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Investing.com - The Trump administration’s pressure on Ukraine to cede territory to Russia in exchange for a possible peace deal amounts to "modern-day appeasement", former U.S. President Joe Biden has said.
In his first interview since leaving the White House, Biden told the BBC that Russian President Vladimir Putin is unlikely to stop incursions into Ukraine even if an agreement is reached which includes some territorial concessions to Moscow.
Since the start of his second term in power in January, current U.S. President Donald Trump has pushed to secure a peace between Ukraine and Russia.
Trump officials have suggested that a possible deal would likely need to factor in granting new territory to Russia, with U.S. Vice President JD Vance in particularly saying that territorial boundaries could be frozen "close to where they are today". Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, meanwhile, has said that advocating a peace plan that would restore Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders would be "unrealistic".
Reuters has reported that U.S. proposals for a truce could see the U.S. formally recognize Crimea as a part of Russia, as well as the recognition of Russian control over other parts of Ukraine. The Trump administration has not confirmed these details.
In return, Ukraine would receive robust security guarantees from the U.S. and by able to pursue membership in the European Union, although Kyiv would agree not to seek to join the NATO defense alliance.
Trump has stressed that he "does not have any favorites" between Ukraine and Russia, saying he is only keen to stop the fighting. However, reports say that frustration is mounting in the White House that a deal has yet to be reached, particularly in light of Trump’s campaign promise to end the conflict within his first 100 days in office.
Biden, who was president during the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine in February 2022, said the Trump administration’s positions are akin to "appeasement", a reference to a decision by former British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain to appease Nazi Germany’s demands in the 1930s as part of an ultimately unsuccessful bid to stave off a global war.
Europe’s relationship with the U.S. is also being imperiled, Biden argued, adding that the region could lose confidence in Washington’s leadership. Governments in Europe have begun to openly discuss increasing funding for defense, as recent comments by the Trump administration have raised concerns around a longstanding security backstop provided by the U.S.