This is actually a better outcome than I expected for Ukraine. If Putin doesn’t negotiate, he may end up being harsher on Russia than Biden was.
He has a reputation for being friendly with Russia, potentially even compromised by them, and may want to shed that reputation.
Or maybe I’m just naive. We’ll see.
Trump just made billions on his shit coin, got all his cases thrown out or nullified, and he’s already won 2nd term. So maybe he doesn’t care about the pee tape anymore.
Given the potato quality such a tape would be, if it exists, he could claim its AI, and it would be extremely difficult to prove him wrong.
Also, I think supporting Ukraine is actually quite popular with his support base.
Smoke and mirrors. Trump talks tough talk. Putin says war is over. Trump stops Ukraine weapon flow. Russia keeps territory gained. Trump takes credit. Putin averts Russia economic collapse.
Except America aren’t the only ones supplying Ukraine with weapons and other aid, Europe is doing a lot too. Ukraine will keep fighting without the help of the US, which won’t be a good look for Trump.
There is one thing Trump has said that I wholeheartedly agree with, and it’s that the world relies too much on the US to back them up, and they need to do more to help themselves, and this is a classic example of why.
Pure speculation, but could Trump no longer be as beholden to Putin as he so clearly was in his first term? Musk seems to be holding his reins now, and maybe he realizes any Kompromat the Russians may have had just doesn’t matter any more in the face of his cult of personality.
That said, it seems to be in both parties best interest for Putin to get out of the war while Trump is in office. A president favorable to Russia gets a big win on the world stage, and Russia gets to quietly back out of a conflict that has been a complete disaster for them.
Except putin is holding musk’s reins.
Is he? The two have many shared interest sure, and maybe he has some dirt on Musk. I feel like if Putin was the “grand puppet master” he’s often made out to be then the war in Ukraine would be going much better for him. The article above seems to indicate that Putins influence has waned considerably since 2016.
I certainly hope so.
Trump has already stated he is imposing 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, in direct violation of an agreement he himself set up during his first term. On top of that, he’s already threatened the invasion of at least four allied nations. He is showing the world that he has no intention of honoring anything he says, nor respect for any existing relationships with other countries.
Sanctions only work if other nations cooperate. Why would anyone choose to cooperate with someone like this? Trump is acting like the whole world should bow down to him, while the world is laughing in his face.
No wonder he gets along so well with Putin
Lol what bullshit.
Trump dances to Putin’s whistle.
So now he’s pretending like he’s threatening Russia so he can say he’s “brokered peace but unfortunately there’s a few small conditions” and then the gives Ukraine the list of demands Putin wrote.
Edit and also probably with the caveat of “Ukraine if you don’t agree then we’re gonna stop all aid to you”
Russia already chose fhe hard way.
Wait till he finds out we’re already doing that.
Unfortunately, China and a number of other countries aren’t participating.
And their combined GDP is as high as that of the USA.
So US sanctions can’t starve Russia, they only divide the world economy into 2 blocks.So US sanctions can’t starve Russia
They can certainly make things harder and more expensive for Russia though. And combined with Ukraine’s relentless targeting of their oil sector and war outputs, the thousand small cuts continue to build on Russia’s economy.
