All eyes yesterday were on Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where Ukrainian and American representatives met and agreed to a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine.

Today, President Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, assuredly to discuss the proposal. In a press conference today with Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, Putin made clear that he was thankful for the efforts of President Trump, along with the governments of China, Brazil, India, and South Africa for engaging in constructive dialogue to resolve the senseless killing in Ukraine. He also said that he was in favor of a ceasefire, as long as it led to a long-term settlement of the crisis. There must be guarantees, Putin said, on how the 30-day ceasefire will function. Will Ukraine take this as an opportunity to remobilize? How will violations to the agreement be handled? Who will be blamed if violations occur?

Clearly, President Putin understands the strategic implications of what President Trump has set into motion, but is adamant that Russia’s long-term security concerns must be addressed. The solution to the NATO-Russia war, the genocide in Southwest Asia, and other global conflicts relies on principles of statecraft, not simply good intentions. Those principles have been provided by Helga Zepp-LaRouche in her call for a new, security and development architecture and the Ten Principles which provides a basis for how that can take shape.

We are now just a little bit over a month away from the 250th anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, which kicked off the American Revolution. Just a day before, Paul Revere took his famous ride to begin mobilizing colonial militiamen against the British redcoats. The realization of a new, security and development architecture depends on reviving those American principles of statecraft uniquely defined by George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, John Quincy Adams, and others.