The Elusive Path to Peace in Ukraine

"If everything works out well today, we'll have a trilat and I think there will be a reasonable chance of ending the war when we do that."

"Were going to work with everybody, and we're going to make sure that if there's peace, the peace is going to stay long-term." 

"I don't think you need a ceasefire. We can work a deal where we'll work on a peace deal while they're fighting."

"[Zelenskyy] can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight."

U.S. President Donald Trump 

U.S. President Donald Trump greets Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy upon his arrival at the White House, amid negotiations to end the Russian war in Ukraine, in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 18, 2025. REUTERS/Alexander Drago/

 

"Seriously discussing security guarantees without the Russian Federation is a utopia, a road to nowhere."

"[Any summit between Putin and Zelenskyy]  must be prepared in the most meticulous way [so it does not lead to a ] deterioration [of the situation surrounding the conflict]."

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov

Donald Trump's special envoy said Russia had agreed to allow the US and Europe to give Ukraine "robust" security guarantees as part of a potential peace deal.  Still from video

 

"We are ready for a trilateral" (three-way summit including U.S. President Trump, Presidents Vladimir Putin and Zelenskyy) offered the Ukrainian President. While he is indubitably open to such a face-to-face meeting with his mortal enemy, Russia's Putin appears not to want to entertain that potential, failing to commit to anything remotely resembling one, during his Alaska meeting with President Trump. There were no concessions on Moscow's part, although the American president was loathe to give even a slight impression that the high-profile meeting with the two meeting for the first time in years failed to accomplished anything.

 

Despite months of American efforts on the diplomatic front with Trump accelerating his moves to put a stop to the conflict, the possibility of success appears as distant as it did from the day he vowed to end Russia's war on Ukraine on his first day in office. Trump's blind trust in a personal relationship with the Russian president that could sway his decision-making to turn away from his territorial grab of Ukrainian sovereign land pushed up against the reality that Putin is committed to his aspirational annexation resembling the forced unity of the USSR.

 

Despite which, Trump continues to reiterate his claim of belief that Putin is reasonable, and it is Volodymyr Zelenskyy who could and should end the war that was forced on Ukraine. The takeaway from that assertion is inescapable; the President of Ukraine, according to the U.S. president's reasoning, merely has to agree to shedding Ukraine of its industrially and militarily important Donbas region comprised of Donetsk and Luhansk. Essentially, a complete surrender by Kyiv to Moscow. For starters.

 

Europe is working together with the US to provide security guarantees for Ukraine in case of a possible peace deal with Russia. Part of the plan is to send a deterrent force with international soldiers.  AP Photo  

President Trump is perfectly content with the Crimean peninsula remaining in Moscow's possession. President Zelenskyy on the other hand is clear that his Russian counterpart used Crimea and the eastern Donbas seized in 2014 "as a springboard for a new attack" and full invasion, in February 2022.  "Russia must end this war which it itself started", he insisted. A position clearly not favoured by President Trump, siding with Putin. Trump feels Putin is a strong man and thus admirable, not quite understanding that the strength demonstrated by Zelenskyy under mortal duress is much more morally admirable.

 

Trump has moved from threatening punitive measures on Moscow, to positioning himself anew with the Kremlin's insistence that negotiations with Ukraine must focus on a long-term settlement. Zelenskyy on the other hand with a view to continue defending Ukraine and denying Putin's territorial grabs, reiterated Ukraine's dependency on the U.S. and its allies to provide critical weapons and security guarantees before he feels confident enough to strike a deal, absent total capitulation to Putin's demands. Patriot air defence batteries obtained from the U.S. and paid for by Ukraine's European allies are critical to counter Russian missile and drone attacks.

 

"We are thankful for this program and this opportunity", Zelenskyy conveyed to President Trump. At the same time, Zelenskyy and his European allies - German Chancellor Friedrich Mertz, French President Emmanuel Macron, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Italian PM Giorgia Meloni and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen have been subtly trying to steer Trump from forcing territorial concessions on Kyiv. Pinning down security guarantees similar to NATO's Article 5 mutual defence clause is another vital goal. 

