Well, Putin has no choice now but to back down.
Mr. Trump also promised “severe consequences” on Russia if Putin doesn’t agree to stop the war.
I am absolutely sure Putin would love to stop the war, under the appropriate terms. For example, they get to keep the territory they captured, including Crimea, and Ukraine is forbidden from joining NATO, in exchange sanctions are lifted on Russia. That gives Russia 5-10 years to consolidate their gains and rebuild their military. Then they can take a third swing (or whatever number we’re up to).
Quite obviously the problem is not getting Putin to agree to stop the war, it’s getting both Putin and Zelenskyy to agree to stop the war.
Much less silly of a goal is getting Russia to agree to and uphold a ceasefire while real negotiations take place.
“Here is your Russian Nesting Doll, Donald. Now, where is your Labubu…?”
< Trump bends over >
In that case, therr is no way to send American troops that he cannot countermand.
Forgive another stupid question, but I keep hearing the phrase “land swap”. What, pray tell, would Russia be giving up in this swap?
Probably some of the Ukrainian land it has been illegally occupying for years.
It’s like robbing someone’s house, and then invading their home again, and saying that you’ll leave and even give back a little of what you stole from them before (the crap you don’t want) but you’ll keep some of the new stuff you swiped this second time around.
Thanks. Damn, that’s galling.
I don’t see ol’ dumbass laying into Putin like he did Zelensky. Is there any way that donnie won’t be humiliated, I wonder?
5-10 years is a long time. In 5-10 years, there could be a Democrat in the White House, who decides to renege on the deal and deploy U.S. troops in Ukraine. And then what?
Wow. The loss of the Kherson and Zaporizha Oblast’s - are going to really hurt Ukraine’s shipping and what little tourism they got (mostly from Russia).
Trump really shouldn’t have said he’s “great real estate dealmaker” (again) and like anything “ocean-front” which, he explained as few know, is “prime real estate”. He would fight for some of it back but you can see there’s at least 50 miles to the Azov.
Now it’s a listening exercise, whatever-the-fuck-that-is (sounds like the deal maker will listen to Putin tell him how it’s going to be) and still Trump is going to say he tried. And still the Russian’s aren’t done if they’re not even going to sign off on that huge land-grab of pink. And yes, they’ll regroup and take some more in years to come.
The greatest thing is Trump got mineral rights and his son-in-law will over-see the contractors for the next ten years.
My own feeling is that one of two things will happen:
- Putin won’t show up, leaving Trump looking like a fool.
- Putin will show up, but at some point, Putin and Trump will go into a private conference, attended only by interpreters, and what they discuss in there won’t be made public.
Only one Russian-English interpreter needed. Trump knows how to say “Da”
In the after-conference Trump will say (I guess then the English-Russian interpreter will be needed so the folks in Russia can hear and see what a moron Trump is) he fought hard yet this is beginning of the end of the war. And we got mineral rights. Profit!
Putin will say he has liberated ethnic Russians and how sweet it is to have all the prime oceanfront property (well he won’t say that out loud though he might tell that to Trump).
Who is the hero? Trump will expect a Nobel if this “exercise” leads to a cease-fire before Winter (October). Who is the hero? Absolutely Putin.
Other than “a complete takeover of Ukraine by Russia” do you think Putin considers an appropriate term?
The Eastern portions of each of the Baltics, more of Eastern Karelia in Finland.
Putin’s about restoring the glory days of his youth. That means when Russia ruled the entire Soviet Union. He’s not going to make any peace deals, at least none that will last.
The only diplomacy Trump understands is extortion. He looks for people in a weak position, or tries to weaken them, and then attempts the shakedown.
Trump doesn’t care who wins in Ukraine. But he knows both sides are desperate for the war to end ASAP, on their terms. This gives him leverage.
It’s possible that he’s simply enjoying inserting himself into the conflict to be a kingmaker, and he’s shaking the tree to see what falls out for him.
Personally, I believe the centerpiece of Trump’s grievance-based foreign policy is bringing China to heel. He resents that they “invented COVID” which cost him the 2020 election. He resents that a nonwhite country holds so much economic and military power. He’s jealous of China’s dictatorship.
So Trump wants to bring China to heel, but he feels he needs the partnership of countries like Russia, who are undermining his tariffs by using China as a trading partner of last resort. That’s what Trump wants and of course a Trump Tower Moscow wouldn’t go amiss either.
I think this is a given, isn’t it? Everything Putin and Trump discuss is corrupt, and they’ve solidified the precedent that they have private conversations with interpreters who won’t snitch. Zelensky won’t be there, so I don’t know why Trump and Putin wouldn’t meet. They have a lot to discuss, and basically no downside.
I mean there’s a downside for America that we’re giving away a high-level meeting to a criminal dictator like Putin for no national benefit at all, but Trump has never cared about that.
“Agent Krasnov… Tell me, how much gold bullion have you brought me today?”
< Sniffs >
“Ah…! Fort Knox. My favorite brand ! “
I keep feeling that Trump wants to be Putin. Or Kim Jong-Un. Or Xi Jinping. Yes, there’s a Congress of some sort in their respective countries, but it really doesn’t matter. It’s just for show; to indicate how “democratic” the country is. That’s how Trump wants the US to be.
In the end, Trump wants to join the Big Boy Dictators’ Club. “Pretty please, Vladimir, can I get in this time, if I promise that the US won’t intervene in Ukraine?”
Jeez, back in the 1960s and 1970s, the US was worried about the free world falling under Moscow’s thrall. In the 1980s, it was the threat from USSR missiles that kept NATO and the US dead set against the USSR. I cannot predict what Trump wants now, but I’ll bet that Ukraine gets the short end of the stick, given that Trump is … well, in Putin’s thrall.
No further comment.
We’re currently losing the Second Cold War.
Losing it means that you’re fighting, and you’re not even doing that - you’re defaulting the Second Cold War.
Could Canada send troops across the border and arrest them both?