Tag: Peace Talks

Ukraine Back In The News

AS this year draws to a conclusion and all the work being done with the conflict….is there any hope of some sort of deal before Christmas….a Christmas miracle if you will.

Some say we are closing in on a deal….but how many times have we heard that particular piece of manure?

Ukrainian officials made significant changes to a US-drafted peace deal during negotiations with their US counterparts in Geneva on Sunday, The Guardian has reported.

The original 28-point plan leaked to the media was substantially altered during the talks, led by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the US side and Andriy Yermak, a senior aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, on the Ukrainian side, and was reduced to 19 points.

“As of now, after Geneva, there are fewer points, no longer 28, and many correct elements have been incorporated into this framework,” Zelensky said on Monday.

It’s unclear exactly what changes were made to the plan, but the main objections from Ukrainian officials and their European backers were the provisions requiring Ukraine to cede territory it controls in the Donbas to Russia and the guarantees that Ukraine won’t ever join NATO.

According to a report from the Financial Times, the US and Ukrainian officials left the most sensitive details, including territorial lines and Ukraine’s relationship with NATO, to be decided by Zelensky and President Trump, who are expected to meet soon.

(antiwar.com)

Ukraine will head to DC to meet with what-his-name soon…..according to reports….

It looks like a deal to end the Russia-Ukraine war is genuinely close—at least on Ukraine’s end. CBS News and the BBC report that Ukraine has agreed in principle to a US-brokered peace deal after lengthy talks. The development comes after the US and Ukraine “significantly changed” the original 28-point plan, which was widely seen as favorable to Russia, per the Washington Post. The question now is whether Moscow will accept the new terms. No details were released on the latest version of the peace plan, particularly on the thorniest issue of all: territorial concessions.

However, “many of the controversial provisions were either softened or at least reshaped,” Oleksandr Bevz, part of the Ukrainian team, tells the Post. A US official tells CBS that “there are some minor details to be sorted out, but they have agreed to a peace deal,” referring to Ukraine. Meanwhile, US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is reportedly in Abu Dhabi to meet with Russian officials about the deal.

Of course his majesty has to weigh in…..

President Trump announced Tuesday that his administration has made significant progress toward a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine, with only “a few remaining points of disagreement” to be resolved. Trump said he has dispatched special envoy Steve Witkoff to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, while Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll will meet separately with Ukrainian officials, CNN reports. Trump indicated he may meet with both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, but only when a deal is nearly finalized.

  • “I will be briefed on all progress made, along with Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles,” Trump said in a Truth Social post. “I look forward to hopefully meeting with President Zelenskyy and President Putin soon, but ONLY when the deal to end this War is FINAL or, in its final stages.”

Trump highlighted the progress on a US-drafted 28-point peace plan, which he said has been “fine-tuned, with additional input from both sides.” “I think we’re getting very close to a deal. We’ll find out,” Trump said during the White House turkey pardon on Tuesday, per the AP. “I thought that would have been an easier one, but I think we’re making progress,” he said. One key sticking point appears to be Ukraine’s potential NATO membership, a demand the initial proposal asked Ukraine to abandon.

Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told CNN that Ukraine may need to signal it won’t seek NATO membership for now but warned that peace should not come “through surrender.” He said Ukraine will join the European Union instead, “which probably makes more sense at this point.” Ukrainian officials have called the NATO demand unacceptable, though Panetta believes a workable compromise is possible.

  • Zelensky, for his part, said his country’s negotiating team is making progress but that Russia’s war against Ukraine continues. “Every day, Russia kills our people on the front lines and attacks our cities and energy infrastructure,” he said in a post on X after at least seven people were killed in strikes on Kyiv.
  • European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and French President Emmanuel Macron echoed concerns about Russia’s intentions, with Macron accusing Moscow of “pretending it wanted peace” while continuing attacks.
  • Russia, meanwhile, signaled that it might resist changes to the plan, with foreign minister Sergey Lavrov saying it would be a “fundamentally different situation” if the changes “erased” the agreements made during Trump’s summit with Putin in Alaska, New York Times reports.

