- U.S. and Russia to meet in Alaska…
- Expect disappointment…
- TRUMP’S CURSE: A $35 Trillion Meltdown Ahead? Robert Kiyosaki just issued his boldest warning yet — and he says the clock’s almost out of time.
Dear Reader,
Is the Ukrainian bloodletting about to cease?
Later this week Messieurs Trump and Putin will descend upon the American state of Alaska.
There they will seek a halt to the Slavic civil war between the Russian Federation and Ukraine.
I confess the announcement very nearly staggered me.
That is because heads of state — in the main — meet only when a general accord has already been negotiated.
Their understrappers subsequently dot lingering I’s. They cross lingering T’s.
The two grandees proceed to clasp hands in final agreement — and feign sincerity before flashing cameras.
Yet my agents inform me that these circumstances do not obtain in this instance.
I’m Not Budging!
Previous Ukrainian peace negotiations have proven unequivocally and thoroughly juiceless.
Both Mr. Zelensky and Mr. Putin have barricaded themselves behind their respective castle walls.
Neither has yielded one begrudging inch to the other.
Why then has the recalcitrant Russian consented to board an airplane for Alaska… and listen to President Trump’s peace proposal?
Has the American president dangled a uniquely tasty carrot before his Russian opposite?
Might the president pledge to recognize Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea?
Might the president pledge that the United States will deny Ukraine entrance to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization?
Mr. Putin has insinuated he will not whistle home the war hounds until that demand is met.
Is Russia Really Ready to “Swap” Territories?
Meantime, President Trump has referred to the possibility of “swapping territories to the betterment of both.”
The Wall Street Journal:
- Russia now occupies most of Donetsk and Luhansk, but Ukrainian forces still control sizable chunks of territory, including key cities that are now strongholds of its defense.
- In a series of calls [last] week, Europeans sought to get clarity on a key aspect of the proposal — what would happen in the southern regions of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, where Russian troops also control some territory…
- A U.S. official said Putin called for pausing the war at current lines in both regions. Russia would then negotiate land swaps with Ukraine, aiming for full Moscow control of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson. It couldn’t be determined which territory Ukraine would receive in return…
Source: The British Broadcasting Corporation
The U.S. Isn’t the Only Country With a Constitution
Yet is Mr. Putin willing — or even authorized — to cede territory in the southern Ukrainian regions of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson?
In 2022 Russia annexed these regions, formally. Thus they fell under the jurisdiction of the Constitution of the Russian Federation — enshrined by Russian law.
Many believe Mr. Putin is a lawless dictator. Yet he is also an attorney.
He realizes the Russian constitution does not cede him legal authority to sign away Russian land.
And despite his dictatorial reputation, my agents inform me he takes the Russian constitution very heavily.
It is therefore unlikely that the legalistic Russian president would mock it.
Could the United States representatives have simply misread Mr. Putin’s negotiating posture?
A Misunderstanding?
Reports the German newspaper BILD:
- Even before the peace summit on August 15, the Kremlin did not deviate from its maximum demand of wanting to completely control the five Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhya, Kherson, and Crimea before the guns fall silent…
- Worse still, Trump’s special envoy [Steve] Witkoff is said to have completely misunderstood some of the Russians’ statements and misinterpreted them as concessions on Putin’s part. He misunderstood Russia’s demand for a “peaceful withdrawal” of Ukrainian forces from Kherson and Zaporizhzhya as an offer of a “peaceful withdrawal” of Russian forces from these regions.
I hazard BILD has hooked onto something. I do not believe the Russian president will blink his eyes or buckle his knees.
He would lose an unacceptable amount of “face” if he did. And the fellow places great store by face.
He is not keen to lose it.
Why Would Putin Back Down at This Point?
What is more, my agents inform me that his forces are advancing steadily — if ploddingly — in Ukraine.
They nonetheless enjoy gaping superiorities in both men and materiel.
I am further informed that reports of crippling Russian battle casualties are vastly and wildly exaggerated.
And that it is Ukraine whose casualty rolls register the inconceivable losses.
Why then would Mr. Putin accept peace terms on any other than his own?
The alleged peace proposal harbors an additional boo-boo.
Two Immovable Objects
Ukraine’s Zelensky has argued he will not cede one centimeter of Ukrainian territory to Russia.
Mr. Zelensky too cites constitutional authority. The Ukrainian strongman says Ukraine’s constitution forbids the surrender of territory.
How then can a peace proposal succeed if a central combatant refuses its terms on constitutional grounds?
Nor will the Europeans get in back of any peace accord that excludes Ukraine.
Thus any accord between the United States and Russia — absent Ukraine’s consent — would enjoy the value of Confederate money.
That is, no value whatsoever.
Let us posit, for the moment, that the United States and Russia come to terms in Alaska.
Let us further posit that Mr. Zelensky refuses the outstretched hand of peace.
Trump Wins
I hazard the American president would emerge the unofficial victor.
Why? Because he would emerge the snubbed peacemaker.
He is out for peace, he would argue. Russia is. Ukraine is not.
And do not forget… peace wins votes.
Thus the president would make a grand villain of Mr. Zelensky:
- We’ve tried so hard to stop the needless killing in Ukraine. It’s just so destructive, so destructive. I’ve previously said that Vladimir Putin didn’t want to end the war. But after my latest negotiations with him, I see he wants peace. I really think he does.
- You know who doesn’t want peace? I’ll tell you. The answer is Zelensky. He just wants the two sides to keep fighting for as long as they can. It keeps the money flowing into Zelensky and his chums, which are among the most corrupt people in Europe…
All eyes are on Friday. All eyes are on Alaska.
Expect disappointment.
Brian Maher
for Freedom Financial News
