Key Points and Summary – Journalist Georgia Gilholy details how Russia is using talk of peace as cover for escalating the war in Ukraine, with more than a thousand casualties a day along a 780-mile front and some 700,000 Russian troops committed.
-While Trump’s envoys pressure Volodymyr Zelensky to accept a deal by Christmas, Kyiv warns the proposed terms—pulling back from occupied Donbas for vague guarantees—tilt heavily toward Moscow.
T-90 Tank from Ukraine War. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
-European governments are alarmed, fearing Ukraine is being pushed to trade strategic territory for continued U.S. backing.
-Gilholy argues that without real American resolve and far greater European risk-sharing, a rushed, lopsided peace could simply set up the next war.
Russia Using ‘Peace Talks’ As Cover For Rising Aggression in Ukraine
Ukrainian commanders are reportedly complaining that Russian President Vladimir Putin is using Washington’s focus on a peace deal as cover to intensify operations.
Data suggests that more than a thousand soldiers are killed or wounded each day along the brutal 780-mile frontline. Despite months of negotiations, first in Alaska, then Moscow, and now across Europe, Kyiv and its allies see little evidence that the Kremlin is preparing for anything resembling a genuine de-escalation.
Russia has more than 700,000 troops deployed in Ukraine, and its vast defence industry remains firmly geared for sustained, high-tempo conflict.
That posture helps explain why Trump’s envoys, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, told Volodymyr Zelensky last week that he must accept a deal by Christmas, or risk losing American backing. The reported plan would require Ukraine to withdraw from the Russian-occupied Donbas in exchange for vague security guarantees.
Naturally, Kyiv has warned that the details remain thin and the concessions largely all in Moscow’s favor.
Trump, in an interview with Politico, was blunt. Russia, he said, “has the upper hand,” adding that “size will win” if the war continues. Zelensky, now in London after stops in Brussels and Rome, insists Ukraine will not be bounced into a settlement it cannot defend at home.
He has even floated holding wartime elections within 60 to 90 days if Western allies can guarantee the security of the vote, an attempt to rebut Trump’s criticism over delays to democracy since the outbreak of war in 2022.
European governments are growing uneasy about Washington’s pressure campaign.
Officials fear Kyiv is being presented with an impossible choice: either surrender strategic territory or jeopardise its most important military alliance.
Many countries remain concerned that a lopsided peace deal could work in Moscow’s favor, and prelude further aggression in Ukraine or against NATO’s long eastern flank.
A slew of European leaders have also publicly expressed their solidarity with Zelensky, despite being far from placed to participate in any future defensive conflict themselves.
The French Army Chief has already made public remarks about how the country must be “prepared to lose children” in a future war, while Germany has revived a watered-down type of national service.
Over in the UK, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has avoided addressing what full-scale readiness would truly require, which would likely prompt long-term strategy and economic investment his government currently refuses to prioritize.
A fair, lasting settlement would require both American resolve and European willingness to shoulder far more risk. A coerced, unstable deal risks a temporary pause that leaves Putin’s war machine intact and Europe once again on the defensive.
About the Author: Georgia Gilholy
Georgia Gilholy is a journalist based in the United Kingdom who has been published in Newsweek, The Times of Israel, and the Spectator. Gilholy writes about international politics, culture, and education. You can follow her on X: @llggeorgia.