Putin Signals Openness to Trump Peace Plan as He Threatens Ukraine with Force

As President Donald Trump’s influence continues to reshape global conversations, Vladimir Putin is now signaling his willingness to consider Trump’s peace plan as the starting point to end the war in Ukraine a war that began under Joe Biden’s watch, not Trump’s.

Speaking from Kyrgyzstan, the Russian president told reporters that Trump’s plan is “a set of issues put forward for discussion” and added that “every word matters” a far cry from the dismissive tone he used toward previous Western-led peace efforts. The message was clear: Trump is the only U.S. leader Putin takes seriously.

“If Ukrainian troops withdraw from the territories they occupy, hostilities will cease. If they don’t withdraw, we will achieve this by force,” Putin warned again highlighting how emboldened he’s become under Biden’s weak foreign policy.

Putin's statement is a chilling reminder that Biden’s so-called “strategic patience” has failed miserably, leaving Europe destabilized and Ukraine on the verge of collapse. In contrast, Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and U.S. Senate candidate, made it plain:

“Russia invaded Ukraine because Joe Biden was the weakest president in American history... President Trump’s peace-through-strength leadership kept Putin fully contained. This war never would have happened under his watch.”

That’s not hyperbole that’s fact.

• Under Trump, Russia didn’t launch a single major invasion into new territory in Ukraine.

• Biden took office in January 2021. Russia invaded just thirteen months later, in February 2022.

• Polls show that a growing number of Americans no longer support endless aid packages to Ukraine with no endgame in sight.

Even critics of Putin, like world chess champion Garry Kasparov, admit that peace will be difficult with Russia’s current leadership. But while Kasparov blames everyone from NATO to Trump, he misses the key point: Trump’s leadership stopped wars Biden’s weakness invites them.

Trump’s original peace proposal faced criticism from some corners for leaning too far toward Russian demands, but it's now back on the table this time amended and backed by U.S. and Ukrainian officials, following high-stakes talks in Geneva. And with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff set to meet with Kremlin officials next week, Trump’s framework is quickly becoming the only serious path toward de-escalation.

Meanwhile, European leaders are panicking as the Biden administration continues to fumble and flail. With Ukraine still under siege, and Russia demanding full Ukrainian withdrawal from the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhia regions including areas it doesn’t even control the need for real leadership has never been more urgent.

The Institute for the Study of War recently cast doubt on Russia’s battlefield dominance, noting that recent advances are opportunistic at best, dependent on weather and scattered weaknesses, not overwhelming strength. But Putin isn’t backing down because he doesn’t believe Biden will do anything about it.

Let’s be blunt: Putin is only talking peace now because he sees Trump on the horizon.

Biden’s presidency has been a gift to America’s enemies, from Kabul to Kyiv. But Trump’s return represents something very different: a renewed strength, a stable deterrent, and the possibility of real peace through power.

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