I hope that they are truly finding a path to end this conflict….but we have heard too many times that a deal was close…..so please forgive me if I await a signed deal before I give anyone an ‘ata boy’….

I Read, I Write, You KNow

“lego ergo scribo”

This Ukraine Thing…..

Russia/Ukraine conflict has been going on for years and just last year we were promised if Donald the Orange was elected he would end it on Day One….

Now we had a deal brewing to end it and Donny was all a tither about his plan….then over the weekend things went from thumbs up to in the crapper….or so the story goes.

American and Ukrainian officials met in Geneva on Sunday to discuss a new draft of the US proposal to end the war on Ukraine, while President Trump criticized Ukraine and his administration pushed back against charges that it’s really Russia’s plan. At the talks, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters that progress had been made, the Washington Post reports. “We’ve had probably the most productive and meaningful meeting so far in this entire process,” he said, adding that changes have been made to the plan. Despite the president’s earlier complaint, Rubio said Trump is now pleased with the way the talks are going, per the BBC. Developments include:

  • Trump’s post: As the talks began, Trump reissued a criticism of Ukraine’s leaders, per the New York Times, posting in all caps that “Ukraine’s ‘leadership’ has expressed zero gratitude for our efforts.” He also criticized Joe Biden and European nations, but not Russian President Vladimir Putin. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky answered a few hours later, posting, “We are grateful for everything that America and President Trump are doing for security, and we keep working as constructively as possible.”
  • Russia’s role: Ukraine was not involved in drafting the plan presented by the US, but there are accusations that Russia was. A group of senators who were in Canada for a security conference on Saturday said Rubio had told them on the phone that the drafting of the plan was not led by the US, per the AP. “It is essentially the wish list of the Russians,” Independent Sen. Angus King said. Republican Sen. Mike Rounds, who also was on the call, said: “It is not our recommendation. It is not our peace plan.”
  • Administration answers: “The peace proposal was authored by the US. It is offered as a strong framework for ongoing negotiations,” Rubio posted later on X. A State Department spokesman called the senators’ account “blatantly false,” and White House officials said the plan “was authored by the United States, with input from both the Russians and Ukrainians.”
  • Democratic opposition: Sen. Mark Warner ripped the Trump plan on ABC News’ This Week, saying that it looks like a list of “Russian talking points,” per the Post. “It would make Neville Chamberlain’s giving in to Hitler—the outset of World War II—look strong in comparison,” he added, per the Hill. The US plan reportedly would require Ukraine to reduce its military, surrender territory, and bar NATO troops from the country.
  • Zelensky’s appeal: The president wrote a lengthy social media post that said Russia started the war and refuses to stop it, warning other nations could face its aggression next. In addition to thanking Trump and the American people, Zelensky expressed gratitude to the European and G20 nations that have provided assistance, per the BBC. He then added: “It is important not to forget the main goal—to stop Russia’s war and prevent it from ever igniting again. And to achieve that, peace must be dignified.”

So Day One slipping away yet again…..

But not to worry the meetings will go on….and on…..and on….

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

 

What’s The Secret?

The news has broken that the US and Russia are in secret meeting hammering out a ceasefire deal for Ukraine….

The Trump administration has been secretly collaborating with Russia on a new peace plan to end the war in Ukraine, according to officials from both countries who spoke to Axios. The proposed plan, which consists of 28 points, is said to be inspired by the Gaza peace deal brokered by President Trump. It covers four main areas: peace in Ukraine, security guarantees, broader European security, and the future of US relations with both Russia and Ukraine, according to Axios’ sources. They say Ukraine has not been involved in the negotiations.

The details on how the plan addresses issues such as who controls what territory in eastern Ukraine remain unclear, especially as Russian forces continue to make slow gains in the region. The drafting process is being led by Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, who has spent considerable time in discussions with Russian counterpart Kirill Dmitriev. Dmitriev, who oversees Russia’s sovereign wealth fund and is heavily involved in Ukraine diplomacy, told Axios he spent three days meeting with Witkoff and other Trump team members in Miami in late October.

