The put down was always part of the plan.

Realistically, Trump can’t bring about a ceasefire because the russians have no incentive for good faith negotiations. They can easily press demands that will never be accepted in Ukraine (no army, micro-management of internal laws, surrendering Ukrainian controlled parts of Kherson, Zaparozye, Donetsk). This means Trump needs to position Zelenskyy as the bad guy for internal audiences (many Americans cannot comprehend that the russians are acting in bad faith, or they simply don’t care).

Good to see major news agencies pick this up.

You can’t say this publicly. Rules of diplomacy and there are other allies that we need to work with.

Everyone in Ukraine itself believes exactly that. I am no mind reader, but I am almost certain this would include Zelenskyy as well.

Any long-term agreement with any US administration is not worth anything.

This is not even purely a Trump thing. We saw this with the Budapest Memorandum.

He’s been low key rooting for russia, which makes sense as he is a racist oligarch.

They have the economic and military capabilities. It’s a lack of courage and genuine desire.

The devil is in the details.

Agreements with the US aren’t really worth much. It’s an oligarch-run proto-fascist state; such regimes tend to be unreliable. And we have the Budapest Memorandum to go by in Ukraine.

People in Ukraine would probably support this initiative if it meant actual security from the russians. Since Trump rejects Ukrainian membership in NATO (let alone efforts to get to our legal borders), the presence of US troops sounds like a ruse. A few soldiers hanging out in Lviv (far west of the country, close to Poland) aren’t going to be much good against a russian invasion and at any rate, Americans lack the guts to fight russians (not counting a russian invasion of continental US which will never happen).

Mother fucking trump supporters.

How should I state this correctly?

I hope they meet the same fate as they wish on Ukrainians in the territories occupied by the russians.

And that’s why you didn’t want to provide tanks, opposed strikes into russia and didn’t provide Taurus missiles.

‘from the desk of the president’ graphic

That graphic is indeed very strange and a massive red flag.

This is almost certainly some sort of clickbait farm.

Thanks for the kind words! We have to collectively makes the most out of a bad situation.

I’ve lived in the US before (I am Ukrainian, living in Kyiv) and the impression I get is Americans are taking their current position for granted.

It’s not just about aid from the US, but also maintaining sanctions (and expanding compliance checks) w.r.t. russia.

It was in no way my intention to downplay how fucked this is. I am just pointing out that it’s worth evaluating and countering agitprop methods.

The negotiating tactic angle is also very realistic. But the point remains, the statement in of itself is agitprop initiative.

This honestly sounds like a PR/propaganda move. An attempt to dominate the news cycle and provide cover for on-going corruption and oligarch take-over schemes.

It’s hilarious to see reputable right-leaning media publications such as FT and The Economist trying to rationalize Donald Trump’s behaviour.

The legal pretext for Trump’s move is questionable, too. He made use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, an executive authority that enables him to respond to extraordinary economic or security threats. Yet that law has not previously been used to enact tariffs. The courts and Congress ought to block them.

Fascinating that FT seems to believe that the US judicial system is going to come to the rescue. I disagree, but what do I know? I am not American (although I have previously lived in North America for a decade).

To the extent possible, we should not agree to this requirement.

This is clearly done by Trump under the bidding of the Russians.

US authorities didn’t even bother prosecuting specific individuals from HSBC’s US branch involved in money laundering for cartels, HSBC’s US branch only had to pay a fine.

Nah, you’re just a vile genocide whitewashing scoundrel hiding under big words about “your propaganda”. We both know this.

When I see individuals like you, for some reason the fate of Donbas cowboy, Russell Bentley, comes to mind:

Bentley, whose military call sign was Texas, went missing in Donetsk in April.

According to the Investigative Committee, Vansyatsky, Agaltsev, and Iordanov tortured Bentley on April 8, and he died shortly afterward.

Vansyatsky and Agaltsev are suspected of blowing up a car with Bentley’s body in it and ordering Bazhin to get rid of what was left of his remains.