From Putin’s brief visit with Trump in Alaska to his meeting with Zelensky and the heads of the EU and NATO in Washington, from the decisions “agreed” upon in the White House to those taken in Brussels, the imperialists—all accomplices to the Zionist crimes against the Palestinian people—are pushing the Zelensky government toward capitulation to Putin’s counterrevolutionary aggression that began in 2014. They are using various rhetorical devices that seem contradictory according to their own interests. However, the Ukrainian people continue to show heroic signs of resistance against the partition and plunder being plotted by the powers that be.
—Taras Shevchuk
Now, let’s examine Trump’s seemingly contradictory statements and seemingly erratic steps. He began by demanding that Putin agree to a ceasefire, giving him “50 days to do so” — the entire Ukrainian summer — and threatening to impose “tremendous economic sanctions” if he did not comply. Three weeks later, he admitted, “I have been too generous,” and shortened the deadline to 12 days. On August 7, the day the new deadline expired, he decided to meet with Putin. Of course, the Kremlin gladly accepted. No ceasefire was agreed upon. Trump overlooked that detail and invited the war criminal to meet in Alaska, a vast territory that the U.S. purchased from the Russian Empire.
The world’s media outlets reported on Trump’s warm welcome of Putin. Trump rolled out the red carpet at the foot of the plane’s steps. At the end of the carpet, which was longer than his tie, Trump waited to shake his hand and pat him on the back before boarding the limousine. We consider it an exaggeration when numerous analysts say that “Trump brought Putin out of international isolation” because the Kremlin maintains close relations with China, India, Brazil, dozens of African countries, and some European governments that are members of the EU and NATO.
Clearly, Trump’s ceremonial gestures are intended to empower the Kremlin leader. They are part of Trump’s strategy to recognize Putin as a global leader. This status allows the head of an imperialist power, such as the U.S., to commit war crimes without facing any challenges to their international impunity.
One of Trump’s main objectives is to exploit the Arctic and Sakhalin in the Far East of Russia through joint business ventures. One topic under discussion, overshadowed by the war in Ukraine, is the return of Exxon Mobil to its partnership with Rosneft.
Amid such flattery, Putin made it clear to Trump that he does not accept a ceasefire. Instead, he proposed entering into negotiations to sign a “comprehensive agreement to end the war.” In other words, a peace treaty! How did Trump, the leader of the “hegemonic imperialist power,” respond? He accepted Putin’s proposal, forgot about demanding a ceasefire, and disregarded the tremendous sanctions he had previously demanded.
Why did Putin oppose a ceasefire and propose this alternative?
It is important to understand the qualitative difference between the two proposals. Despite the fact that the front line is 1,200 km long, a ceasefire can be organized in the short term. All that is required is an order, after which it is up to the field commanders to enforce it. A ceasefire can quickly stop a war if senior commanders, field commanders, and rear guards on both sides comply with the agreement. At worst, it can minimize violence on the front line.
In contrast, a peace agreement is a complex process that can take years or even decades. Let’s review some examples from history: North and South Korea declared a ceasefire in 1953 (by the UN, China, and North Korea; South Korea did not sign anything), yet there is still no peace treaty.
Egypt and Israel: ceasefire in 1973; peace treaty in 1979 (six years). Jordan and Israel: ceasefire in 1949; peace treaty in 1994. 45 years. Armenia and Azerbaijan: ceasefire in 2020; peace treaty in 2025. Five years. We could add Vietnam and Afghanistan to this list. The logic is clear: peace treaties and the end of wars are long processes that can take half a century. Even “quick” signings take five years or more.
Putin rejects the first stage—ending the war itself, i.e., a ceasefire—and proposes skipping all the stages to “end the war with peace.” It’s an obvious trap! The Kremlin knows this process is lengthy. It cynically expresses this by insisting on the condition of “overcoming the root causes that gave rise to the Ukrainian conflict.” We know what those root causes are for Putin: the existence of Ukraine as an independent state and its people, who have overthrown governments since Maidan and continue to demonstrate their rejection of authoritarianism and their desire to live outside the “Russian world” under the control of the Moscow oligarchy.
Putin has never accepted a ceasefire, not even now. This has allowed him to continue the bombings that destroy cities and kill and terrorize civilians, as well as military actions that use the so-called “kontrakniki” from oppressed peoples of the Russian Federation, the former USSR, and North Korea as cannon fodder. In the meantime, he can constantly accuse Ukraine of “boycotting the peace negotiations.” How is Ukraine “boycotting”? By defending itself and resisting the aggression and occupation of nearly a fifth of its territory!
