Wake-Up Call

During a 90-minute call, Trump says he spoke with Putin about ending war in Ukraine. “President Trump spoke in favor of an early end to hostilities and a peaceful solution to the problem. President Putin, for his part, mentioned the need to eliminate the root causes of the conflict and agreed with Trump that a long-term settlement can be achieved through peaceful negotiations.” (I’m pretty sure the root cause of the conflict is that Putin invaded a free country.) What does this mean for Ukraine? We’ll see. But Defense Sec Pete Hegseth is already telegraphing a softening of support. Hegseth rules out NATO membership for Ukraine and says Europe must be responsible for country’s security. “Hegseth also said that a return to Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders, before Russia invaded Crimea and eastern Ukraine, ‘is an unrealistic objective.'”