5 Key Facts Christians Need on the Russia-Ukraine Peace Talks

As of this writing, Russia holds about 18 percent of Ukraine's territory, and Ukraine has a small Russian enclave. The exact death toll is uncertain, but the minimum amount for Ukraine is 46,000 soldiers, and Russia's military deaths are over 6000, Mark Cancian, a senior adviser with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told WDSU.

Congress has poured about $174.2 billion into the Ukraine under the previous administration. President Trump has expressed disgust over this amount and has told Ukrainian President  Zelenskyy that he wants this money returned to the United States through the acquisition of its value in Ukraine's rare earth minerals. 

"The Biden administration was not willing to push Ukraine. The Trump administration is, and that gives Russia some leverage over the negotiations, knowing that the other side really wants to make a deal," Cancian told WDSU. "The concern is that this will embolden Russia to believe that it can attack its neighbors and get away with it."

There have been concerns within the Trump administration that Europe and the United States are drifting apart with regard to their "shared values." This concern was powerfully articulated by Vice President J.D. Vance at the Munich Security Conference. Free speech is under threat right now across much of Europe. In addition, Europe has been asked to take greater responsibility for defending itself by multiple administrations over the years, and it hasn't responded in any significant way. The way it has responded to this most current crisis with Ukraine, where peace efforts are concerned, has been with rushed emergency summits and attempts to reassure Ukraine that they are on their side, according to Foreign Policy.

That said, the European Union will be sending Ukraine a new aid package, which Ukraine anticipates receiving this week. 

EU Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius told WRIC that senior members of the bloc's executive branch are weighing how, "in a very urgent way, to send a very strong message to Ukrainians and to the world that we are standing together with Ukraine."

Photo Credit: ©YouTube/The White House

President Trump is pushing to bring the Ukraine-Russia war to an end. Trump has accused Zelenskyy of being "a poor negotiator" and said he's "tired of listening to it."

"I've seen it enough, and then he complains that he's not at a meeting that we're having with Saudi Arabia trying to intermediate peace. Well, he's been at meetings for three years with a... president who didn't know what the hell he was doing. He's been at the meetings for three years and nothing got done, so I don't think he's very important to be at meetings, to be honest with you. He's been there for three years. He makes it very hard to make deals," Trump told Fox News. 

Zelenskyy has pushed back, saying, "Nobody decides anything behind our back," insisting that Ukraine will not surrender their country to Russia.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has expressed his disappointment about the present direction of Trump's negotiations with Russia, telling ABC News that he feels it's "regrettable" that "the Trump administration has already made public concessions to Putin before negotiations have even begun."

The new German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, was quick to make his support of Ukraine known after he won Germany's election on Sunday.

"More than ever, we must put Ukraine in a position of strength. For a fair peace, the country that is under attack must be part of peace negotiations." Merz said in a Monday post picked up by Fox News.

Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur agreed, saying in a statement, "We must not hand Russia any advantage before negotiations even begin."

The people of Ukraine are angry over the prospect of being made to hand over pieces of their country to Russia. 

"It doesn't seem like a negotiation to me, more like a cruel auction. My main concern is that we are being sold for someone else's gain. I am afraid that the USA sees us as just an asset to sell and move on, while Europe is too concerned about itself," Iryna, one of thousands of Ukrainian citizens from Kyiv, spoke out and told The Guardian.

Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Matthew Stockman/Staff

Pope Francis was quick to respond when the war broke out in 2022. It was only about two weeks after the fact when he called Russian President Vladimir Putin and requested a visit. His intent was to show support for Ukraine and ask Putin to stop the war, according to Crux Now.

"[I]t's wrong to think that this is a war between Russia and Ukraine, and that's it," Francis said from the beginning of the conflict. "This is a world war." 

Dr. Maksym Vasin of the Institute for Religious Freedom, based in Kyiv, told Christian Daily International that the Evangelical community doesn't want to see Ukraine forced into giving up its land in a peace deal that does nothing more than temporarily appease Russian greed, opens the door for Russia to persecute Christians in the areas they control, and emboldens Russia for future invasions of other countries.

 "It is obvious that if Russia maintains the control on some parts of the Ukraine territory, there will be a lot of atrocities, religious persecution, primarily against evangelical believers," Vasin said. "And each year, it'll be worse and worse. That's why I want to believe that the whole territory will be liberated from Russia – it is the way to restore religious freedom in this region."

Not only will religious liberties be lost in every area where Russia is allowed to maintain control in Ukraine, but communism will also have a renewed grip on the whole lifestyle of the people living there, according to Premier Christianity.