We expressed optimism about the plan, saying “the Russian position is really being heard” in this round of negotiations. Dmitriev said the US effort is unrelated to a separate, UK-led push for a Gaza-style plan, which Dmitriev dismisses as disregarding Russia’s positions. Witkoff was expected to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Turkey, but that meeting has been postponed. However, Witkoff did discuss the plan with Zelensky’s national security adviser, Rustem Umerov, in Miami. A Ukrainian official acknowledged awareness of US efforts, saying, “We know the Americans are working on something.”

The White House has begun briefing European officials about the plan and believes there is a realistic chance of garnering support from both Ukraine and its European allies, Axios reports. Sources tell Reuters that the US is pressuring Zelensky to accept the main points of the plan, including giving up territory and reducing the size of the country’s military.

Where is Ukraine in all these meetings?

Say there is a deal will Ukraine honor it?

This is a lame attempt to make Uncle Don look like a statesman…..that ship sailed long ago.

Why is Europe not more involved?

At what point is this a fart in the wind?

Thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You KNow

“lego ergo scribo”

US Will Decide On Ukraine Peace

More frightening news out of Little Marco’s State Department…..concerning any peace deal between Ukraine and Russia….

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that President Donald Trump will decide if ending the war in Ukraine is possible sometime in the coming days.

“We’re not going to continue with this endeavor for weeks and months on end. So we need to determine very quickly now, and I’m talking about a matter of days, whether or not this is doable in the next few weeks,” Rubio told reporters in Paris.

President Trump made ending the war in Ukraine one of his top campaign promises. Since taking office in January, his staff has engaged in several rounds of high-level talks with Russian and Ukrainian officials.

“The president feels very strongly about that. He has dedicated a lot of time and energy to this… this is important, but there are a lot of other really important things going on that deserve just as much, if not more attention,” Rubio said.

…

Trump and Rubio have stated that Russia is not engaging quickly enough in the diplomatic process. The president and secretary of state have both threatened new sanctions on Russia in recent weeks if the Kremlin does not agree to a deal to end the conflict very soon.

Moscow appears to be unwilling to accelerate the pace of talks on ending the war in Ukraine. Earlier this week, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the issue was “so complex that it’s unrealistic to expect immediate results.”

Following the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, US-Russian relations sank to a historic low point, with almost no contact between Washington and Russia during that period. Early rounds of talks between US and Russian officials focused on returning to a normal diplomatic relationship.

While Trump and Rubio have placed blame on Moscow for the lack of progress towards a peace deal, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has publicly declared that Kiev would not surrender any territory to bring the war to an end.

Additionally, Kiev is moving closer to signing a deal to allow Washington to recapture some of the money spent on Ukraine aid by seizing profits from sales of oil, gas and rare earth minerals. A top Ukrainian official said a memorandum of intent was signed on Thursday, and the deal is expected to be inked next week.

It’s unclear if the arrangement includes security guarantees for Ukraine, but Rubio told reporters the issue came up during his talks in Paris.

(antiwar.com)

The US will decide?  The war is between Ukraine and Russia the US has NO right to determine what or when the war will end….that is for the two combatants to decide all the US should be doing is offering any assistance they may need to come to a peaceful conclusion of their hostilities.

If Zelenskyy (why two ‘yy’ s?) had any balls he would tell the US to sit and stay out of the process.

But he owes too much to the West for him to assert himself like that.

So there you have it….the US decides who and when they will fight.

Kinda pathetic in my book.

Then there is a report that Putin may be willing to halt the invasion….

The Financial Times reported on Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin was willing to halt his invasion of Ukraine across the current frontlines to reach a peace deal with President Trump.

If true, the position would mark a significant concession from Russia, which has maintained that any peace deal must include the recognition of the four Ukrainian Oblasts it has annexed as part of Russia, including territory that’s not under Russian control.

The Financial Times report said that Putin made the offer during recent talks with President Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, in St. Petersburg earlier this month. After the meeting, Witkoff said he believed a peace deal was possible.

