Well, that negotiation was blown to smithereens by the narcissistic, unintelligent, in-over-his-head dictator of Ukraine who is not taking President Trump, who ONLY wants peace, seriously.
The big question in my mind is: what is Putin’s next move? I don’t see any really good next moves for him. He can bluster and threaten, but that makes him look like the bad guy when everyone else is trying to establish peace. He can try to negotiate some goodies from the Ukrainian/American deal, but that makes him look like a supplicant - not a strong look. He can ignore the deal until someone approaches him with an offer, but that takes the power of initiative from his hands.
Peter, what would you think would be Putin’s best next move?
Putin’s strongest play here might be simple silence.
He always has the option of ignoring the agreement, and if he can persuade other players like Starmer that he doesn't give a damn about the agreement one way or the other he might neutralize much of the diplomatic pressure the agreement creates.
Putin's problem is not with the agreement itself, but with the fact that this appears to be essentially a done deal. If he acknowledges the deal he risks losing control of the narrative to Donald Trump, and that is not something you want to do when negotiating with Trump.
If Putin acknowledges the agreement but opposes it, he validates all the corporate media rhetoric about him.
If Putin acknowledges the agreement but accepts it, he is accepting Donald Trump's framework on Ukraine's future, and that framework makes Ukraine a client state of the US, not a part of the Muscovite Russian empire.
Neither diplomatic scenario is a strong bargaining position for Putin.
Peter, I LOVE how your mind reasons - always rational, thorough, undeniable.
Putin’s silence is what I’ll expect. But for how long can he maintain that stance - until someone else makes a power play? This is really interesting to watch!
Well, that negotiation was blown to smithereens by the narcissistic, unintelligent, in-over-his-head dictator of Ukraine who is not taking President Trump, who ONLY wants peace, seriously.
Big mistake on his part.
Still processing, but this was not a smooth move by Zelensky. He had one objective today--sign the framework minerals deal.
That signed agreement would have given Ukraine leverage over Putin and Russia.
Now Zelensky is leaving empty handed.
This is a defeat for Ukraine.
The big question in my mind is: what is Putin’s next move? I don’t see any really good next moves for him. He can bluster and threaten, but that makes him look like the bad guy when everyone else is trying to establish peace. He can try to negotiate some goodies from the Ukrainian/American deal, but that makes him look like a supplicant - not a strong look. He can ignore the deal until someone approaches him with an offer, but that takes the power of initiative from his hands.
Peter, what would you think would be Putin’s best next move?
Putin’s strongest play here might be simple silence.
He always has the option of ignoring the agreement, and if he can persuade other players like Starmer that he doesn't give a damn about the agreement one way or the other he might neutralize much of the diplomatic pressure the agreement creates.
Putin's problem is not with the agreement itself, but with the fact that this appears to be essentially a done deal. If he acknowledges the deal he risks losing control of the narrative to Donald Trump, and that is not something you want to do when negotiating with Trump.
If Putin acknowledges the agreement but opposes it, he validates all the corporate media rhetoric about him.
If Putin acknowledges the agreement but accepts it, he is accepting Donald Trump's framework on Ukraine's future, and that framework makes Ukraine a client state of the US, not a part of the Muscovite Russian empire.
Neither diplomatic scenario is a strong bargaining position for Putin.
Peter, I LOVE how your mind reasons - always rational, thorough, undeniable.
Putin’s silence is what I’ll expect. But for how long can he maintain that stance - until someone else makes a power play? This is really interesting to watch!