The recent Wall Street Journal investigation into the Kremlin’s “peace through business” proposal to Washington confirms what many have feared for months: Vladimir Putin is attempting to reframe the end of the war not as an issue of justice, but as a commercial negotiation. According to the report, Moscow suggests that any ceasefire or settlement should trigger renewed US-Russia economic cooperation.
That single idea reveals everything that is wrong with the so-called Trump “peace plan.” It treats war as a business transaction. It reduces Ukraine – a nation fighting for survival – to a bargaining chip. And it replaces accountability with accommodation.
In this vision, the war would not end by restoring Ukraine’s sovereignty, removing occupation forces, or addressing human rights violations. Instead, it would end by rewarding Russia economically – granting access to Western investment in energy, technology, and reconstruction – while pressuring Ukraine to surrender territory and accept constraints on its defense capabilities.
The logic is chilling in its clarity: Putin invades, destroys, annexes – and in return, he gets business. Ukraine resists – and is asked to compromise.
A dangerous repeat of history
Diplomats often speak of “pragmatism,” but history remembers appeasement. In 1938, territories were traded for “peace in our time,” which lasted less than a year. In 2025, similar language is used – only this time, with business as the incentive.
This is not a peace plan. It is a financial write-off of war crimes.
Today, the terms are “land swaps” and “economic reintegration.” Tomorrow, there will be new demands, new borders, new wars.
As Garry Kasparov recently said:
“We are debating a peace deal drafted by Trump’s business partner – a real estate transaction presented as strategy. The only reason we are here talking about NATO instead of fighting for survival is because Ukraine has held the line. If Ukraine hadn’t stood its ground, Russian tanks would already be in Poland.”
Ukraine is not merely resisting aggression – it is performing the very role NATO was created to fulfill. Yet instead of being strengthened, Ukraine is being asked to concede.
What this plan ignores
Every credible peace proposal must answer two questions:
- Does it prevent the war from continuing or resuming?
- Does it protect the people affected?
This plan fails on both counts.
It does not require Russia to withdraw troops or eliminate launch capabilities. It lifts sanctions prematurely, allowing Russia to rearm. And it imposes military restrictions on Ukraine, creating conditions for future invasion.
On the human level, except for one token mention, it ignores deported children, tortured civilians, prisoners of war, freedom of religion, and the basic rights of those living under occupation.
As Nobel laureate Oleksandra Matviichuk has noted: This is not peace. It is the formalization of violence.
Economic mirage
Much public attention has focused on the $300 billion in frozen Russian assets. The most generous interpretation of the proposal presents this as “compensation.”
But expert assessments from the World Bank, the UN, the European Commission, the Kyiv School of Economics, and the Kiel Institute estimate the total damage at over $1 trillion. That figure does not account for long-term productivity loss or the psychological impact of war.
So when policymakers claim that $300 billion solves the issue, they are not talking about reconstruction – they are talking about a discount rate on destruction.
This is not a peace plan. It is a financial write-off of war crimes.
If peace becomes a business negotiation, war becomes a business strategy.
The real peace framework
A genuine peace plan – one that stops this war and prevents the next – must begin with five principles:
- Condemn Russia’s invasion unequivocally.
- Identify Putin as a war criminal.
- Confiscate all Russian assets – not negotiate partial releases.
- Maintain full economic sanctions until complete withdrawal.
- Provide Ukraine with the military means to win.
Anything less simply gives Russia time to regroup.
Final warning
Trump’s 28-point proposal does not end the war – it defers it. It rewards aggression, shifts blame to the victim, and breaks the fundamental principle that borders cannot be changed by force. It offers Russia economic reintegration without consequences and subjects Ukraine to territorial compromise and long-term insecurity.
That is not peace; it is strategic surrender.
And if peace becomes a business negotiation, war becomes a business strategy.
Ukraine is not for sale.
The views expressed in this opinion article are the author’s and not necessarily those of Kyiv Post.