Ich habe mit Russland verhandelt. Trump macht alles falsch.

[Michael McFaul ](https://www.hoover.org/profiles/michael-mcfaul)reviews the Trump administration’s recent diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine and finds them to be highly flawed. „When you add it all up – Trump’s concessions to Putin, insults to Zelenskyy, extortion of Ukraine, bad negotiation tactics and refusal to enforce a peace deal – there’s no evidence that Trump is serious about mediating a peace, and there’s a lot of evidence to suggest that all he cares about is courting Putin,“ writes the former US ambassador to Russia. „I hope I’m wrong, because trying to appease Putin and abandon our democratic partners in Ukraine will have terrible implications for American security interests not just in Europe, but also worldwide. If Putin gets away with it, why wouldn’t China’s Xi Jinping invade and take over Taiwan? I hope Trump and his team will eventually realize how weak they will look if they capitulate to Putin and throw a democratic partner under the bus.“

McFaul concludes by noting that in the past (specifically under Nixon and Reagan), social mobilization, protest, and coordinated political opposition have successfully altered the course of American foreign policy despite the policy preferences of the sitting President.

Under what circumstances do you think the current Administration might ease its diplomatic pressure on Ukraine, and increase its demands on Russia, in search of a lasting Ukraine peace deal?