Nothing we propose is the product of suspicion or imagination. How is it possible that the Kremlin included cities and regions in the Constitution of the Russian Federation that it has not yet occupied but already considers Russian territory? Now, with Trump’s help, Putin wants to conquer through “peace negotiations” what he could not conquer on the battlefield with his military machine and hundreds of thousands of deaths.
Putin tells Trump that he is “against the ceasefire but in favor of peace and an end to the war.” Trump repeats this absurdity. From the White House, Trump proposes a “tripartite meeting” with Putin and Zelensky. There have already been three bilateral meetings between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul, but they have yielded no results. The Kremlin has rejected a Putin-Zelensky meeting with utter contempt and insists on discussing with the U.S. “the partition of Ukraine without Ukraine.” Despite some tantrums, Trump continues to facilitate the implementation of this policy.
Basically, Putin wants to continue the war. He will continue until “peace” is achieved. That is, until Ukraine capitulates.
European imperialists are prioritizing their own armament and their share of the spoils
Trump invited Zelensky to the White House. The European imperialists, who had been insisting on a ceasefire alongside Kiev, accompanied Washington, supposedly to “explicitly support” Zelensky. This time, there were no embarrassing incidents in the Oval Office. However, during the meeting, Trump continued to justify Putin’s aggression due to Biden’s alleged mistakes. All of NATO’s European “partners” behaved like students taking notes in front of an ignorant teacher, stopping their demands for a ceasefire.
The IWL rejects Trump’s imperialist policy, which pushes toward capitulation in the midst of a war of attrition. The majority of the Ukrainian people also reject this policy: 73% oppose it, and only 16% support it.[2] We reiterate that the minimum requirement to expose Russian imperialism’s intentions is demanding an immediate and complete ceasefire.
Furthermore, we denounce the perverse media campaign focused on “future security guarantees” and which imperialist powers will provide them. Trump himself responds evasively, exposing his complicity in the partition of Ukraine. Hiding behind hypocritical phrases, they take it for granted—and Zelensky acknowledges this—that Ukraine will be unable to fight to reclaim occupied territories. Refusing to hand over the Donbass territories that Putin has not yet occupied, which are currently the focus of his offensive, is presented as a “firm stance in peace negotiations.” The legitimate goal of the Ukrainian resistance is to expel the occupiers. Anything else is a trap imposed by imperialist interests.
Furthermore, Putin does not have unlimited time for his war of attrition. He has vulnerable flanks in the South Caucasus due to growing tensions with Azerbaijan, a country that supports Ukraine’s territorial integrity and has committed to selling Ukraine weapons. Additionally, the Armenian regime has distanced itself from Russia following its historic reconciliation with Azerbaijan. There are also vulnerabilities in Central Asia, such as Kazakhstan’s shift into China’s sphere of influence and the resurgence of tensions over historic Russian oppression.
Ukraine is waging a war of national liberation amid the crisis of the world order.
The reality of the class struggle has placed Marxists and the global working class in the midst of a semi-colonial country’s war of liberation against the counterrevolutionary imperialist aggression of Putin’s regime. Zelensky and Ukraine’s political and military leadership are bourgeois and subordinate to Western imperialism.
This conflict is taking place amid a profound crisis of the world order, growing disputes, and realignments of power. Most so-called “Marxists” have failed the test. They defined it as a reactionary war in which there is no progressive side, thereby capitulating to the imperialist Putinist camp. Though they cloak themselves in supposed neutrality, they espouse slogans such as “Not a single tank to Ukraine!”
In doing so, they abandon Lenin’s theoretical and political legacy, which categorically states: “If, for example, Morocco were to declare war on France tomorrow, or India on England, these would be just wars, and every socialist would sympathize with the victory of the oppressed states.” [3]
“First of all, socialists have never been and can never be enemies of revolutionary wars. What could be said about a war of colonial peoples for their liberation?” To deny any possibility of national wars under imperialism is theoretically false and, in practice, equivalent to European chauvinism. [4].
