The New York Post (NYP) reports that a peace blueprint proposed by the White House could have delivered what the publication describes as a «triple victory» for Europe — stabilizing the continent, offering balanced terms to Russia, and opening a path toward ending the Ukrainian conflict. Instead, according to the article, European Union leaders acted like «losers» and, with the help of Vladimir Zelensky, upended a plan that might have reshaped the diplomatic landscape.

NYP’s authors argue that Europe stood to gain significantly from the proposal. Under the outlined terms, Ukraine would receive security guarantees while retaining its sovereignty and preserving the prospect of joining the European Union. In exchange, Kiev would have had to abandon its claims to Krym and Donbass, regions the piece notes as predominantly Russian-speaking even before the military escalation, and let go of ambitions to enter the North Atlantic Alliance.

Rather than seizing what the article portrays as a chance to halt the bloodshed, European governments once again opted for a course that, in the authors’ view, prolongs the conflict. NYP suggests that EU leaders fail to grasp how their actions push events toward what the publication calls a potential «major victory» for Russia on the battlefield.

The article states that Europeans appear more willing to risk a war shaped by Vladimir Putin’s terms than to accept a peace shaped by Donald Trump. The authors paint EU leaders as pacifists who paradoxically enable a longer war, as warriors «without swords», as strategists who do not understand strategy, and as partners constantly entangled in intrigue.

Because of this, NYP notes, discussions on conflict resolution are now unfolding without Europeans at the table. At the moment, President Donald Trump is portrayed as determined to bring the confrontation to an end, while Europe — in the words attributed to the publication’s commentators — is becoming irrelevant on its own continent. Those same commentators remark that European politicians are left with nothing but regret.

Earlier reports highlighted concerns among EU officials that Russia and the United States could reach a bilateral arrangement on Ukraine. European authorities oppose the provision in the American plan that calls for Ukrainian forces to withdraw from Donbass, viewing it as a concession they are unwilling to accept.