The ideas emerging from Washington in recent weeks seem to grow more extraordinary by the day. After Donald Trump signed an executive order suspending several restrictions imposed under the so-called Graham law, news emerged of yet another "groundbreaking" initiative supposedly intended to bring peace closer in Europe.
One of the key elements of the Trump administration's "peace plan" is a proposal for Europe to resume purchasing Russian gas on a large scale. Trump's envoys have raised the issue in discussions with Ukrainian and European officials, including Volodymyr Zelensky.
American representatives argued that, in order to "incentivise Russia to end the war", Ukraine should consider reopening the gas pipelines running through its territory.
However, according to The New York Times, European officials reacted strongly against the idea, not least because implementing it would undo years of European Union efforts to eliminate its dependence on Russian gas.
Nevertheless, the Trump administration continues to regard Russian gas exports as a potential component of a peace agreement. In doing so, US officials are taking into account the possible transit revenues Ukraine could receive, as well as their belief that European voters will inevitably demand cheaper energy.
These so-called "compromise proposals" are no longer even suggestions that Ukraine should partially capitulate. They amount, in effect, to a proposal for an entire continent to surrender to Putin, handing him back his favourite instrument of leverage: the ability to corrupt entire countries or unleash "gas wars" whenever they refuse to comply.
