What’s happening with the Ukraine War?
There’s been a lot of news about the recent negotiations over the Ukraine War, but I haven’t yet written about the topic for the simple reason that I’m waiting for something more definitive. First there was a report about a plan that supposedly was the US proposal but then was said to be Russia’s (there was a fair amount of back and forth bickering about that). Everything else so far seems to me to be rumors and spin. But I thought I’d put up a post so you could discuss it if you want.
Over the years, I’ve learned to ignore early reports about such negotiations where Trump is concerned. Whether alarmist or reassuring, they don’t often seem to accurately represent what ends up happening in a deal. The Ukraine War is an especially intractable-seeming problem. But here are a few articles for your perusal: this, this, and this. There are plenty more where those came from.
NOTE: I may as well put this news here, too: Trump is planning on declaring the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist group, but he’s doing it carefully to circumvent the inevitable legal challenges:
… [T]he president has instructed the secretaries of State and Treasury to deliver a report within 30 days addressing whether any “Muslim Brotherhood chapters or subdivisions” meet the legal criteria for designation as terrorist groups, with a final decision to follow within 45 days.
The order specifically requires evaluation of the movement’s branches in Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt.
Fog of media war seems really cloudy lately in regard to Ukraine.
One video title claims there is no real prospect for “winning” a peace, so we will end up with a compromise no one is happy about.
Or a title claiming Ukrainian aircraft have blown Russian fighters out of the sky.
Or claims Ukraine is making gains in Crimea.
I suppose the 48 hour to 96 hour rule has to apply for any such discussion.
I think General Jack Keane is correct when he says that Putin will ever give up his desire to control Ukraine, and eventually, the Baltic states.
It certainly seems so. Putin has thrown a lot of Russians and Norks into the meat grinder without much success. But it doesn’t deter him. I think he views Trump’s concern about all the killing as weakness. He’s a stone-cold tyrant with big ambitions, and a million casualties don’t bother him.
IMO, only economic war that beggars Russia will stop Putin. When he can’t find enough rubles to heat the Kremlin, he might reconsider his goals.
If the EU would actually step up and confront Putin, that might help. But right now, Trump is talking peace, and the Eu is still buying oil and natural gas from Russia. Not much deterrence there.
I hope I’m wrong, but I expect the war to continue for some time.
Gary Kasparov just said it all straight up.
https://youtu.be/R_sDpcZmapE
If Putin isn’t acting like a Czar in his land grabs what is he doing different?
Neither Putin nor the people of Russia want peace. Putin is a warlord with many sub-warlord vassals, and the Russian people (those that have not left) are brainwashed peasants who think they have some holy duty to save the world from what the warlord told them to fear. Unfortunately, the warlord has nuclear weapons.
The only hope is to help Ukraine destroy the warlord’s economy and help the peasants understand that there is an alternative to living as serfs. But that will be very difficult as long as the Western media thinks its main mission is to destroy Trump and stop climate change!
Thanks for the Kasparov link LL. Glad I didn’t miss it.