Trump seeks peace in Ukraine

A new paradigm of win-win cooperation is announced

Secretary of State Marco Rubio with national security advisor Michael Waltz and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff following a historic meeting with high-level officials of the Russian Federation on February 18, 2025. Photo: Evelyn Hosckstein/The New York Times.

Some commentators in Latin America are cynically asserting that Trump is taking advantage of the war in Ukraine to pressure political actors to accept a peace agreement that will guarantee U.S. access to important minerals. They are missing the point. Trump is bringing to the table a new paradigm of win-win cooperation with rival world powers, casting aside the old approach of confrontation, which often in practice turns out to be a lose-lose undertaking.

Trump’s peace initiative is a fulfillment of a campaign promise. But more importantly, it is an initiative that reflects the populist economic nationalism of the MAGA movement, which gives the highest priority to strengthening the American economy and expanding American industrial…