Thursday’s talks in Turkey between Moscow and Kyiv will serve as the latest test of whether Vladimir Putin is serious about a cease-fire deal.
And if Putin fails, President Donald Trump faces a test of his own.
The prez expressed optimism that “some pretty good news” will emerge from the negotiations.
Yet Moscow has feigned an interest in peace before, only to show its real stripes.
Remember, Putin was the one who started this war and who’s broken past cease-fire terms.
As long as he believes he can gain some advantage, he’ll keep up his attacks — no matter what he “agrees” to.
So it’s good Trump is threatening secondary sanctions on Moscow if no accord is reached.
Russia’s economy is already precarious, and it would suffer serious hurt from serious additional blows.
But getting Putin to accept any realistic peace agreement will likely also require Trump and the West to boost aid to Kyiv — particularly military aid: weapons and equipment that can make a difference on the ground.
Russia’s been seeing “significant” and increasing troop losses per square mile of territory gained, reports the Institute for the Study of War. But it’s poised to more than replace those troops.
Ukraine badly needs to raise Russia’s costs on the battlefield, if not halt (or even roll back) its recent advances.
The best news: Trump increasingly seems to realize that Putin, not Volodymyr Zelensky, is the chief obstacle to peace.
If he truly wants to end the war soon, he’ll need to tighten all the screws on Vlad — to the max.
This story originally appeared on NYPost
