTHER READING

1)Tom Nichols, “Trump’s Plan to Sell Out Ukraine to Russia; His proposal to end the war isn’t a peace plan—it’s a reward for aggression,” The Atlantic, April 23, 2025 (4:21 pm ET).

2)Michael McFaul, “Why Is Trump Acting like Putin’s Agent? Adding recognition of Crimea as part of Russia to negotiations makes no sense and suggests ulterior motives, McFaul’s World, April 23, 2025..

3)Yelyzaveta Tkachenko, Anna Massoglia, and Mariana Lastovyria, ”Scoop: Trump envoy’s conflict of interest: a Russia-linked business partner; Steve Witkoff, Trump's Special Envoy, has a serious and unreported conflict of interest in Russia-Ukraine negotiations: his relationship with Ukraine-sanctioned businessman Len Blavatnik,” The Counteroffensive with Tim Mak, April 20, 2025.

4)Max Boot, “Here’s the most dangerous concession to Putin in Trump’s peace plan; Accepting Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea would upend a core tenet of U.S. foreign policy.,” Washington Post, April 24, 2025 (11:32 a.m. EDT).

Boot’s focus is on the 1932 Stimson doctrine, now a norm of peremptory international law, prohibiting the recognition of territory acquired by the illegal use of force.

***

James Rowles is a former Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School and professor of international law at other universities.

He studied the history of Nazi Germany at Stanford, and has studied and worked on human rights, judicial reform, and access to justice projects in many countries in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and in Afghanistan and Russia. At Harvard Law School, he taught a course on “Law, Human Rights, and the Struggle for Democracy in Latin America”.

At the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) of the OAS, he worked on human rights cases involving forced disappearances, executions, and torture in a number of authoritarian countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Recent Books by the Author

James P. Rowles, The Rape of American Democracy: Republican Actions and Democratic Failures, 2016-2021 (2024). Available on Amazon, and from IngramSpark by clicking on a link here.

James P. Rowles, Don’t Be Stupid. Pay Attention, Damn It! Advice for Undecided Voters and Voters Leaning Toward Trump (2024). Available on Amazon,and from IngramSpark by clicking on a link here.

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