The Washington Post reported on Tuesday that the US has made a proposal to Ukraine and its European allies on a potential ceasefire deal that would involve freezing the battle lines and the US recognizing Crimea as part of Russia. The peninsula has been under Russian control since 2014.

European and Ukrainian officials are expected to meet and discuss the US proposal on Wednesday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday that Ukraine would never recognize Crimea as Russian, signaling he may not support the US proposal.

Zelensky also said that he would be willing to negotiate directly with Russia if a ceasefire was reached. His comments came after Putin suggested he was ready for direct talks with the Ukrainians.

What back door promises are being made to Putin for this change of heart?

Is this something or is it just a delaying tactic?

What kind of deal did Putin and Trump come to?

Is the NATO thing the fire that made Putin perk up?

The Kremlin said on Monday that Moscow welcomed statements from US officials that ruled out Ukrainian entry into NATO.

“We have heard statements made at various levels in Washington that Ukraine’s NATO membership is ruled out. This is something that brings us satisfaction and aligns with our stance,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, according to TASS.

Several high-level Trump administration officials, including President Trump himself, have said that any peace deal to end the war in Ukraine would not involve Ukrainian membership in NATO.

Russia sought a guarantee from the US that Ukraine wouldn’t join NATO before it launched its invasion in February 2022, but the Biden administration refused to engage with Moscow on the issue. During short-lived peace talks in March and April of 2022, which were discouraged by the US, Russia’s main demand was for Ukrainian neutrality.

(antiwar.com)

This may all be a fart in a hurricane….so take it with a grain of salt…..for now.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Peace In Our Time

I am sure that most knowledgeable people recognizes those words (if not look it up)…..but this time it is used in conjunction with the conflict in Ukraine.

The world has seen enough carnage and stupidity and they have come together to try and work out some sort of peace for Ukraine…..

Officials from more than 100 countries gathered in Switzerland over the weekend to discuss ways to end the conflict in Ukraine, devising a “peace formula” even as Western leaders continue to flood the battlefield with weapons.

The conference kicked off on Saturday near the city of Lucerne, where delegations from the US, Germany, France, and scores of other states met to consider how to achieve a “just and lasting peace for Ukraine.” However, a joint communique issued by the participants on Sunday offered no new proposals, instead repeating generic statements about Ukraine’s “territorial integrity” and the “principles of sovereignty.”

In place of a workable peace plan, the joint statement outlined three basic points regarding the safety of nuclear facilities in Ukraine, the importance of food security and the global supply chain, and the need for prisoner of war exchanges between Kiev and Moscow. It went on to reiterate past United Nations resolutions calling for an end to the war.

Ahead of her speech at the meeting on Saturday, US Vice President Kamala Harris announced an additional $1.5 billion in aid for Kiev. This includes funds to rebuild infrastructure, $379 million in humanitarian assistance, and another $300 million to support “civilian security.” The new package follows the over $50 billion in US military aid already supplied throughout the war, including long-range missiles, main battle tanks, and other heavy weapons.  (I have a problem with the cash for interior stuff….a good place for corruption to take control….and what the Hell is “civilian security”?)

Ukraine’s War Backers Hold ‘Peace’ Conference

Good idea but for one small thing….Russia was not included and for this to work they need to be heard.

Putin put out his own version of a ‘peace’ deal….

Russian President Vladimir Putin laid out four conditions for Ukraine that he said would lead to an immediate ceasefire and, ultimately, an end to the conflict. According to the Kremlin, Kiev’s neutral, non-aligned, non-nuclear status and the lifting of all Western sanctions are necessary conditions for ending the conflict.

In a speech to the Russian Foreign Ministry on Friday, Putin said that if Ukraine withdraws its forces from the four regions annexed by Moscow – Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson – then he would order a halt to operations and begin negotiations to end the war.

Putin Makes Public Peace Offer to Ukraine

This is a no go for the territories involved are one of the biggest disputes of this as well as Ukraine and NATO….NO I am not supporting Russia’s claim to anything….just that it could be a starting point for massive negotiations.

