Russia attacks Ukraine

[Ulrich]

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cn0y51z7wedt

On Wednesday morning, Trump on Truth Social threatened "high levels of taxes, tariffs and sanctions" if Russian President Vladimir Putin did not end the war. It's not clear what more Trump would impose on the heavily-sanctioned Russia, but we're waiting to see how Putin responds to the pressure.

Wow, threats of sanctions (yeah these worked so well in all this time since Feb '22)... 

[MeltingMan]

What the Trump administration is now proposing is not only an affront for the Ukrainians but also for the Europeans. However, I would welcome it if Mr. Zelenskyy actually faces re-election this year. The country is de facto a member of NATO and the EU! However, if Ukraine is supposed to cede areas to Russia permanently, it must receive something in return. My modest opinion ...

[Ulrich]

What the Trump administration is now proposing ...

Well I told before those guys won't bring peace to anyone (except maybe their billionaire friends)...

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ceve3wl21x1o

It had been expected that Vance would use his speech at the Munich Security Conference to address possible talks to end the war in Ukraine.

Instead, he spent the majority accusing European governments ...

[MeltingMan]

threats of sanctions, (yeah these worked so well...)

Some US sanctions, on the other hand, really hurt Russia because they have a global impact. Here is an excerpt:

On January 10, 2025, a few days before the end of its term, the US administration under Joe Biden imposed further sanctions against Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegas, against 183 ships, often classified as part of the shadow fleet, and against dozens of oil traders, oilfield service providers, insurance companies and officials in the energy sector.[167]

[Ulrich]

To me it looks like Trump will "bow down" to Putin and offer him "gifts" (but I am no "expert"). 

The Kremlin wants the Russian public and the international community to see that Western efforts to isolate Russia over the war in Ukraine have failed.

Russian media are welcoming the prospect of warmer ties with Washington and pouring scorn on European leaders and Kyiv.

"Trump knows he will have to make concessions [to Russia] because he is negotiating with the side that's winning in Ukraine," writes pro-Kremlin tabloid Moskovsky Komsomolets. "He will make concessions. Not at America's expense, but at the expense of Europe and Ukraine.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3w16z7dvz7o

[MeltingMan]

He doesn't have to "bow".   It would be sufficient if the NATO partners would agree to offer Russia (finally) a complete membership. Although this contradicts the regulations, according to which a country has to officially apply, it is appropriate in my opinion. After all, nothing or nobody speaks against the accession of Ukraine to the EU if I have understood Mr. Lavrov correctly. However, the Russian Federation has to note that this offer for accession only comes once.

[Ulrich]

As I said, I am no expert, but according to various reports, he already did:

https://eaworldview.com/2024/11/ukraine-trump-bowed-down-to-putin/

US officials have detailed how Donald Trump bowed down to Vladimir Putin over Ukraine in 2016-2017, enabling the Russian leader to pursue his "hybrid war" to break up the neighboring country.
The discussions followed Russia's support of Trump's campaign for the Presidency but predated his 2019 blackmail of Ukraine, freezing military aid because the Zelenskiy Government would not publicly spread disinformation about Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden.

The officials describe a key moment at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany in July 2017, with the first face-to-face meeting between the two men.

Putin had summoned Trump from the summit dinner for a private conversation. Only interpreters were present. After the encounter, Trump took his translator's notes and told him not to discuss the meeting with anyone.

But US officials learned that Putin had disparaged Ukraine as a corrupt, fabricated country. He said Russia, which had seized Crimea in 2014 and supported the efforts of separatists to split the country, had every right to exert its influence.

[dsanchez]

P.S.: So Tronald Dump won't bring peace? That is disappointing, but no surprise...

Seems he will. Finally Russia and US are talking to each other (never happened during Biden's), which is great news:

Russia and US agree to work toward ending Ukraine war in a remarkable diplomatic shift

https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-riyadh-talks-trump-putin-rubio-0c3beebfef5839e9d509ff58239a6bc5

This has been always a US-proxy war and now is more clear than ever. Unfortunately, Ukraine will end up wrecked as Mearsheimer said 10 years ago. So many lives lost for a war that could have been stopped (actually, avoided) a long while ago...

[Ulrich]

Seems he will.

See posts above... He "supported" Putin to start the war already back in 2017!

[MeltingMan]

Not to be misunderstood, I still see the occupation of Crimea and parts of eastern Ukraine as an injustice. I am against trying to fix this in a treaty. On the other hand, Mr. Zelenskyy may be standing in the way of a ceasefire. Russia has numerical superiority on the battlefield, but they cannot carry on the war indefinitely. I only need to look at Mr. Lavrov's face. And Mr. Trump should please moderate his tone. That is not how you treat allies. 

[Ulrich]

This (German) article is revealing... it's all about "rare earth metals" and $$$$ (of course):

https://www.t-online.de/nachrichten/ukraine/id_100608420/trump-droht-ukraine-offenbar-mit-abschaltung-von-musks-starlink.html

[dsanchez]

This (German) article is revealing... it's all about "rare earth metals" and $$$$ (of course):

it has always been :(

[dsanchez]

Boris Johnson on Ukraine: "Mate, let's face it: we're waging a proxy war" :/

https://x.com/kennardmatt/status/1893996126363062375

[MeltingMan]

To illustrate earlier posts, here is a brief overview of Ukraine's rare mineral resources.

[Ulrich]

Imho, what's happening is best described by the old words "divide and rule".

Meaning:

A political strategy to gain or retain power by cultivating disunity among potential opponents, often by co-opting some individuals and groups while excluding others.

In general, things are worsened by the fact that one "politician" (naming no names) does not know what "diplomacy" is.