1. United States
2. Maine
3. Letter

I am shocked and appalled that we have reached a point where the President of the United States would reportedly entertain negotiating the fate of a sovereign nation with Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping while excluding the very country under attack. If this report is accurate, it is a grievous betrayal of Ukraine, our democratic allies, and the principles of sovereignty and self-determination that America has long claimed to defend. Putin launched this war of aggression. He should not be rewarded with a seat at the table that denies Ukraine a voice in determining its own future. This brings to mind the darkest lessons of history: the 1938 Munich Agreement, when European powers negotiated Czechoslovakia’s fate without its participation, hoping concessions would preserve peace. They did not. I demand that you publicly and unequivocally condemn this reported plan and the Trump administration’s willingness to pursue it. Silence in the face of such a profound betrayal is itself a political choice. America must not abandon an ally to satisfy an aggressor’s ambitions. Peace cannot be built by sacrificing the sovereignty of those who have been invaded. I expect you to speak out publicly, forcefully, and without equivocation.