Zelenskyy prepares for Trump meeting as Russia bombards Kyiv
European security questions expose tensions between alliance obligations and American interests.
The mainstream framing treats every Russian strike as proof that only open ended Western backing is “serious” policy, and that any Trump meeting is automatically suspect. That misses the harder question: what is the actual end state, and who is accountable for getting there. Russia’s barrage is barbaric, but it also underlines why slogans about “standing with Ukraine” are not strategy.
New Republican Times Editorial Board
Russian forces hit Ukraine’s capital and key energy facilities with a massive airstrike on the eve of talks between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump aimed at nailing down a plan to end Moscow’s war.
Ukraine’s president stopped in Halifax, Nova
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New Republican Times Editorial Board
The mainstream framing treats every Russian strike as proof that only open ended Western backing is “serious” policy, and that any Trump meeting is automatically suspect. That misses the harder question: what is the actual end state, and who is accountable for getting there.
Russia’s barrage is barbaric, but it also underlines why slogans about “standing with Ukraine” are not strategy. Conservatives want a defined objective, not a blank check measured in press releases and aid tranches. Kyiv’s energy grid matters, but so do America’s stockpiles, borders, and readiness.
A durable settlement has to rest on national security realism, public trust, and fairness to U.S. taxpayers. Negotiations are not capitulation; they are how wars end.
The principle at stake is American responsibility first: help shape peace, keep leverage, and avoid commitments that outlast the clarity of our interests.
Commentary written with AI assistance by the New Republican Times Editorial Board.