To force Putin to end his war on Ukraine, give Kyiv the weapons it needs

The next step to ending the war in Ukraine for good: Washington needs to arm Kyiv.

To the teeth.

The United States now has an economic stake in Ukraine’s future, thanks to the deal inked Wednesday creating a joint fund to be filled with 50% of the profits from Ukraine’s oil, gas and rare minerals.

It’s a win for both nations, since, as President Trump put it, “The American presence will keep a lot of bad actors out.”

But the only way to bring this war to a close and secure a lasting peace is to force the “bad actor,” Vladimir Putin, to actually make concessions at the bargaining table.

And the only way to do that is to make it clear to Vlad that the Ukrainians aren’t going to run out of arms anytime soon.

Wednesday’s deal allows Washington to count any future military aid as a contribution to the fund, making now the ideal time to start shipping more arms.

Kyiv badly needs to restock its weapons, especially artillery shells and air defense systems — and fast.

And Washington should send whatever weapons Ukraine’s military requests, avoiding Joe Biden’s hesitancy that saw key arms delivered too late to make enough difference, needlessly prolonging a near-stalemate.

Putin has sabotaged the peace talks from the start, demanding impossible concessions from Ukraine and refusing to bend — while breaking even what few promises his team did make.

Trump is wise to this and frustrated with the lack of progress; he noted he felt like Putin was “tapping [him] along” in late April before pulling Washington out of negotiations on May 1.

Putin is betting the Trump team will tire of helping Ukraine defend itself, giving him the opening to land a fatal blow before his own problems at home force him to blink.

Trump has made it clear he cares deeply about both Ukrainian and Russian lives, and he wants the killing to stop; Putin has shown time and again that even Russia’s young men are just cannon fodder in is eyes.

He does not want peace.

He wants Ukraine — all of it — before turning to his next target.

Nor can the US investment in Ukraine’s future pay off if Russia keeps sitting on the regions that hold most of the country’s resources.

Putin is the one dragging this war out. To show him he has no choice but to compromise for peace, he must see that the United States isn’t going to abandon Ukraine.

To see an end to the death and destruction, get Kyiv the arsenal it needs, Mr. President.