Peace Talks

Thann BennettNews
Written By Thann Bennett

Senior officials from the United States and Russia met in Saudi Arabia Tuesday to open discussions about ending the war in Ukraine. Secretary of State Marco Rubio led the U.S. delegation and was joined by national security advisor Mike Waltz and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff. Russia was represented by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and foreign affairs advisor Yuri Ushakov. The meeting marked a decided shift in the U.S. diplomatic posture toward Russia. Notably absent from the meeting was any representative from Ukraine, though U.S. President Donald Trump indicated that Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky would be involved soon.

Analysis and eternal perspective: February 24, 2025 will mark the three year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This somber marker represents untold amounts of unnecessary suffering. The Ukrainian people have died and been displaced from their war-torn communities. The Russian people have suffered intensely, as well, and in many cases have been conscripted into service to fight a war of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s choosing.

There is no easy path to peace, but as we regularly remind ourselves as The Equipped community, we are to be about the task of fervently seeking peace (Ps. 34:14). Even so, we should be clear-eyed about the fact that a lasting peace must not reward the territorial lust of an invading power. President Putin has a long track record of taking territory by force and if the reward for invasion is territorial conquest, he will surely invade again.

We as Jesus followers should be praying for all the leaders involved in these and future peace talks. We should also be actively looking for ways to ease the pain of those who are suffering, achieve justice for the oppressed, and comfort those who are afflicted (Ps. 82:3-4, Is. 1:17).

The road ahead for both the Russian people and the Ukrainian people is uncertain. But each one is loved deeply by God, and you and I are called to pray and work for their peace and salvation.

The following article originally appeared in Thann’s “The Equipped” Weekly Newsletter. For more information on Thann’s weekly email, click here.

Thann Bennett

Thann Bennett is the Founder and President of Every Good Work, which exists to equip Jesus followers for a life of impact. His weekly newsletter, The Equipped, helps Jesus followers engage current events through a lens of the True and the beautiful. Thann and his wife, Brooke, are co-Founders of A Fearless Life, which works to find and fund a family for every adoption-eligible foster child in America. Thann has more than two decades of high-level public policy experience, with a particular focus on the U.S. Congress and the United Nations. He is the author of In Search of the King and My Fame His Fame. Thann and Brooke live in southern Maryland with their three children: Jude, Gambrell, and Hope, as well as a host of farm animals. The Bennetts are longtime members of the National Community Church family in Washington, D.C.

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