headline: Trump‘s Truce in Ukraine War Could Signal the Fall of Putin‘s Regime
subheadline: US President-elect Donald Trump’s potential brokerage of a ceasefire in Russia’s war against Ukraine might just catalyze the end of Putin’s rule, according to Yuri Yarmak-Agaev, President of the Center for the Study of Totalitarian Ideology.
Body:
In his column for The Hill, Yarmak-Agaev posits that a truce, unlike a peace agreement, wouldn’t definitively cement winners and losers. Instead, it would merely pause the conflict, buying Ukraine time to emerge victorious and Russia a chance to regroup.
Yarmak-Agaev, a scholar and human rights advocate, believes that Russia’s military is severely depleted, having exhausted most of its reserves in the current offensive. If Putin attempts to bluff about Russia’s capabilities, Yarmak-Agaev suggests that Western support for Ukraine should sharply increase, potentially including military aid from other countries.
To strengthen Ukraine, Yarmak-Agaev recommends increasing Western support, aiming to surpass Russia in both the quality and quantity of weaponry. He also advocates leaving the path to Ukraine’s NATO membership open. Meanwhile, to weaken Russia, he proposes amplifying economic sanctions against Putin’s regime and increasing oil production to lower prices, thereby diminishing Russia’s main source of income.
"All of this constitutes a policy of peace through strength," Yarmak-Agaev argues, "giving Ukraine a chance to win the war without resuming military action. If we adopt this policy and Russia understands our seriousness, its demoralized army could crumble, leading to Russian population protests against this pointless war and, ultimately, Putin’s downfall."
Yarmak-Agaev predicts that Ukraine’s victory in the war would translate into the dismantling of Putin’s regime, followed by Russian troop withdrawal and the recovery of occupied territories. This could most importantly spell the end of Russia’s aggression toward other nations, reinforce the free world, and weaken totalitarian unions.
Meanwhile, former US National Security Advisor John Bolton warned that after Trump’s inauguration, US military and economic aid to Ukraine could significantly decrease, with talks with Russia kicking off speedily.
