Blessed are the peacemakers
Does President Trump Qualify?
By John Paul RoBeare | August 16, 2025
Despite my ambivalent feeling about President Trump as a leader of the [free] world or him as a person, I must distinguish my thoughts from his past negative deeds from his current actions toward securing peace between Russia and Ukraine. To quell the hostile aggression and the senseless killings of people on both sides amid high tensions, it will take a knowledgeable and competent negotiator.
I don’t know if President Trump is that person, in the light of the chaos he has brought to bear on America. But what I do know is that he seems to be moving in the right direction diplomatically. The matter between Russia and Ukraine is not a personal issue but a dire situation that will cause greater deaths and mayhem for the people of both—Ukraine and Russia—if it continues.
“Actions Speak Louder Than Words”: If Trump wants to change peoples perception of him, he will need to focus on policies that benefit everyone and make a positive impact—starting with securing peace not only with Russia and Ukraine, but everywhere and for everyone.
Donald Trump’s presidency has faced much skepticism and noteworthy criticisms of racial bias, authoritarian rule, personal self-gain, and violent rhetoric and actions—as being unfairly maligned with untruths.
Many have articulated that the “Putin-Trump Summit” ended up without a deal. Yet Trump, “The Negotiator,” said he and the Russian President made “great progress,” even though they did not consummate a peace deal or temporary ceasefire. Some feel Trump’s attempt is a start in the right direction, while others feel he is a complete failure as well as his efforts toward a peace deal.
Takeaways from the “Alaskan Summit”—after more than three hours of talks, many see this ordeal as a monumental failure. One which ended up not only absent a deal but with no meaningful information about what was discussed during the encounter—for the public, the Russian or Ukrainian stakeholders who bear the brunt of the war or President Zelenskyy who was not invited to participate in the talks.
However, one must be mindful of the immense human cost in the Ukraine-Russian war: millions of people have died and many more seriously injured. Children have been abducted by Russia to help augment its’ shrinking population resulting from numerous casualties it sustained from an underestimated Ukrainian people resolve and patriotism. They are resilient and showed an incredible willingness to go to battle for their country.
Citizens on both sides have lost family members, mothers, fathers, siblings (brothers and sisters), young children/babies, and many friends. They lost their human and physical communities through the constant bombardment of military destruction.
The impact on ordinary people is large and inescapable—given even more importance to the success of Trump’s negotiations. The hate runs deep, making finding a resolution incredibly convoluted: having many parts and quite complex: possessing many real and unavoidable connections. It’s an endeavor which makes both outcomes impossible to ignore or better yet, impractical.
While there is no easy answer to this mega war—regardless of who started it—many feel by focusing on de-escalation and building trust between the parties is the best plan moving forward. Others believe bringing this war to a complete stop is key. However, I personally believe the issue is more about creating an environment where “meaningful dialogue“ reign supreme. The majority of the common people in Russia, Ukraine, and beyond don’t understand what’s at stake in this war or why did it happen in the first place.
To Donald Trump’s credit, there is a need for a neutral party to navigate the highly charged emotions and secure a path forward towards a complete resolution. It’s not only about stopping the war but making sense of the war, finding justice and closure, and that’s whether it is on an individual bases or on an international scale. This war has caused insurmountable damage worldwide.
the global outcome of the Russia-ukraine engagement
It’s in everyone’s purview to stop this insatiable war between Russia and Ukraine. The war is awful and has disrupted global food and energy supplies—leading to high prices and mass-shortages worldwide. Today, as a direct result of this war, people not only in Russia and Ukraine, but in many countries, people are suffering from food insecurities at elevated levels.
The war also is causing economic instability and uncertainty globally. A continuation of this war is adding to an already massive humanitarian crisis—as millions of people are being displaced and requiring medical supplies, food, water, and more.
These two countries are necessary and vital in the development of multiple nations. They are major exporter of major food categories such as corn, sunflower oil, and wheat. The Ukraine-Russia war has almost upended farming, blocked major distribution ports, and damaged infrastructures—making it extremely difficult for products to reach global markets.
The Russian-Ukraine war caused insurmountable problems like price hikes and shortages, especially in countries heavily dependent on imports from the region. Notwithstanding, Russia being a major supplier of energy. The war led to sanctions and issues with the distributions in oil and gas exports—driving up energy prices globally—resulting in problems in transportation and manufacturing.
Did Trump Walk away from putin summit with a no deal?
