Historian Timothy Snyder gave five reasons why Trump's "peace plan" is doomed to fail

US historian Timothy Snyder has sharply criticised the "peace plan" on Ukraine that is being promoted by US President Donald Trump and his administration. According to him, the plan has at least five key mistakes that make it doomed to failure.

First, Trump's plan significantly increases the risk of nuclear war.

If you force Ukraine to accept terms tantamount to surrender, the rest of the world will draw a conclusion. And that conclusion will be that in order to fend off a Russian invasion, a Chinese invasion, or an invasion by any nuclear-armed state, it will be necessary to build nuclear weapons itself. Forcing Ukraine to capitulate means facilitating nuclear proliferation. And nuclear proliferation means increasing the risk of nuclear war around the world," Snyder explained.

Second, the plan undermines the existing international order.

The basis of our international order is that there are states, states have borders, and those borders cannot be violated by invasion. Now this happens from time to time, but it is the exception. It would be even more exceptional to approve such a thing by rewarding Russia for invading Ukraine," the historian said.

He stressed that agreeing to a "Russian settlement" could legitimise aggression and make border violations an acceptable practice in international relations.

Third, the plan encourages Moscow to launch new wars in Europe.

If Russia is rewarded for invading Ukraine, and if the terms of the agreement leave it in a stronger position, Russia will have all sorts of incentives - legal, moral, psychological and economic - to keep waging wars in Europe, Snyder said.

Fourth, the plan ignores Ukraine's future recovery.

Peace is not just a temporary cessation of hostilities. Ukraine must be able to defend itself, be a member of international institutions, remain sovereign, and it is important for real peace that it be able to rebuild. There is no provision for that in this settlement," the historian noted.

Finally, the plan was developed without Ukraine's participation.

The Ukrainians are a key stakeholder. They were not consulted in the preparation of this agreement. This is an agreement created under Russian leadership and translated into English by the Americans. There are good reasons why such a plan cannot work. If you don't take key people into account, you don't understand the problem, you don't have all the necessary information and you can create conditions under which they will have no choice but to continue the war," Timothy Snyder emphasised.

Earlier, US President Donald Trump confirmed that his administration has set a deadline of next Thursday, 27 November, for Ukraine to agree to the White House's 28-point plan to end Russia's war against Ukraine. According to a draft of the plan obtained by CNN, ending the war would involve handing over Russian territories to Kiev, as well as de facto U.S. recognition of Crimea and other Ukrainian territories forcibly seized by the Kremlin as Russian. The plan also commits Ukraine to limiting the size of its army.