“The root causes of the conflict.”
These were startling words from a man purportedly on the path to peace.
But it is the nub of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s position of what must be solved for peace, after two weeks, or three months, depending on how you count, of mounting pressure for an immediate unconditional 30-day ceasefire. Unbothered, taking this most consequential of calls at a music school on the Sochi coast, the Kremlin head has returned to the start – to his false narrative about this war of choice being sparked by NATO expanding too fast.
And if Trump pulls USA out, the rest of the world will see this as America losing yet another war. It’ll be seen as weak despite all that hardware, troops and bravado. That’ll undermine its negotiation position against China and encourage others groups to just ignore Trump when he threatens someone, like Panama.
At this point Putin has no choice but to keep the war going. His economy is sliding, and has been, and all that’s propping it up is the switch to a wartime economy. Take that away and the whole house of cards collapses. So I don’t give two shits what he says about anything regarding all this. He’s stuck with no moves left.
Oh, and his population has been crashing for years. And now Russia is losing a solid chunk of healthy young men. Remember Putin creating a national holiday years ago? Everyone was to stay home and fuck. I’m not making this up. Haven’t heard about it for a long time. Anyone?
I find this headline, and article, ingenuous.
Trump is doing exactly what Putin wants him to - getting the US out of Ukraine.
The US never was needed at the negotiation table because there are no negotiations. Russia wants Ukraine’s land. Ukraine wants its border restored, and anything less is a loss - Russia’s only “concession” is to stop attacking, for now.
Russia wants Ukraine’s land.
Needs it.
Also needs to reassemble the USSR because Russia on its own isn’t viable economically.
Putin will do what he wants regardless of Trump or not.
If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it 5000000000000000 times: this Russian government has absolutely no intention of making peace until 100% of the former Soviet Bloc is Russia again. There will be no peace in Ukraine until it is Russian. There will be no peace in Eastern Europe until it is Russian. I have a sinking suspicion there will be no peace on the Asian continent until it is Russian.
We are in that section of the wheel where Empires are lusted after and built on the backs of the people. Good luck.
Proceeds to view the wheel from its side.
I would have never imagine that Russia would have won the Cold War, let alone like this. I guess all of those decades of honing their misinformation and kompromat skills really came in handy.
They didn’t win it alone.
The same time they were re-fighting the Cold War, the South was re-fighting the Civil War.
Both found allies in each other.
It’s funny in a morbid way, because to find “the root cause of conflict” Putin has to just take a look at a mirror, not look for them in Ukraine. Yet they’re very insistent that “root causes if conflict” should be removed as part of any peace agreement.
