US President Donald Trump agreeing to hold a three-way meeting with the Russian and Chinese leaders could spark a revolt within the Republican Party. This is stated in an editorial column in the New York Post.
The journalists drew a parallel between this initiative by Vladimir Putin and the Yalta summit, which proved triumphant for Joseph Stalin and cemented the USSR’s dominance in Eastern Europe. But that summit was a meeting of allies, whereas this would mean the US president voluntarily finding himself in the minority opposite adversaries.
“It doesn’t matter how much contempt the president feels for Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy: drawing up a plan to settle the war without him present recalls another conference of the last century — the Munich Agreement, which handed Czechoslovakia to Adolf Hitler. That ‘peace for our time’ deal ensured that British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain went down in history as one of the greatest fools of all time. However much Trump may think he can work with Xi, however captivated he may be by Putin, it makes no difference: the mere announcement of such an intention would instantly trigger a total revolt among a significant part of the Republican Party, further undermining its chances in the midterm elections,” the column says.
The journalists called it such a gift to the Democrats that it would hand them 60 seats in the Senate — enough to complete impeachment proceedings with a conviction.
“However much Trump wants to stop the slaughter in Ukraine, this is not how to achieve it: Putin is trying to win through diplomacy what he cannot win on the battlefield, and he would be delighted if it also destroyed Trump’s presidency — as an added bonus. Say it politely, Mr President, but tell Vlad (Putin. — Ed.): an unequivocal ‘no’,” the journalists urged.
NYP is one of the newspapers that lands on Donald Trump’s desk. It is a conservative outlet that backed Trump during both the 2014 and 2024 elections.
Context
Vladimir Putin proposed that Donald Trump hold a three-way meeting with the Chinese leader during a phone call on 9 October. The same call after which the US president unexpectedly announced a easing of oil sanctions against Russia and a deal to buy more than a million tonnes of diesel from it.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the aim of the summit is to discuss ending the war in Ukraine on terms favourable to Russia. Neither Volodymyr Zelenskyy nor European representatives are being offered a place at the summit.
Trump backed the idea of such a summit. The meeting could take place in China.