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Tammy Bruce, the State Department spokeswoman, told me in an interview that the president is strategically positioned to stop the fighting in Ukraine.
“The point is that the killing has to end,” she said on “Media Buzz.” “And if there’s anybody who can confront and deal with and manage Putin, it is Donald Trump.”
ZELENSKYY URGES DIRECT TALKS WITH PUTIN AS TRUMP SETS PEACE DEADLINE
But what if it’s Putin who’s managing Trump? And how can there be any kind of settlement when Volodymyr Zelenskyy is refusing to participate, saying the Kremlin dictator is trying to deceive America?
Trump addressed this yesterday, at his news conference on the feds taking over the D.C. police department–and let’s just say he made a point of lowering expectations.
President Donald Trump, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands at the beginning of a meeting at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki, Finland, July 16, 2018. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)
One thing that’s impossible to ignore is that whenever Trump threatens sanctions against Moscow, he finds a way to avoid following through. Remember the 50-day deadline? And then the 10-day deadline?
Putin has been diplomatically isolated since his illegal invasion of Ukraine, which has featured the deliberate killing of civilians.
By inviting him to Alaska–which America bought from Russia in 1867 and is no longer deemed “Seward’s Folly” – Trump is granting Putin respect as a legitimate world leader, not a pariah.
Putin’s plan all along has been to make gains on the battlefield and then hold onto all or most of that land in any settlement. That’s why he’s continued to intensively bomb Ukraine, killing more civilians, even amid the chatter about peace.
Zelenskyy says he can’t cede any land because that would violate the country’s constitution. It would also create a political firestorm at home. But a recent poll says 38 percent of Ukrainians are willing to give up some territory to end the war.
TRUMP BLASTS ZELENSKYY FOR CONSTITUTIONAL OBJECTION TO ‘LAND SWAPPING’ IN UKRAINE WAR
Trump has talked about “some swapping of territories,” but Ukraine doesn’t have much to swap. The country took over 500 square miles in a surprise attack in the Russian area of Kursk, but that has dwindled to just four square miles and came at the cost of significant casualties.
So this could be a repeat of what happened when Russia seized Crimea in 2014. The world was outraged, and then everything went back to normal.
As for Putin, Trump told reporters yesterday, “I’d have a great call with him and then missiles would be lobbed into Kyiv.”
“I’m going to be telling him to end this war.”
“I get along with Zelenskyy but I disagree with what he’s done.”
The president said he’ll try to get some territory back “for the good of Ukraine.”
“Probably in the first two minutes, I’ll know whether a deal can be made.”
If not, “I may leave and say good luck.”
Now you might question why Trump is granting Putin an audience on U.S. soil without any previous understanding. The president believes in face-to-face negotiating but it doesn’t always work. For all the love letters between him and Kim Jong-un, North Korea never budged on its nuclear program.
Trump said of Putin and Zelenskyy, “Ultimately I’m going to put the two of them in a room.” Well, maybe.
Even if Zelenskyy goes to Alaska, or a later meeting with Putin, he’s not going to agree to rewarding Russia for its military aggressiveness, giving land “to the occupier,” as he put it.. Trump may blame Zelenskyy as the fall guy, but that doesn’t get us any closer to peace.
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Besides, Zelenskyy would understandably want security guarantees. Otherwise, Putin could use a cease-fire to allow his forces to rest and recuperate, then attack again in six months or a year–a replay of the post-Crimea strategy.
So much for settling the war in 24 hours.
It’s a bloody, frustrating, complicated war that has resulted in huge casualties for both sides. But it all stems from an illegal invasion by a dictator who insists that Ukraine has no right to exist.
