February 24, 2026
Could a ceasefire in Ukraine do more harm than good? Former US Ambassador to NATO Ivo Daalder joins Ian Bremmer on GZERO World to explain why he sees a pause in the war as a potential trap.
Daalder says that neither Ukraine nor Europe initially wanted a ceasefire, but pressure from the United States, particularly former President Donald Trump, has shifted the conversation. He warns that many negotiations have been shaped more by US political interests than by the realities on the battlefield, pushing Ukraine toward a deal Russia is willing to accept.
“If a ceasefire means the United States opens up economic and diplomatic concessions to Russia, and Europeans follow, the security guarantees unravel,” Daalder explains, adding that such a pause risks creating a frozen conflict rather than a just or sustainable peace. “That is a trap potentially, it doesn’t have to be, but it could lead to the unraveling of everything that’s there.”
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