Staff Reports
The Abu Dhabi peace talks are back on this week. Washington says it wants a deal. That is fine. But talk is not peace. Peace will only come when Vladimir Putin sees the cost of war is higher than any gain he imagines. We should not reward bad behavior with concessions that simply keep the killing going.
Abu Dhabi talks: Don’t be fooled by theater
Special Envoy Jared Kushner says the goal is a “lasting peace” and a secure, sovereign Ukraine. That’s the right aim. But President Donald Trump’s team has already shown a worrying habit: making quiet deals while Moscow keeps driving the bus off the cliff. Waiving the Graham Act sanctions and suspending diesel penalties without real Russian concessions looks less like diplomacy and more like a one-sided giveaway. If Abu Dhabi becomes a stage for photo ops and hostage swaps while combat and terror-by-air continue, the outcome will be fake peace — and a real victory for Putin’s war machine.
Why sanctions must stay on the table
Sanctions are the blunt tool that actually bites. They raise the price of war for Moscow, choke off supplies to Iran and other proxies, and deter partnerships that could threaten our satellites and energy security. Reports say Russia is helping Iran and working with China on military tech. If true, that makes rolling back penalties now the dumbest kind of short-term thinking. Diplomacy needs leverage. Without it, Putin gets the best of both worlds: a freer economy at home and a free hand to terrorize civilians abroad.
What a real peace deal should demand
Real peace means Putin accepts Ukrainian sovereignty and returns the ground he seized. It means guarantees that Russia won’t keep taking hostages or weaponize winter by attacking power grids. It means inspections, verification, and consequences if he cheats. The idea that the main barrier is “tremendous hatred” between leaders is a polite fiction. The real barrier is Putin’s belief he can win. We need to prove that belief wrong — not by pleading, but by imposing costs that bite harder over time.
So let the talks go forward in Abu Dhabi. Send negotiators with pens and teeth. Keep sanctions ready to snap back. And stop pretending that small gestures — freeing one prisoner here, pausing fire there — equal a peace plan. If the U.S. hands Putin breathing room now, history will show we paid for a ceasefire built on surrender. If we want lasting peace and a secure Europe, we must make sure Moscow pays a price it cannot ignore.