The truth be told, we cannot not be certain if the Trump and Putin summit ended up with no deal. Why? Because they both gave cryptic statements at the podium afterwards and did not take questions from reporters. And why should they? In a high stakes negotiation, you cannot disclose your hand before the matter is done.
It was obvious that no deal would come from this first engagement due to only one of the major players being present, Putin. President Volodymyr Zelenshyy was not invited. No mutual deal could be made without his consent. It’s actually stupid to think otherwise.
This was not a mishap, but a purposely omitted invite in the process of high stakes conflict resolution by President Trump. The first part of any negotiation is fact finding. You have to know the problems and causation, the critical issues, and who is really the blame—as there are two sides to every coin.
It appears many people are attempting to insert their personal opinions into a dire situation without having the necessary information as to what occurred in the meeting between Trump and Putin. They seem to be stirring up the “hornet’s nest” for no reason other than to provoke controversy and anger before the facts come out. It’s personal, dangerous, and people can die.
In the heat of a major conflict of this nature, Trump must operate like a surgeon performing life or death surgery. When he first ran for office, he told everyone he did not believe in disclosing his operational plans a head of time. To do so, it would have significant consequences for both Russia and Ukraine.
Plus, it’s easy to lose sight of the original goals when you share vital information before you’re ready. This would only give bad people the means to distort or share vital tools or mechanisms that would otherwise be effective in resolving this major dilemma. These endeavors often involve sensitive information, high pressure, enormous complexities, and the need for careful planning and precise execution.
Ultimately, it is where leadership, diplomacy and mediation become vital—to both individuals involved in the mediation process and finding answers and a way back to civilization through a peaceful resolution.
For some people it was unclear why Trump omitted Zelenskyy, attributing it to him aligning with Putin and his attempt to restructure Russia and for his personal gain. Although this could very well be part of Trump’s future, it currently appears designed to achieve a greater margin of success during a tri-level negotiation process.
The initial singular approach—having a separate meet with both principals leading to an all-inclusive encounter later is not new to mediation. It is done in policing, lawyering, and a host of other situations where you are trying to resolve issues and/or bring individuals together to solve a problem.
Once the mediator has a complete picture of the situation, then you can bring the parties together for more common sense approach to mediation. Like gathering all the pieces to a puzzle prior to putting the pieces together.
Breaking news today, Saturday, August 16, 2025, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenshyy, told reporters that President Trump on his way back from the summit in Alaska, in a phone conversation with Zelenskyy and European leaders discussed NATO like security protections for Ukraine that guarantee Putin won’t reignite the war after an agreement.
Yet, at the same time, Trump aligns with Putin, agreeing that this will not come with membership into to NATO for Ukraine. Trump and Zelenskyy will be meeting Monday, August 18, in Washington, D.C. to discuss matters related to a ceasefire or ending the war. Their target is to come up with measures that will end the over due war between the countries.
Prior to the meeting in Alaska, there had been talks of a third meeting between the parties. A meeting that follows a logical pattern in negotiations and mediations. There is no other news with respect to this issue into Trump and Zelenskyy’s scheduled meeting Monday, and ultimately a final trilateral meeting with President Trump, Putin, and Zelenskyy sitting in negotiations together in a “Deal or No Deal” scenario. Anything else is just political and strategic posturing.
Others join president Zelenskyy in today's high stakes meeting
Seven members of NATO and EU leaders will join the critical meeting to end the war between Russia and Ukraine. Joining the meeting will be: Emmanuel Macron, President of France; Friedrich, Chancellor of Germany; Ursula Von Der Leyen, President of the European Commission; Mark Rutte, NATO Secretary General; Georgia, Italian Prime Minister; Keir Starmer. UK Prime Minister; and Alexander Stubb, President f Finland.
The seven member NATO and EU member are said to be coming to support Ukraine in its’ bid to end the violent war with Russia. However, some sources believe that both the U.S. and NATO might be using the conflict for their own advantage. Ukraine has valuable resources and have expressed a strong desire to become a member of NATO. There are member countries hesitant on Ukraine joining NATO for a myriad of reasons—being Ukraine being still in an active conflict, and the fact that they desire to say neutral in the endeavor. As under article 5 of the NATO resolution—an attack on one is an attack on all.
Trump appears to now have made a shift seemingly in alignment with Putin’s stance on ending the war and to ease up on sanction aimed toward Russia. Putin want Zelenskyy to relinquish more of Ukraine’s property to Russia, which would be disastrous for Ukraine—possibly emboldening Putin to take more territory in the future leading to even more violence, instability, and destruction. We will just have wo wait for the outcome—as this high-stakes meeting is just hours away.
