By Tania Curado-Koenig
(MidEast & Beyond Series)
April 28, 2025
The headlines promised breakthroughs.
Minerals deal. Peace frameworks. High-level summits.
But behind the choreography of diplomacy, another reality emerged: delays, tensions, and a deepening sense of strategic confusion.
U.S.–Ukraine Minerals Deal: “Ready to Sign” — But Still Delayed
In March 2025, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared that a long-discussed critical minerals agreement with the United States was “ready to be signed.”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, leading U.S. negotiations, traveled to Kyiv and signed a memorandum of intent on April 17 — signaling that finalization was imminent.
At the Oval Office just days later, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni met with President Trump to affirm European support for strategic cooperation. There, Treasury officials privately reiterated that the full deal would be signed on Thursday, April 24.
But the signing never happened.
Instead, pressure mounted for territorial concessions — particularly regarding Crimea — as part of the broader peace talks.
Ukrainian leadership resisted external pressure.
Days later, President Trump publicly criticized the stance taken in Kyiv, suggesting that Crimea was “lost years ago” and blaming Ukraine for blocking peace efforts.
The promised minerals agreement fell into uncertainty — a casualty of political pressure and spiritual compromise.
London Peace Talks: A Framework Built on Shifting Sand
In London, European and American leaders unveiled a sweeping four-point plan:
- An unconditional ceasefire — but deferring questions about sovereignty.
- NATO-style security guarantees — but silent on permanent territorial resolutions.
- Economic recovery funds — paired with future negotiations over contested regions.
- Gradual easing of sanctions on Russia — even without full withdrawal.
On paper, it appeared comprehensive.
In reality, it rewarded aggression without repentance and built an illusion of peace on unstable ground.
Vatican Meetings and Moscow Deals: No Breakthroughs
On Saturday, April 26, 2025, during the funeral of Pope Francis, President Trump and President Zelenskyy met privately at the Vatican to discuss next steps.
Publicly, the meeting was labeled "constructive."
Privately, it placed intense pressure on Kyiv’s leadership to accept a ceasefire without addressing fundamental issues of contested territories.
Meanwhile, Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff traveled to Moscow for a secret three-hour meeting with Vladimir Putin.
Trump later declared it “a good day,” hinting at progress.
But no real breakthrough came.
No true repentance, no righteous realignment — only fragile negotiations shaped by expediency.
A Fragile Moment: Rubio Issues Ultimatum
Today, Sunday, April 27, 2025, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told NBC News that the coming week will be “critical,” as Russia and Ukraine are closer to reaching a ceasefire than at any point in over three years of war — “but they are not there yet.”
Rubio warned that the United States would withdraw from its role as mediator if the warring sides do not quickly finalize an agreement.
"Both parties must give up something they claim to want, and offer something to the other side that they would prefer not to give up," he said.
Analysts remain skeptical that any deal is imminent, noting that the two sides’ core demands still remain far apart.
Despite the flurry of diplomacy, the reality on the ground suggests that a genuine breakthrough may be more illusion than substance.
Diplomacy in Collapse: The Failure of the Witkoff Channel
Rubio’s stark warning only confirms what has already become visible: the U.S.-led diplomacy, spearheaded in part through backchannel envoys like Steve Witkoff, has failed to deliver.
Despite secret meetings in Moscow, private talks at the Vatican, and assurances that peace was near, no real breakthrough materialized.
The illusion of momentum was shattered when Washington itself threatened to abandon mediation.
The reality is undeniable: the strategy of negotiating with unrepentant regimes while tolerating mixture at the table has produced not peace, but paralysis.
Iran: The Clever Negotiators
While Western leaders pushed for rapid deals, Iran played a slower, more calculated game.
Iranian negotiators, skilled in patience and deception, maintained their strategy: extract concessions, delay inspections, expand nuclear capabilities — all while presenting a façade of openness.
Despite satellite evidence of new tunnel complexes and denial of access to IAEA inspectors, diplomatic efforts continued, largely without preconditions.
President Trump, seeking a breakthrough, optimistically predicted: "A deal is going to be made pretty soon."
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered a clear-eyed warning at the Jewish News Syndicate Summit:
"Two conditions must be met:
- All nuclear infrastructure in Iran must be dismantled.
- Iran’s ICBM development must be limited.
Anything short of that could bring the opposite result."
Netanyahu’s clarity stood in sharp contrast to the optimism in Washington.
A Dangerous Global Shift: North Korea Enters the Battle
For the first time, the North Korean regime publicly admitted that its soldiers have been fighting on the side of Russia against Ukraine — a reality that had already been unfolding quietly for four to five months.
In a statement released through the state-run KCNA news agency, the military commission of North Korea’s ruling Workers' Party confirmed that North Korean troops "contributed to the liberation of Russian territory," referring specifically to the contested Kursk region.
Russia claimed full control over Kursk after months of fierce fighting, while Ukrainian sources disputed the extent of Russian advances.
The fog of war remains thick — but what is clear is the widening of global involvement, not the reliability of official claims.
The illusion of peace is collapsing under the weight of a widening conflict.
Mixture at the Table
The deeper problem is spiritual.
President Trump remains a bold defender of Israel, the unborn, and religious freedom.
But around him now are advisors and envoys whose moral foundations are deeply compromised:
- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, an openly LGBTQ+ activist, leading critical economic negotiations.
- Envoys like Witkoff promoting fragile ceasefires and appeasement over true justice.
- Silent prophets trading truth for political proximity.
The Word of God warns: "I will gather all nations and enter into judgment with them... because they divided My land." (Joel 3:2)
No political victory can replace covenant purity.
No economic deal can compensate for spiritual mixture.
Why No Deal Was Signed
Despite promises that the deal would be finalized by April 24:
- External pressures attempted to reshape territorial outcomes.
- Strategic calculations took precedence over righteous foundations.
- Internal divisions within Trump’s administration surfaced.
- The Lord Himself withheld favor — because the foundations were compromised.
There is no peace without righteousness.
There is no security when mixture is at the table.
A Call to the Church
This delay is not a political failure.
It is divine mercy — a window to purify what surrounds the man God appointed.
President Trump remains the man whom the Lord raised for this critical hour — a defender of Israel, of life, and of the Church.
But those surrounding him now must be discerned with spiritual clarity.
The Church must rise with one voice:
- Discern who is whispering into the corridors of power.
- Pray for President Trump — that he would be strengthened, protected, and surrounded only by righteous counselors.
- Pray for the cleansing of his inner circle — that advisors promoting false peace or moral confusion would be removed, and those who fear the Lord would be positioned beside him.
- Declare covenant truth boldly — without fear or political compromise.
- Summon the intercessors back to their posts — this is about preserving God's covenant purposes, not human strategies.
This is not about saving a man’s reputation.
It is about protecting the assignment God placed on his life — and preserving the destiny of nations connected to that assignment.
Until righteousness returns to the center — in counsel, in leadership, in decisions — every so-called "deal" will collapse into delay, and every attempt at false peace will end in shaking.
The time to stand is now.
The time to pray for the king and the camp is now.
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Sources:
- Wall Street Journal (March 2025 Zelenskyy interview)
- Treasury Department Statements (April 2025)
- London Peace Framework Document
- Oval Office meeting briefings (April 17–18, 2025)
- President Trump’s public remarks on Crimea and Iran (April 2025)
- Satellite imagery and IAEA reports (April 2025)
- Reuters and Associated Press (April 2025 North Korea Deployment Confirmation)
- NBC News (April 27, 2025 Marco Rubio interview)