Putin didn't 'play' Trump - he is just a lot better at diplomacy than contemporary western politicians are. Russia is tearing Ukraine to pieces because Ukraine became a battering ram supported by 'the west' to destroy Russia. It wanted a ceasefire immediately and a freeze so it could re-arm and re-group to renew the fight. Russia wants a permanent peace solution before a ceasefire and has momentum on the battlefield. This is a sensible move from Russia. Trump wants out because Russia is winning. 'The west' goes bananas and its leaders are humiliated.
What you SHOULD be arguing is that the billions going to support the war in Ukraine are used in the UK to address the ever worsening situation here.
The credibility of the US is at stake ... the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budapest_Memorandum clearly guaranteed the existing borders in return for relinquishing their portion of the ex-Soviet nuclear arsenal. What's the point of negotiating any treaty if one side unilaterally decides they are not bound by its provisions (cough WTO cough). So any short-term transactional gains is eroded by long-term avoidance of engagement due to distrust that any treaty is worth the paper protection (from coercion). As Churchill once said, "There is only one thing worse than fighting with allies, and that is fighting without them" which means America First becomes America Alone.
Putin didn't 'play' Trump - he is just a lot better at diplomacy than contemporary western politicians are. Russia is tearing Ukraine to pieces because Ukraine became a battering ram supported by 'the west' to destroy Russia. It wanted a ceasefire immediately and a freeze so it could re-arm and re-group to renew the fight. Russia wants a permanent peace solution before a ceasefire and has momentum on the battlefield. This is a sensible move from Russia. Trump wants out because Russia is winning. 'The west' goes bananas and its leaders are humiliated.
What you SHOULD be arguing is that the billions going to support the war in Ukraine are used in the UK to address the ever worsening situation here.
Thank you John…We don’t disagree on that point...
I'm trying to shake off the creeping feeling since even before the Oval Office spat, that the Trumpian agenda has been all along:
(1) Impose a fait accompli on Ukraine to accept surrender of lands seized by force and also abdicate a degree of self-determination.
(2) Offload all subsequent security costs onto Europe.
(3) Rapidly reboot lucrative trade relations with Russia.
(4) Grandstand as a global peacemaker.
- Maybe it is we who are all being played? I desperately hope to be crazily wrong...
The credibility of the US is at stake ... the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budapest_Memorandum clearly guaranteed the existing borders in return for relinquishing their portion of the ex-Soviet nuclear arsenal. What's the point of negotiating any treaty if one side unilaterally decides they are not bound by its provisions (cough WTO cough). So any short-term transactional gains is eroded by long-term avoidance of engagement due to distrust that any treaty is worth the paper protection (from coercion). As Churchill once said, "There is only one thing worse than fighting with allies, and that is fighting without them" which means America First becomes America Alone.