This is not the first time that ‘peace’ has been attempted….there was an offer in 2022….

In April 2022, Ukraine and Russia were on the brink of signing a deal to end the war just weeks after it began. The New York Times published documents showing President Vladimir Putin was willing to make concessions to get an agreement signed.

According to the documents, Putin initially sought to have Kiev recognize Moscow’s 2014 annexation of Crimea. However, a draft agreement from April 15, 2022, suggests both parties were prepared to set aside the issue to end the conflict. “Paragraph 1 of Article 2 and Articles 4, 5, and 11 of this Treaty shall not apply to Crimea and Sevastopol,” the document says.

In December, Ukrainian negotiator Oleksandr Chalyi explained that an agreement was reached in the spring of 2022, stating the two sides “managed to find a very real compromise. We were very close in the middle of April, in the end of April, to finalize our war with some peaceful settlement.”

Documents: Putin Was Willing To Compromise To End War in 2022

Now if they were close then what changed?

Why is no one actually aggressively pursuing a peaceful road?

I have an idea why….but it is too gruesome to mention and I hope I am wrong.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

A Peace Formula For Ukraine

Davos, Switzerland is the location for the 4th round of peace formula talks between Ukraine and Russia.

Ukraine and Switzerland will host around 120 national security advisors on Sunday in the Swiss resort town of Davos, Switzerland’s foreign affairs department said, the latest in a series of meetings to rally support for Ukraine’s peace plan.

The meeting, taking place in the run up to the World Economic Forum which begins the following day, is the fourth of its kind and the biggest yet, following previous gatherings in Copenhagen, Jeddah and most recently in Malta in October.

Officials had hoped the meeting in Malta would lead to the setting of a date for a global peace summit to build a coalition of support for Ukraine’s 10-point peace plan, drafted by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in December 2022.

However, co-chairs limited themselves at the time to a joint statement referring to the participants’ commitment to just and lasting peace.

A top Kyiv official told Reuters in November that a summit to begin implementing the plan “might” take place in February 2024, with Ukraine fearing the war in Gaza is making it harder to win over diplomatic support for its blueprint for peace.

(usnews.com)

Just what is Zelenskyy’s plan?

Glad you asked I happen to have it right here…..

The plan calls for:

  • Radiation and nuclear safety, focusing on restoring security around Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, Zaporizhzhia in Ukraine, which is now Russian-occupied.
  • Food security, including protecting and ensuring Ukraine’s grain exports to the world’s poorest nations.
  • Energy security, with a focus on price restrictions on Russian energy resources, as well as aiding Ukraine with restoring its power infrastructure, half of which has been damaged by Russian attacks.
  • Release of all prisoners and deportees, including war prisoners and children deported to Russia.
  • Restoring Ukraine’s territorial integrity and Russia reaffirming it according to the UN Charter, which Zelenskyy said is “not up to negotiations”.
  • Withdrawal of Russian troops and the cessation of hostilities, the restoration of Ukraine’s state borders with Russia.
  • Justice, including the establishment of a special tribunal to prosecute Russian war crimes.
  • The prevention of ecocide, and the protection of the environment, with a focus on demining and restoring water treatment facilities.
  • Prevention of an escalation of conflict and building security architecture in the Euro-Atlantic space, including guarantees for Ukraine.
  • Confirmation of the war’s end, including a document signed by the involved parties.

A grand plan and a good place to start….but there will be sticking points……but if Russia is not part of this process then what damn good is it?

The problem as I see it….Western media seems to be trying to soften the blow with a Russian victory in this conflict.

The Wall Street Journal joined the flood of American mainstream media outlets, including The New York Times, Politicoand several others, in preparing the American public for a Russian victory.

