Retired Major General Dana Pittard bluntly told Fox viewers this week that the much-discussed Ukraine-Russia peace plan “might stop the fighting” but is not “the foundation of a long lasting peace,” and he urged caution about treating a draft as a final settlement. His words should ring alarm bells in Washington: military professionals know the difference between a ceasefire and a durable security architecture.
The draft at the center of the storm reportedly runs to 28 points and has been described in multiple outlets as the product of back-channel work involving U.S. envoys and Russian counterparts, led in reports by private envoy Steve Witkoff. Media accounts say the framework touches on peace, security guarantees, Europe-wide arrangements, and future relations between the U.S., Russia, and Ukraine — and critics warn some provisions would force heavy concessions on Kyiv.
Conservatives and patriots should be especially wary of any deal that treats Ukraine like a bargaining chip to be wheeled around without Kyiv’s full consent. Even Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other officials have publicly expressed skepticism and urged transparency about whether this is truly a U.S. initiative or simply a Russian wish list repackaged. The last thing America should do is legitimize territorial grabs or reward aggression in the name of a rushed “peace.”
Pittard’s military perspective is clear: a truce that leaves Russia’s coercive gains intact will only pause the war and let Moscow lick its wounds, rebuild, and prepare another round. He pushed for sustained logistical and munitions support to Ukraine and warned that without real security guarantees and teeth behind them, any arrangement will crumble. That is not the stance of isolationists; it is the plain judgment of soldiers who know what happens when adversaries smell weakness.
At the same time, tension with Venezuela is heating up as the United States pushes back against a Caracas regime that has cozy ties with Moscow and with criminal networks that threaten American citizens. Recent reporting documents U.S. deployments and close encounters in the Caribbean, and Caracas’ saber-rattling and boasts about air defenses illustrate how combustible the region remains. This administration must be clear-eyed: weakness invites miscalculation, and our hemisphere deserves security, not chaos.
Patriots should applaud a firm posture against the Maduro kleptocracy and against any foreign power that tries to expand its influence in our neighborhood. Deployments and pressure to stop narco-trafficking and counter malign actors are the responsible acts of a sovereign nation protecting its borders and people. But firmness abroad must be matched by prudence in Europe — we cannot squander American credibility on a peace that leaves friends betrayed.
Congress and the American people must demand that any negotiation over Ukraine include Ukraine’s voice and hard guarantees acceptable to Kyiv, not a backroom deal that reads like capitulation. Reports that this draft was shopped without full Ukrainian buy-in only underscore the danger of handing a pre-packaged solution to the Kremlin. If Washington insists on peace, let it be a peace that secures freedom and deters future aggression, not a paper that papered over conquest.
This is a moment for conservative strength and common-sense patriotism: stand with nations that fight for their freedom, confront regimes that traffic in tyranny and drugs, and refuse to trade away the principles that made America the beacon of liberty. Hardworking Americans know we win peace by being strong, sober, and steadfast — anything less is not peace, it’s appeasement.
