Slap, ©2025 William L. Brown
Will President Donald Trump finally get tough on Russian leader Volodymyr Putin?
Not yet, even though Trump acknowledged in a rare moment of clarity what the rest of the world has understood for decades,
“I’ve always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has happened to him. He has gone absolutely CRAZY! He is needlessly killing a lot of people, and I’m not just talking about soldiers. Missiles and drones are being shot into Cities in Ukraine, for no reason whatsoever.”
In the same social media post, Trump said,
"I’ve always said that he wants ALL of Ukraine, not just a piece of it, and maybe that’s proving to be right, but if he does, it will lead to the downfall of Russia! “
These two realizations do not fit together comfortably: 1) he suddenly sees Putin as “CRAZY!” and 2) he’s always understood that Putin wants all of Ukraine. In fact, it’s impossible to reconcile the two.
But, then, like a parent confronted with evidence that his favorite child is a lair and a sociopath, by habit Trump rounds on his scapegoat, the least-favored child,
“Likewise, President Zelensky is doing his Country no favors by talking the way he does. Everything out of his mouth causes problems, I don’t like it, and it better stop.”
But, Zelensky is not a child. As usual, he seems to be the only adult in the room.
Russia’s Demands, ©2025 William L. Brown
Putin, however, embraces his role as Trump’s princeling, earnestly assuring the world he is working on a memorandum of terms, but, as the preconditions for a ceasefire voiced by Russia’s representative in the UN Vasily Nebenzya May 30 indicate, are unrealistic:
”In principle, we are ready to consider the possibility of establishing a ceasefire regime, which could subsequently allow us to move towards a sustainable resolution of the root causes of the conflict. But for this, we must see reciprocal steps from the other side.
For the duration of the ceasefire, at the very least, Western countries must stop supplying weapons to the Kyiv regime and Ukraine must halt mobilization."
And, again, there’s Russia’s point about the “root causes.” See last week’s Native Cpeaker.