The Wall Street Journal laid the psychological groundwork preparing the American public for defeat in Ukraine, despite the loss of Ukrainian lives and American dollars, with the line “Even if aid for Ukraine is renewed, it is essential to consider a realistic ending for the war.” It goes on to say that, though “Ukraine’s insistence on regaining all the territory Russia has seized since 2014 is understandable…events over the past year have made it clear that this goal can’t be achieved anytime soon.” The article concludes with the prescription that “Western leaders should explore” negotiations to end the fighting, calling it “a bitter pill” but “the only realistic path to a lasting peace in Europe.”

https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/wall-street-journal-sets-standard-for-irresponsible-journalism-in-ukraine/

With this happening will the complexion of any peace talks be tainted?

Zelensky’s plan requires a full Russian withdrawal from the territory it has captured since February 2022, Russia giving up Crimea, war crimes tribunals, and Russia paying reparations to Ukraine. Kyiv has no shot at implementing any aspect of the Peace Formula since its counteroffensive failed, and Ukrainian forces are now focused on defense and facing manpower shortages.

Plus where is America’s top diplomat, Blinken?

Whatcha think?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Could Negotiations Be In The Wind?

The news of the mash-up between Wagner Group and Putin has brought about an interesting turn that could help the Ukraine-Russia thing.

I seriously doubt it.

The war in Ukraine has dragged on for over a year and there needs to be a stopping point….could this be a time for negotiations?

The war between Russia and Ukraine has become more complex in the wake of the past weekend, which found Yevgeny Prigozhin marching his troops toward Moscow, and President Vladimir Putin finding a safe haven for Prigozhin in Belarus. The conventional wisdom among politicians and pundits is that this is an opportunity for Ukraine and its Western allies to increase the pressure on Russia. Former U.S. ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul, for example, favors “better and more weapons and better and more sanctions as fast as possible,” believing that Putin is more likely to “negotiate an end to this war if he is losing on the battlefield.” The problem, however, is that the war remains unwinnable; neither side has the ability to achieve a decisive victory.

In view of President Putin’s failure to escalate against Prigozhin and his willingness to negotiate a solution that made him look weak at home, there is possibly a place for diplomacy to resolve the war in Ukraine as well. Direct talks between Russia and Ukraine in the near term seem unlikely, but the possibility of a U.S. president making a difference should not be ignored. The fact that Putin refused to prosecute Prigozhin, and is willing to allow his mercenary forces to join the Russian army points to the Russian leader’s hopes to avoid additional internal conflict. It’s hard to know what Putin is thinking, but his willingness to compromise with Prigozhin as well as the fateful domestic challenge that he faces could make the Russian leader willing to entertain the possibility of negotiation. His dreams of restoring the Russian empire have been shattered.

If so, only the United States can address the national security problems of both Ukraine and Russia. Ukraine will want protection from future Russian acts of aggression. Russia will want to lessen the threat of Western encirclement on its vulnerable borders. No matter how this war ends, Russia will find itself in an existential security situation on its entire western frontier that only the United States can ameliorate. In addition, only the United States can lead the international effort to rebuild Ukraine. The United States will be indispensable to this process.

Has the Putin-Prigozhin Confrontation Opened a Door for Negotiation?

I do not think that any movement toward peace will come from this mutiny thing.

Why?

Simple the US does not want it right now.

Why say that?

I am so glad you asked.

The hypocrisy gets starker by the day. The same western media that strains to warn of the dangers of disinformation – at least when it comes to rivals on social media – barely bothers to conceal its own role in purveying disinformation in the Ukraine war.

In fact, the propaganda peddled by the media grows more audacious by the day – as two stories last week from the frontlines illustrate only too clearly.

Dominating headlines has been the environmental catastrophe created by the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam under Russian control. Flood waters from the Dnipro river have ruined vast swathes of land downriver fromthe dam and forced many tens of thousands to flee their homes.

Rightly, the wrecking of the dam is being called an act of “ecological terrorism” – the second major one associated with the war, following last September’s blowing up of the Nord Stream pipelines supplying Russian gas to Europe.

Another Act of Terror. How the Media Do PR for Biden and Zelensky

“Ecological Terrorism”?

Really?  What would the use of depleted uranium be?

Thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

“No Need For Talks”

AS the conflict in Ukraine the need for talks is ever present and yet the US does not want them to happen…why is that?

Most conflicts as the war rages on the talks become more and more important…..how many Ukrainians must suffer and die before some sort of talks begin?

More news on talks came out yesterday….

According to a report from POLITICO, the Biden administration has been reassuring Ukraine that peace talks with Russia don’t need to happen anytime soon after Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said this winter will provide an opportunity for diplomacy.

Milley said last week that Russia and Ukraine might recognize that victory “is maybe not achievable through military means, and therefore you need to turn to other means.” He expects fighting will slow down this winter, and the moment for peace talks could be “seized.”

Citing unnamed US and Ukrainian officials, the POLITICO report said that US officials have conveyed to Ukraine that Washington was not trying to undercut Kyiv’s stated war goals of driving Russia out of all the territory it has captured. The US also said that just because there may be a pause in fighting this winter, that doesn’t mean peace talks need to happen.

While Milley is calling for peace talks, other high-level US officials are against the idea, including National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The POLITICO report said that Sullivan’s Nationa Security Council is most resistant to the idea of talks, although there are a few aides on the NSC pushing for diplomacy.

The report said that there is a “broad sense” within the Pentagon that the winter will provide a chance to reach a political settlement and that senior US military officials don’t believe Ukraine can achieve its war aims, which include expelling Russia from Crimea. But so far, these views have not had an impact on President Biden or his most senior staff.

While many elements of the Biden administration are resisting the idea of pushing for talks between Ukraine and Russia, there has been an increase in dialogue between Washington and Moscow. On Monday, CIA Director William Burns met with his Russian counterpart, although the White House stressed the meeting was focused on warnings over the use of nuclear weapons, not a negotiation over Ukraine.

(antiwar.com)

I disagree I still think that talks should be the priority….not more and more lethal weapons.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Russia Wants Talks

A great headline but as usual is not anchored in reality.

An adviser to Ukraine has said some stuff about negotiations…

Dan Rice, an American serving as an advisor to the commander of Ukraine’s armed forces, told CNN’s Outfront on Tuesday that he believes Russia is looking to negotiate to return to positions it controlled before the February 24 invasion.

Rice made the comments when discussing Russia’s strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure and outlining what weapons he thinks Ukraine needs. “They are attacking the cities, trying to attack the grid, making it a very difficult winter,” he said. “They are trying to, in my opinion, trying to get to the negotiating table, to try to go back to the 2014 lines.”

A return to the “2014 lines” would mean Russia keeps Crimea, and Kyiv would have to cede the Donbas region, or at least a portion of it, to the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR). But Rice said those terms wouldn’t be acceptable for Ukraine.

“Ukraine won’t have it. Ukraine wants all of their land back to the ’91 lines. They really need air defense systems and aircraft,” Rice said.

(antiwar.com)

Rice’s comments come as the prospects for a diplomatic solution to end the war seem slim. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently signed a decree ruling out talks with Russia as long as Vladimir Putin is president, and US officials have reportedly ruled out pushing Ukraine to negotiate even though they don’t think Kyiv can win the war “outright.”

There will be NO negotiations….and the nuclear game of chicken will continue….

The U.S. and NATO have been preparing to fight Russia on the plains of Ukraine for some 70 years (the fall of the Soviet Union, terrorism, Iraq, etc., notwithstanding). In such a war, the 19th Artillery duels that characterize the current conflict would be replaced by endless U.S. precision air strikes. Imagine American A-10s, or even B-52s practically at the edge of space, tearing into those long Russian columns. About the last thing Putin wants is to fight NATO directly over chunks of the Ukraine, instead of by (weaker) proxy.

All the chest thumping about nukes….Putin has roughly four options.

One would be a demonstration nuke, say a sea-level low-yield blast outside Odessa designed to rattle the windows, maybe shut off the lights, but otherwise do little harm. As the U.S. concluded late in the Second World War, demonstrations effectively prove you lack resolve, not that you are committed to nuclear war. Plus, the mere use of the nuke likely pulls the U.S. into the conflict with nothing gained by Russia.

