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Former CIA station chief Dan Hoffman told Fox News that talk of an imminent peace settlement in Ukraine is wishful thinking and that the conflict is nowhere near a negotiated end. Hoffman, speaking from hard-earned intelligence experience, warned that symbolic moves like prisoner swaps do not amount to the kind of confidence-building measures that can coax Vladimir Putin into meaningful compromise.
What Hoffman described to Fox viewers is a brutally practical reality: Russia is fighting for strategic gains and will not be hurried into a settlement that leaves Moscow weaker. That’s why so many of the so-called diplomatic fixes floated in Washington and Brussels end up as smoke and mirrors — the Kremlin only negotiates from advantage, not from weakness.
At the same time, economic pressure on Russia remains a “slow burn,” not a knockout blow — a point analysts are finally admitting as sanctions steadily erode Moscow’s options over time. Western measures have squeezed parts of the Russian economy and reshaped trade relationships, but patience and unity among free nations are required if sanctions are to do what they were intended to do: gradually choke off the resources that fuel Putin’s war machine.
Putin himself has made clear he will not accept outcomes that leave Russia strategically vulnerable, repeatedly signaling that Kyiv’s NATO ambitions and Western military presence are red lines he “won’t allow.” That realist mindset means any deal that hands territory, security guarantees, or military advantage to the Kremlin will be framed in Moscow as a victory — and our partners should remember who’s negotiating with whom.
So-called moderate voices that urge quick concessions to end the shooting are dangerously naive. Giving ground to an autocrat who campuses his power on raw force would be a betrayal of Ukraine’s sovereignty and a green light to other would-be bullies around the globe; conservatives should call out appeasement wherever it raises its head and demand durable outcomes, not headlines.
America must lead with strength and clarity — not performative statements or empty promises. That means keeping pressure on Russia, coordinating sanctions with allies who actually keep them in place, and backing Ukraine’s right to negotiate from strength rather than surrender; anything less is a strategic risk to the free world.
Hardworking Americans deserve a foreign policy that protects our interests and our values. If our leaders show resolve now — and stop treating diplomacy as a quick PR win — the “slow burn” of economic and strategic pressure will do its work; until then, patriotic vigilance and clear-eyed leadership are the only things standing between us and a dangerous precedent of rewarding aggression.
