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U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker delivered a blunt, moral message this week: the killing in Ukraine must stop and a durable peace must be found. Whitaker made clear that ending the slaughter is President Trump’s top priority, and that diplomacy must lead to concrete results rather than endless sloganeering.
Whitaker also reminded the world that words are cheap when lives are on the line — Washington will judge Vladimir Putin by his actions, not his promises. That sober realism is exactly what conservative foreign policy has argued for years: hold adversaries to account and demand verifiable steps, not press-conference theater.
The administration is even weighing powerful leverage to push Moscow toward negotiations, including the controversial possibility of moving long-range weapons into NATO hands as a bargaining chip. If that is what it takes to bring Putin to the table and stop the bloodshed, Americans who value peace and strength should not flinch from using every lawful means of pressure.
Make no mistake: this is not weakness masquerading as mercy. Whitaker has praised President Trump’s mediation efforts and credited firmer NATO posture for creating diplomatic momentum, pointing to allied commitments to raise defense spending and improve deterrence. Strength at the negotiating table is what wins durable peace, and conservatives should be proud to stand for an America that leads from power.
Whitaker also sounded a warning bell about outside actors quietly fueling the conflict, calling out Beijing for subsidizing Moscow’s war machine and risking a wider strategic miscalculation. That accusation deserves the full attention of policymakers — if authoritarian regimes are bankrolling death abroad, democracies must respond with real economic and diplomatic consequences.
There have been modest diplomatic wins — prisoner exchanges, localized ceasefires around infrastructure — but Whitaker was right to insist these are only the first steps and must be backed by enforceable guarantees. America and its allies must demand verifiable actions, tighten sanctions, and keep military readiness high so that any deal protects legitimate security interests and prevents a future Russian rampage.
Conservatives who want peace should unite behind a clear strategy: negotiate relentlessly, but never at the price of national security or abandoning allies. Whitaker’s message to Putin was plain and patriotic — stop the killing, prove your commitment, or face the costs — and it’s time for Washington to follow through with the resolve the moment requires.