Second would be a nuclear attack against a large concentration of Ukrainian troops. Apart from irradiating the territory he hopes to conquer, Putin could achieve something similar, close enough for government work, with an extreme massing of artillery and airpower. A big boom to clear a path, but without the U.S. coming in as an aftereffect. Why go nuclear when the same outcome is available via conventional weapons?

Third would be a leadership-decapitation strike based on good intelligence that would eliminate President Zelensky. This one presumes a) near-perfect intel (see the Americans’ failure trying the same gag at the start of two Gulf Wars, shock and awe, which missed Saddam despite all of the resources of the United States), b) that the same could not be accomplished with massed artillery, and most importantly c) that Zelensky is really the one-man Washington-Churchill-Patton the Western media portrays him as—in other words, that his loss would have the impact the Western media believes it would. If a Zelensky deputy rises from the ashes and demands revenge, the gambit fails, maybe even backfires.

Last would be the destruction of a Ukrainian city, causing mass civilian casualties and creating nuclear terror, forcing a swift surrender as did the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and the other Japanese cities, which would have fallen if they had not surrendered fast enough. Despite the firebombing of Tokyo (never mind Coventry and Dresden) the Second World War proved to America that nothing raises terror levels like the use of nuclear weapons. Skin melted in Coventry the same as in Hiroshima, but it is Hiroshima we remember. In Ukraine this would be intended less as a Strangelovian exchange than as a tactical escalation.

I realize that most Americans hate Putin….most think he is deranged….I do not think Putin is so stupid as to unleash the nuke option….big talk is just that….

I will apologize when he makes good on the threats and uses a nuke.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

P.S.  Has anyone noticed how no one really gives a sh*t about Ukraine anymore?

“Time To Negotiate”

After months of chest thumping on the war in Ukraine the press has seen the conflict winding down and now they change their tune to call for negotiations to begin…..

NY Times has issued their thoughts…..

A week ago we noted that a May 11 New York Times news article, documented that all was not going well for the US in Ukraine and that a companion opinion piece hinted that a shift in direction might be in order.

Now on May 19, “THE EDITORIAL BOARD,” the full Magisterium of the Times, has moved from hints to a clarion call for a change in direction in an editorial uninformatively titled, “The War Is Getting Complicated, and America Isn’t Ready.” From atop the Opinion page the Editorial board has declared that “total victory” over Russia is not possible and that Ukraine will have to negotiate a peace in a way that reflects a “realistic assessment” and the “limits” of US commitment. The Times serves as one the main shapers of public opinion for the Elite and so its pronouncements are not to be overlooked lightly.

Ukrainians will have to adjust to US “limits” and make sacrifices for newfound US realism

The Times May editorial dictum contain the following key passages:

“In March, this board argued that the message from the United States and its allies to Ukrainians and Russians alike must be: No matter how long it takes, Ukraine will be free. …”

“That goal cannot shift, but in the end, it is still not in America’s best interest to plunge into an all-out war with Russia, even if a negotiated peace may require Ukraine to make some hard decisions (emphasis, jw).”

To ensure that there is no ambiguity, the editorial declares that:

“A decisive military victory for Ukraine over Russia, in which Ukraine regains all the territory Russia has seized since 2014, is not a realistic goal. … Russia remains too strong…”

To make cerain that President Biden and the Ukrainians understand what they should do, the EDITORIAL BOARD goes on to say:

New York Times Repudiates Drive for ‘Decisive Military Victory’ in Ukraine, Calls for Peace Negotiations

Writers like myself have been calling for this for months now and we were ignored….maybe now with ahe early war cheer leaders will fall into line. major news source tiring of the reports on the war will find more receptive audience.

But I ask ‘why now’?  I mean why after half of country has been destroyed is it important now?

I am waiting to see how many of the early war mongers will fall into line with the prospect of talks.

But MSM should not worry…they always have Taiwan.

Watch This Blog!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”