- A “10 out of 10”…
- Who wants peace – and who wants war?…
- Robert Kiyosaki’s new warning reveals the shocking truth about the economy they don’t want you to know. Don’t be left behind. Click here to get his urgent action plan now!
Dear Reader,
President Trump claimed his Friday summit with Russia’s Putin “was a 10 out of 10.”
“We got along great,” the president gushed. He added that:
- It’s good when two big powers get along, especially when they’re nuclear powers. We’re No. 1 and they’re No. 2 in the world.
I would correct Mr. Trump on one fine point. Russia is in fact Earth’s largest nuclear power. The United States ranks second among the world’s nuclear nations.
Yet to proceed…
Some observers claim the American emerged from the gathering triumphant. He took the shine out of the Russian.
Others claim the cagy Russian emerged triumphant… and that it was he who stripped his counterpart of his shine.
Who truly emerged triumphant?
Too Early to Tell
The question — who won and who lost — is easier asked than answered. The two men released few details about their dialogues.
They agreed merely to negotiate further. The answer hinges upon those negotiations.
My spies inform me that Mr. Trump has told European leaders Mr. Putin offered “some concessions.”
Yet the president failed to specify those concessions.
I hazard those concessions — if Mr. Putin in fact agreed to them — are very limited concessions.
The old KGB hand is a shrewd, shrewd cookie. And he is unlikely to budge much.
‘We said Ukraine cannot field an army of more than 100,000 men. Fine, they can have 110,000.’
‘We said Ukraine cannot field more than 100 main battle tanks. In the spirit of magnanimity, they may field 108.’
These are the type of concessions likely offered.
Nyet Means Nyet
I am confident that Mr. Putin did not, and will not, soften his central demands.
Among these are:
Legal recognition of Russia’s annexation of Crimea and Ukrainian territories claimed by the Russian Federation…
Ukrainian abandonment of plans to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization…
The neutering and defanging of Ukraine’s armed forces.
Mr. Zelensky has heretofore spat upon Russian demands. I do not believe he will swallow them down now.
Yet he is presently in Washington, under chaperone by a gaggle of European leaders.
They believe their presence will prevent a second Trump roughhousing of Mr. Zelensky.
You do recall the first… do you not?
Unrealistic Demands
Mr. Zelensky’s European bodyguards claim to applaud Mr. Trump’s peace-seeking.
Yet they cling zealously to their demands — demands they know Mr. Putin will not satisfy.
Here Zero Hedge cites these demands, in summary:
- Security Guarantees: Ukraine must receive ironclad security guarantees, with no restrictions on its military or foreign partnerships.
- Sovereignty: Territorial decisions rest solely with Ukraine; borders cannot be changed by force.
- Western Support: The U.S. and Europe pledged continued military and economic backing, with sanctions pressure on Russia maintained until a just and lasting peace is achieved.
That is, Mr. Zelensky and his European handlers demand Russian capitulation.
Yet Russian capitulation is not forthcoming.
Why, then, negotiate at all?
Europe Wants the War to Continue
I hazard the Europeans are out to sabotage negotiations — to strangle the striving infant in its crib. Why?
Because they fear the United States would walk away from Europe should the Slavic Civil War end.
They want the United States to remain in Europe. And so they want the bloodletting to proceed.
It is a very cynical calculation.
Yet Mr. Trump — I hazard — entertains alternate ambitions.
I believe he would prefer to rinse the entire conflict from his famously yellow hair.
He cares not one whit for the eastern European sinkhole of Ukraine.
Nor does he heed the brummagem about “preserving freedom and democracy,” the “rules-based international order” and the remainder of the package.
Airy abstraction does not capture his interest. Business does.
And he recognizes vast business opportunity in Russia.
Yet President Trump does not wish to be known as the United States president who handed poor, innocent Ukraine to evil Russia.
Come we now to Friday’s summit…
It’s Zelensky Who Really Wants War?
The president says his Russian counterpart has yielded on several contentious points.
The Russian had previously insisted upon x.
This peace dove is presently willing to accept x-1 or x-2. Perhaps even x-3.
Thus the American can claim the Russian seeks peace — and has offered concessions to attain peace.
And if Mr. Zelensky refuses to accept them?
The tables undergo a turning, a reversal.
The president can yell that it is not the Russian who refuses peace — but the Ukrainian who refuses peace.
Here I presume to speak for him:
- You know, all this time it seemed like Putin was the one who wanted to continue this needless war. Make no mistake, Putin’s a tough guy, a real tough guy. Believe me, he’s tough. But I got him to offer major concessions to end this war. He wants to make a deal. He wants peace. But Zelensky turned the deal down. Eh, Zelensky turned it down, and it’s very sad.
- You know what? Zelensky doesn’t want the killing to end. He wants the war to keep going, even though there’s no possible way he can win it. I mean, there’s just no way. There really isn’t, OK? He just wants to remain in power — you know that he’s banned elections as long as the war continues, right? Dictator Zelensky, that’s my name for him.
- And if the war ends, the money stops pouring in. He doesn’t want the money to stop pouring in because it means the gravy train ends for him and all his corrupt friends. You know that Ukraine is the most corrupt country in Europe. You know that, right? Well, enough’s enough. I tried to make peace, but enough’s enough. It’s time to walk away.
I am with him. We have attempted everything else.
It is time to walk away.
Brian Maher
for Freedom Financial News