 

A "candid discussion" took place between defence chiefs from across the NATO alliance regarding what security guarantees could be offered to Kyiv, revealed Italian Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, chair of NATO's Military Committee. "I thanked everyone for their always proactive participation in these meetings: we are united, and that unity was truly tangible today, as always", he stated. As well, Dan Caine, U.S. chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, held talks with European military chiefs on the "best options for a potential Ukraine peace deal".

 

A coalition of 30 countries, including European nations, Japan and Australia, signed support for an aspirational force that could backstop any peace agreement. President Trump, critical of billions in U.S. support given Ukraine, statement that European nations were "willing to put people on the ground", in support of a settlement, while he ruled out U.S. troops being sent to Ukraine, although air support might be supplied. This, in the face of Russia's stand of non-tolerance of the presence of Western troops in Ukraine.  

"Our units are engaged in heavy defensive battles against superior Russian forces."

"I am convinced that through joint efforts, with the political and diplomatic support of Ukraine’s dedicated partners, we will be able to achieve a real peace and guarantee security for Ukraine and the whole of democratic Europe."  

Ukraine Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrsky 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, centre, called Monday's summit at the White House involving several European leaders a 'major step forward,' but the path to peace remains clouded. (Italian Prime Ministry/Reuters)

 

 

Fresh Water in a Parched Landscape

"All the extra water that [the plants] are producing we will be able to bring it with the national water carrier system up north and into the Sea of Galilee."

"With the environment of climate changes, you don't know what to expect next year and the year afterward."

"We are no longer depending on rain basically for water supply."

Yoav Barkay, manager, Mekorot, state-owned national water carrier, Tiberias, Israel

A photo taken during a tour of the Hadera Desalination Facility on April 3, 2022, shows a general view of the location in the central Israeli coastal town of Hadera. - JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images

When Jordan and Israel signed their peace treaty in 1994 as neighbours previously at war, one of the major issues that became part of the treaty was Israel's agreeing to provide Jordan with potable water in a region of the world perpetually suffering water shortages. Ever since, the two countries have participated in the pact that has Jordan dependent on Israel for the supply of 50 million cubic meters of potable water annually; an amount doubled by agreement in 2021.

Israel's main reservoir is the Sea of Galilee, the very place where biblical Jesus Christ was held to have walked upon water, making the site a religious tourist draw with hotels around the perimeter of the lake that feeds the Jordan River flowing south to the Dead Sea. The lake level responds to protracted droughts with receding shorelines as the water table diminishes, causing no little amount of anxiety. Heat waves and heavy rain events change the lake's water level dramatically.

Which led Israel to build a chain of desalination plants along its Mediterranean coastline, resulting in the country being able to boast a surplus of water in an infamously arid region of Earth. Water gushes into a dry river bed, racing to the shore of the Sea of Galilee when the floodgates are opened in northern Israel. An area lost to droughts and a growing population's needs has been totally altered.

A general view shows the Sea of Galilee with Jordan in the background, in northern Israel, January 23, 2023. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

 

Desalinated water, fresh and high-quality, comes from the Mediterranean Sea to be transported across the country to await the order to replenish the lake when shrinkage occurs. A life-sustaining refill system enabling increased water exports to Jordan. The lake's level can be raised by half a meter annually with the use of this system. 

Another agreement between the two countries saw Jordan agree to partner in a project where Jordan would build 600 megawatts of solar generating capacity for export to Israel in exchange for the additional water supply. A pipeline to redouble the amount to reach Jordan is under construction. Some 200 million cubic meters of water-- an amount equal to what the five largest Israel cities combined consume, is set to be supplied to Jordan.

A bay at the Sea of Galilee can be seen in northern Israel, January 23, 2023. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun