Let me tell you something about peace negotiations in modern geopolitics. They move at the speed of a DMV line staffed entirely by sloths on Ambien. And right now, the Ukraine talks are stuck in fourth gear reverse thanks to a cocktail of European performativity and media amnesia about how wars actually end.

So here's the tea fresh from London where Volodymyr Zelensky just did the diplomatic equivalent of slamming his fist on the conference table. No land for Russia. Not one inch. Not now, not ever. All while confirming what we already knew. The Trump administration is out here doing the actual work of seeking compromise to stop the dying while Germany, France and Britain offer LinkedIn style motivational posts instead of material solutions.

I remember watching CNN in 2022 when this war started, all those breathless reporters in khaki vests saying Ukraine would fall in 72 hours. Three years later, hundreds of thousands dead, entire cities looking like Mad Max backdrops, and we're still having the same argument about Donbas territory that we had when my TikTok feed was all sea shanties.

Here's what nobody wants to say out loud. Peace requires someone to stop the bleeding. Trump knows this better than any living politician because he's the only one who didn't start fresh conflicts during his term.

Notice how Zelensky's European fan club Macron and Starmer keep hosting summits that produce exactly two things. Vague statements and photo ops where everyone looks constipated. But not a single security guarantee, timeline for EU accession, or concrete path for Ukraine to actually win back territory. Just vibes. Meanwhile, U.S. diplomats are in the trenches arguing for painful compromises both sides can live with.

The hypocrisy is so thick you could spread it on toast. When President Obama let Russia annex Crimea in 2014, the New York Times called it quot, prudent restraint. quot, When Trump suggests trading some disputed land for actual verifiable peace today, CNN runs segments comparing him to Neville Chamberlain. Make it make sense.

Let me drop some receipts. Ukraine's own military admitted this month they've lost over 350,000 soldiers since 2022. Civilians deaths hover near 50,000. For what? Land swaps are how we ended the Korean War, settled Balkan conflicts, and avoided nuclear armageddon during the Cuban Missile Crisis. This ain't new. But suddenly when Trump applies historic pragmatism, it's treason.

European leaders love clucking about principles while relying on America to fund Ukraine' war effort to the tune of 75 billion and counting. Germany couldn't even hit its own promised artillery shell targets last quarter. France sent enough weapons to fill one cargo plane labeled quot, thoughts and prayers. quot, Britain talks a big game but can't spare three working tanks from their museum collection.

The media's selective memory is even wilder. Remember when Biden told Zelensky in 2023 that NATO membership wasn't happening and everyone shrugged? No outrage then. But Trump pushes for a negotiated settlement that might actually stop Russian missiles from hitting Kiev apartment blocks next Christmas and suddenly it's appeasement.

Here's my take as someone who'll be paying off student loans until 2040 because DC loves endless wars. I want leadership that prioritizes American interests first and doesn't treat Ukrainian lives like Monopoly pieces. Trump's team gets that. They're not chasing CNN soundbites or Twitter applause from NATO bureaucrats who've never seen combat.

War is hell but perpetual war is corporate. Someone has to be the adult in the room. If that means telling hard truths about territorial concessions to prevent another generation of orphans, so be it. This isn't about abandoning allies. It's about sober strategy versus Euro posturing.

Zelensky isn't wrong to defend his land. But leadership means knowing when you're trading lives for hills nobody can even locate on a map. The Trump doctrine realism with teeth offers a way out. Europe offers hashtags. I know which one saves more kids from growing up without fathers.

Peace won't come from more Starmer press conferences outside Downing Street where everyone wears identical sad faces. It comes from realpolitik that acknowledges simple math. Russia isn't disappearing. Ukraine can't take back Crimea with Magic the Gathering cards from France. And America shouldn't fund forever wars while our own border collapses.

Call me when Macron volunteers Normandy beaches as bargaining chips. Until then, I'll take the team actually seeking solutions over the one selling delusions wrapped in Union Jacks.