Just days after his inauguration, President Trump is realigning the previous administration’s policies through a flurry of executive orders. The executive orders signed by Trump concern domestic affairs, not his foreign policy. On the top of his list of foreign policy are the ongoing conflicts in Israel and Ukraine. The swipe of his pen cannot handle these two problems. Diplomacy is necessary, and there are signs that Trump and his administration are taking these situations very seriously.
As President-elect, Trump stated that he would end the war between Russia and Ukraine without giving any specifics. As President, his method for ending the war between the two nations was made more transparent in his Truth Social Post. “I’m going to do Russia, whose Economy is failing, and President Putin, a very big FAVOR. Settle now, and STOP this ridiculous War! IT’S ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE.”
Trump is doing what Trump does best: using his financial prowess to get Putin to begin talks on ending the war. According to the Council of Foreign Relations, Ukraine will not need to be sanctioned because it already survives on the United States’s largess, giving it over $175 billion for the military and other costs.
Trump concluded his remarks by stating, “Let’s get this war, which never would have started if I were President, over with! We can do it the easy way, or the hard way – and the easy way is always better. It’s time to “MAKE A DEAL.” NO MORE LIVES SHOULD BE LOST!!!” The deal Trump has in mind is to pressure Putin with sanctions and tariffs intended to cripple the Russian economy even further.
The real tragedy of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine is the senseless loss of life and the thousands injured. The exact number of casualties resulting from the conflict is unknown due to the reluctance of either country to provide that information. However, as of September 2024, The New York Post reported that over one million people had lost their lives or were wounded.
Over 1 million killed or wounded for what? Nothing has substantially changed in the region except for Russia acquiring some territory, but they have paid enormous costs to human life and economic instability. In this day and age, wars are started with specific objectives that are never reached, leaving in their wake the deaths of too many human lives.
The war between Israel and Hamas is another example. Israel’s objective of obliterating Hamas and Hezbollah is unrealistic. Certainly, through Israel’s defensive initiative, Hamas and Hezbollah are compromised but not eliminated because Israel has not defeated the ideology behind these groups and never will. Unfortunately, decades later, when these organizations begin to rebuild, the chances of hostilities between the two countries will reappear.
Who can forget the U.S. involvement in the Middle East? An enormous number of deaths and casualties occurred during those wars, yet nothing of great importance has changed there either. It becomes clear to all fair-minded people that war in our day accomplishes only one thing: human death and suffering. It should be used only when there is a just war situation with no other options available.
One has to be thankful for the new administration’s urgency in ending the war between Ukraine and Russia. It is time to establish the United States as peacemakers instead of warmongers. Pray to God the deal works and the senseless loss of human life stops.
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