Macron Secures a Major Victory in Washington, D.C.

Putin must be disappointed.

Very, very disappointed.

It feels like an endless swing between fear and joy, caught in the relentless arc of a swinging pendulum. One week, you're at one extreme, only to swing to the opposite end the next, before returning to where you started. And the cycle just goes on and on.

Not just for Ukraine—the same is becoming true for Putin as well.

I had no expectations whatsoever from the meeting between French President Emmanuel Macron and U.S. President Donald Trump. I still have no expectations for the upcoming meeting between U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Donald Trump this week. And for many, whatever low expectations they had for meetings between European leaders and Trump sank even lower after the United States voted alongside Russia, Iran, and North Korea against a UN resolution that called Russia an aggressor state and demanded its troops withdraw from Ukraine.

It was one of the most shameful days in American history—one that can never, ever be undone. You have to live with that shame. Putin wants to destroy Europe first so he can destroy America next. And yet, there is an American president who says, I will help you destroy Europe because there is a big ocean between America and Europe.

I imagine there are days when Putin feels a bit down. But then he just pictures Donald Trump— and bursts into hysterical laughter.

The speed at which Donald Trump’s administration has embraced the Kremlin has been breathtaking, and there wasn’t much Macron or Starmer could have done to reverse the trend. But that doesn’t mean you give up altogether. You put in the effort, give it a shot, and if it still fails—so be it.

Macron tried, and yesterday, he handed Putin a major setback. Donald Trump announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin was ready to accept European peacekeepers in Ukraine.

“He will accept that. I have asked him that question,” Trump said, when a reporter asked him about the deployment of European troops. “Look, if we do this deal, he’s not looking for more war ... I’ve specifically asked him that question. He has no problem with it.”

Ok………

Putin must have pulled the same old bullshit he always does—say whatever works in the moment, then move the goalposts later. That had to be his plan; otherwise, there’s no way he would have agreed to allow a European peacekeeping force to be stationed in Ukraine.

His negotiators, meanwhile, are telling U.S. officials the exact opposite story. U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, who spent an extensive three and a half hours alone with Putin, keeps pointing to the 2022 Istanbul peace negotiations as the ideal framework for future talks. He insists that this will be the guiding principle for negotiations with Russia.

And there’s one crucial detail from those discussions:

The draft treaty explicitly banned Ukraine from receiving foreign weapons or hosting any foreign military personnel.

So, let’s recap. Putin and his envoys have told Witkoff that negotiations should be based on the 2022 framework—one that clearly prohibits foreign troops in Ukraine. But when talking to Donald Trump, Putin said he had no problem whatsoever with European peacekeepers.

Now, Trump believes Putin. Macron has extracted a public statement from Trump confirming that peacekeepers will be allowed. And Keir Starmer already has a plan to get troops into Ukraine—one of the key items he intends to discuss with Trump. The problem for Putin? There’s no time left for him to call Trump directly and say, Oopsie, I can’t actually allow that.

This is going to be a major problem for Putin because now he has to figure out a way to backtrack. Europe should do the exact opposite—double down on it. If executed well, this could lead to Putin and Trump clashing once again. And just like that, the pendulum might swing in the opposite direction.

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