Zelensky yields to imperialist pressure, weakening Ukrainian armed resistance
We support Ukraine’s resistance in defeating the occupiers. However, we denounce the oligarchic regime, the government, parliament, and Zelensky as president of Ukraine for perpetuating dependence on Western imperialist dictates. These dictates increasingly undermine the will of the masses, who have been resisting and holding back the Kremlin’s aggression for 42 months. In three and a half years of war, the government has only begged for foreign aid. It has not developed its defense industry, which is essential. It has submitted to many dictates from the “West,” which not only push for capitulation in the face of invasion but also divert any prospect of true independence.
However, driven by the urgent need to confront the aggression, the military forces “transgressed” the limitations, and Ukrainian “Flamingo” missiles with a range of 3,000 km have only begun to be produced today. “Neptune” missiles have also been improved. Additionally, after months of hesitation in the face of U.S. pressure, drones are now being produced en masse and striking oil refineries on Russian territory, depriving Putin’s military machine of fuel.
A program to reject capitulation and strive for victory
The Ukrainian people have shown that they can change the course of the government with their program to reject capitulation and strive for victory. Amid martial law, the Ukrainian people have shown that they can change the course of the government through mobilization. The slogan “The poor fight, the rich get fat!” has resonated throughout Ukraine, shaking Zelensky and the Rada deputies. The struggle against the occupiers has given way to a class struggle. It has become clear that corruption at all levels of government is considered treason. The fight against corruption is the responsibility of the workers who sacrifice their lives defending the territory and freedom with weapons.
By rolling out the red carpet for Putin, Trump provided the strongest evidence that the “West” is not coming to the aid of the Ukrainian people but is another dangerous enemy. This is why the working class, enduring deprivation and destruction from Putin’s genocidal bombings while sustaining the cities and countryside, must prioritize national defense over local oligarchs and foreign usurers. They must control production and finances in factories, mines, and fields.
Ukraine can only achieve national liberation if the working class wins political independence and takes leadership of the war with its own military program. There are reserves! Retired colonels who have been fighting since 2014 explain this in the media and denounce the government. Rotation on the front must be guaranteed. There are more than 100,000 Ministry of Internal Affairs security forces personnel who are trained in the use of weapons because they engage in police work. These troops can be sent to the front after brief training. The workers who have been on the front lines for 42 months fighting Putin’s imperialist invasion can then be replaced in those tasks. These workers understand that they will also have to face colonization, plunder by Western imperialists, and corruption by “politicians.”
NATO and the “Group of the Willing” bluff about “sending troops”
Trump has said that, “in order not to further irritate Putin,” Ukraine should not join NATO. However, we denounce the reactionary policies of the European Union and NATO. We oppose NATO integration for reasons opposite to Trump’s. As part of the smokescreen we have pointed out, Zelensky is now begging for “security guarantees.” Trump ambiguously suggests that if Zelensky capitulates, he will receive “some kind of guarantee.” While Macron and Starmer discuss future military forces as “peacekeeping troops” — or to protect their future colonial investments — the Kremlin responds that it “categorically rejects the presence of European troops.”
The Ukrainian people have learned the bitter lesson of what security guarantees meant in the “Budapest Memorandum,” signed in 1994. In exchange for disarming and handing over its entire nuclear arsenal to Russia, Ukraine was promised unrestricted respect for its territorial integrity by the U.S. and Britain. We have already seen how imperialists respect integrity and sovereignty.
The only guarantee of integrity and independence is a working-class government
The IWL is contributing all of its modest resources to building a revolutionary working-class party in Ukraine. The party aims to establish a workers’ and people’s government with the perspective of United Workers’ States of Europe. In order to advance toward this goal, it is crucial to defeat the Kremlin’s invasion and dictatorship. This was also the case with the Nazi regime in Germany. We know it will be difficult, but it is necessary and possible if we appeal to the oppressed peoples and nations of the Russian Federation and the former USSR for unity in action and solidarity against the yoke of the Kremlin and its satellite regimes, such as Lukashenko’s in Belarus. We also call for unity in the struggle with all oppressed peoples, beginning with the heroic Palestinian people in their fight against Zionist genocide. We also call on workers’ organizations around the world to overcome the treacherous obstruction of the numerous so-called “leftists” and even “Trotskyists” who abandon Marxism and align themselves with Trump and Putin.
Sources
[1] https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acuerdo_de_alto_el_fuego_en_el_Alto_Karabaj_de_2020#
2. Gallup poll of 07.08.25, published in Ukrainska Pravda on 08.21.25.
[3] “Socialism and War,” Lenin, 1915.
(4) The Military Program of the Proletarian Revolution, Lenin, 1916.
