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A new prisoner swap on April 24, 2026 returned 193 captured personnel to each side, a welcome humanitarian moment that should not be mistaken for a turning point toward peace. Both Washington and the United Arab Emirates helped facilitate the exchange, but the grim truth is that releasing prisoners does not end an aggression that has already cost thousands of lives and shredded Europe’s security.
Former adviser Dan Rice told Newsmax bluntly what many Americans suspect: Vladimir Putin is the real obstacle to any settlement, and “until that psychopath decides to stop the war, the war will continue.” That plainspoken assessment cuts through the diplomatic euphemisms; we should call the enemy what he is and demand policies that reflect reality, not wishful thinking.
The returning Ukrainian warriors deserve every honor and every bit of support we can give — some came home wounded, some had been jailed on trumped-up charges, and all paid a heavy price for defending their homeland. These reunions are proof of the bravery of allied fighters and the moral duty countries like ours have to back those who stand against tyranny.
Let’s be honest about responsibility: weak signals from Washington in early 2022 — including poorly worded comments and the withdrawal of trainers — sent the wrong message to Moscow and helped create the conditions for a full-scale invasion. Conservative Americans who value strength and deterrence have every right to ask why American policy did not make the cost of aggression unmistakable from the start.
Rice is right to call the 1994 Budapest Memorandum a failed promise and to demand real, concrete security guarantees so this never happens again; words without teeth are no substitute for deterrence. He also argued that a different U.S. posture under another administration could have prevented the catastrophe — a reminder that strong, clear leadership matters when the world’s tyrants are watching.
If America is going to protect freedom and its own interests, we must support measures that debilitate Putin’s war machine: sharpen sanctions, choke off revenues, secure energy alternatives for Europe, and provide Ukraine with the means to defend itself until a durable settlement is possible. This prisoner swap should steel our resolve rather than soothe us — hardworking patriots know peace won’t come from appeasement, it will come from strength and steadfastness.
