As President Donald Trump mediates discussions between Russia and Ukraine, several conservative policy experts describe the talks as a highly challenging diplomatic effort and argue that any settlement should both end the war and impose steep costs on Moscow to deter future aggression, while protecting core U.S. interests.
The ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine represents an existential struggle for both countries, according to Morgan Murphy, a former Trump White House official who is running for the U.S. Senate in Alabama. In an interview with The Daily Wire, Murphy described the conflict as “the bloodiest war in Europe since 1945” and said it is viewed as existential by both Moscow and Kyiv, given Russia’s full-scale invasion and Ukraine’s fight for survival.
Murphy also compared the current mediation effort to some of the most difficult U.S. diplomatic crises in modern history. “Looking at the players and scale involved, it’s fair to say that this is the toughest negotiation for any American president since the Cuban Missile Crisis,” he told The Daily Wire.
Experts interviewed by The Daily Wire broadly agree that U.S. priorities should center on bringing the fighting to an end while safeguarding American interests and allies. Retired Air Force General Bruce Carlson argued that Russian President Vladimir Putin “only understands one thing: power,” and said any peace agreement must impose “unmatched consequences” on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
Carlson was critical of the idea of externally imposed limits on Ukraine’s armed forces, including a previously floated framework that envisioned a cap on Ukraine’s military and drew sharp criticism from Kyiv and European officials. “The only acceptable caps on Ukraine’s military size would be those based on Ukraine’s own security analysis,” he said. In his view, a settlement should allow for sanctions on Russia to be lifted only after Moscow has demonstrated that it is complying with the terms of a peace agreement, paving the way for a reset in relations among the United States, Ukraine and NATO allies.
Carrie Filipetti, executive director of the Vandenberg Coalition and an alumna of the first Trump administration, outlined what she called the basic tenets of an “America First” peace deal. She said Washington should aim to end the current war and prevent new ones by making the costs for Putin high enough that he is deterred from threatening U.S. national security interests or the sovereignty of neighboring countries.
“The tenets of an ‘America First’ peace deal are clear: As America, we want to end forever wars, and that means future wars, too. The costs have to be high enough for Putin that his calculus is permanently changed to stop threatening U.S. national security interests and the sovereignty of his neighbors,” Filipetti told The Daily Wire. She also argued that penalties on Russia should be significant enough to influence Beijing’s thinking about a possible conflict over Taiwan.
Filipetti said any deal should also address what she described as Russian threats to Ukrainian religious institutions and children. Referring to reports of mass deportations of Ukrainian minors, she said, “President Trump has been a huge fighter for hostages around the world, and Ukrainian children are being held hostage right now in Russia. And as First Lady Melania Trump has championed, we must ensure Putin returns the tens of thousands of kidnapped Ukrainian children who are currently in so-called ‘re-education’ camps across Russia.” International bodies, including Ukrainian authorities and independent investigators, have documented the deportation and unlawful transfer of large numbers of Ukrainian children to Russia or Russian-occupied territories, though estimates of the total number vary.
On Ukraine’s internal challenges, Carlson acknowledged corruption as a serious concern but cautioned against allowing it to dictate Western support. “No one wants to see corruption. But war is the greatest evil in the world, and corruption is not to be unanticipated. I’m very impressed with how the Ukrainians are dealing with it,” he said.
Murphy noted that corruption has long been an issue in Ukraine, predating the full-scale invasion, and cited a recent article in The New York Times alleging deep corruption within President Volodymyr Zelensky’s inner circle. He argued that numerous U.S. political controversies over the past decade have involved Ukraine in some way, pointing to the case of Burisma Holdings’ payments to Hunter Biden, past questions around donations to the Clinton Foundation, and accusations that Democratic Party operatives sought information from Ukrainian contacts about associates of Trump’s 2016 campaign. Those episodes remain politically contested in the United States, but Murphy contends they illustrate how frequently Ukraine has figured in recent Washington scandals.
Taken together, the experts’ comments sketch an “America First” framework that seeks to end the war through negotiations mediated by President Trump, while demanding heavy penalties on Russia, preserving Ukraine’s ability to defend itself, and addressing human rights and governance concerns as part of any eventual settlement.
