Well there ya go. Why would a KGB agent message that and give a "beautiful portrait" of trump to trump. Either a KGB agent is stupid or Trump is known to be swayed by praise.
Or maybe you are reading it wrong? Maybe Witkoff is attempting to soften Putin to the negotiating table with praise. After all, it seems that Putin gave the gift and claimed that he prayed for Trump. That's pretty illuminating. Being a diplomat means you have to push 2 sides to negotiate. It seems like he's doing it while taking flak from all the Monday morning quaterbacks, (sorry, an American expression, I hope you'll understand).
But it's getting ridiculous that US blackmailed Ukraine to agree to a ceasefire and minerals deal. Ukraine agreed to both. Russia has not agreed to a ceasefire and hasn't received any repercussions. And Witkoff still continues to sing praises about Putin on a vatnik podcast. Nobody from Elon to Vance has commented how Russia wants to keep the war going like they did about Ukraine before. You can either still believe this is part of a 4d chess for the benefit of western powers and Ukraine or there's something else going on.
Every European nation invested into their own defense immediatly after the war started. If you instead mean take control as in, start negotiations, well:
1. You have to take into consideration that maybe Russia did not see any need for such talks before
2. they waited for trump's administration like their own media said they did. Since they know they will win at the negotiation table with them what they couldnt on the battlefield.
3. It's not the most difficult to start negotiations if you're giving into the aggressors demands (we shall see this spring). We still don't even have a ceasefire anyway, even though trump said he will stop the war before he takes office or at least in 24 h after taking office
Well that's a disingenuous comment since the reason europe is taking steps are the comments from Trump admin about of reducing US presence and commitment in Europe and also blackmailing Ukraine with US arms aid. Overall it's a good thing don't get me wrong.
Lots of assumptions. Actions, not words. Could the EU field a force of 300,000 to 500,000 troops and do it for decades, in order to secure peace in Ukraine? If not, why not. Europe has a population 50% greater than the US and a similar GDP.
If anyone waited for Trump, it's because it seemed he was the only one interested in ending the war. Europe it appears, wants the war to go on forever. As long as Putin is engaged with Ukraine, the rest of Europe feels safe. That's not a crazy strategy actually, but if that's the case, pour in the money to support the war - don't be cheapskates.
And about the money. Where's the money? Trump says that the US has given $350B, I don't know if that's accurate or not. But most realistic estimates, (funny we don't even know exactly), are that the US has given $250-$300 billion to Ukraine. Zelensky "says" he's only gotten $100B. Okay, where's the money? MANY people are getting rich from this war and don't want it to end.
So, if influential actors don't want the war to end, you must blackmail, cajole, push, force the parties in any way possible to accept peace.
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