Trump and Zelensky, together again
Lots of the back-and-forth can be found here. As far as I can tell, it seemed quite cordial. Remember that they have a history and know each other.
Of course, we don’t know what they said behind closed doors. But I doubt Trump would change course and abandon Ukraine because of Zelensky’s trying to ingratiate himself with the Harris camp. After all, Biden-Harris have supported him, and he has to prepare for the possibility of working with either Harris or Trump post-election. Trump almost certainly would try to end the war if he could, and he might not arm Ukraine as freely as Harris would, but I believe he would try to work in the best interests of both Ukraine and the US.
Here’s more:
This is what leadership looks like pic.twitter.com/SJMNR3Z27R
— Karli Bonne’ ?? (@KarluskaP) September 27, 2024
I might be a loner here, but I think Netanyahu should accept the UN’s proposal for a 21-day cease fire: one day on October 11, another on November 22, a third one on Christmas Day, and so on. . .
I linked yesterday to a survey of European/Ukrainian attitudes to the war.
Here are some of the conclusions:
What would a Trump led settlement look like and would it be any different than what many in Europe envisage as the eventual deal? Probably not.
The sticking point is Zelensky/Kiev refuse to accept the idea of giving up any of it’s pre-2014 border.
Can Trump pull it off? I don’t know, but I wouldn’t bet against him.
https://ecfr.eu/publication/the-meaning-of-sovereignty-ukrainian-and-european-views-of-russias-war-on-ukraine/#summary
No mention of NATO in this news, similar to no mention of Iran in the Axios report on Hezbollah.
Barak Ravid is a transcriber for the Obama-Biden crowd. Can’t expect him to go off message.
Yes, not bad at all by Trump. I’m sure when they air this on CNN and the major networks many independents will be swayed.
If the Ukraine gives an inch, Putin will take several miles. Showing weakness does not help. Forcing Ukraine to give in means down the road Ukraine will be gone.
Now, will Ukraine accept a deal, they might, but the guarantees will have to be better than those of the past.
As for Israel, telling them that they need to show restraint while Hezbollah continues to rain rockets on Israel is also a path to defeat.
When hopefully Trump gives his second inaugural address, he needs to make the same point to the Russians and to the Palestinians: “Don’t piously tell me you want peace, but then refuse to grant your rivals the same! Make up your mind, and then maybe I can convince the people of the United States to try to help you both!”
Are they really going to recover the east which is russian dominant where does this end
Same event, different observation:
Zelensky Visibly Agitated As Trump Dominates Meeting, Citing ‘Very Good Relationship’ With Putin
Banned Lizard:
Did you watch the video I posted, as well as the ones at the link?
No mention of what Putin wants. That’s a big piece of the puzzle.
His speeches and writing suggest that he wants to reassemble the USSR. To accomplish that he must bring present NATO members (The Baltic states, Poland, and others for example.) back under Russia’s control. That, of course, is a non-starter, and Putin must realize it. If he invades a NATO member that puts Russia at war with NATO.
Russia’s GDP is roughly 2$ trillion USD. A lot of their economy is based on oil and natural gas sales to other countries – most notably right now to China. Biden’s policies have increased oil and natura gas prices. (Green New Deal, NetZero, etc.) If oil and naturals gas prices decline, which Trump plans to see that they do, Russia’s ability to wage war suffers.
Alsop, the combined GDP of the
NATO alliance is approximately $46 trillion USD. Twenty-three times the size of Russia’s. Economics tells us that Russia would be overmatched in every way in a war against NATO.
What I ask myself is whether Putin is unaware of these facts. I don’t think he is. So why does he keep propagandizing about Nazis in Ukraine? The only thing that makes sense to me is that he’s using that gambit to keep people in Russia from noticing that people in Ukraine may be freer and have more choices than Russians do.
Dictators never want their subjects to see what a rotten government they have. So, they try to distract them, and war is one way to do it.
I recognize that there are deep historical differences between Russians and Ukrainians going way back. The activism of Russian speaking people in Eastern Ukraine’s provinces has been a problem since Ukraine’s independence. The coup against Yanukovych and meddling by our state department in Ukraine’s affairs have given Putin ammo for his anti-Ukraine posture.
Diplomats need to cover these bases and find out from Russia and Ukraine what they want, and given the realities of the situation, how they think their goals can be achieved. Trump has spent his life doing deals where compromises and trade-offs are necessary. He may not succeed, but it can’t hurt to give it a try.
There hasen’t been any sccountability there was precious little in afghanistan and iraq in fact everyone who rose despite every betrayal make a very good living as so called experts the 791! Officials who endorsed kamala for example,
It makes you think that smedley butler had a small point. Not for those who fight it but those that profit from it
Reagan was a big stick man ala tr but he was smart not to waste the resource
Frankly, I don’t see any prospect for peace unless there’s either one of two deals: a) Ukraine gives up some land in exchange for NATO membership, or b) Ukraine keeps all its land and Russia permanently withdraws in exchange for Ukraine’s promise not to join NATO. Ukraine may accept A, but I doubt they would go for B. I’m afraid Trump might be so eager to chalk up a win (and please Putin) that he may pressure Ukraine to accept B, and that would just be kicking the can down the road, not solving it.