Peloni: The most fundamental of issues are what remains to be decided, and it remains to be demonstrated that Zelensky can push thru any compromise on what is being discussed, even as he continues to lose more and more ground on the battlefield every day. Importantly, a report was released today indicating that the Ukrainians attacked one of Putin’s residences. These are the gambits which will be pushed forward as demands for a peace become more and more required by Washington.
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According to the polls that I read 75% of Ukrainians are against ending the war if this involves the territorial concessions.
So apparently 75% is for contituing the war.
The tragic thing is that the 25% who are against the war are the military age men who are being sent to the slaughter by the patriotic 75% that wants them to die.
It seems like Ukrainians are horrible people!
What we should do, is to stop the war on the front, to save the poor men there, because they don’t want the war. At the same time bomb the shit of the Ukrainian people are who want the war to continue.
@Vivarto
Don’t believe this figure. In a nation where election fraud is routine and expected, the last thing which might be deemed to be trustworthy is a political poll, during war, in which opposition figures are arrested and citizen journalists are murdered (recall Gonzo Lira). It is interesting that the Ukrainian oligarchs feel that they have to exaggerate the numbers so much as to give the war support of 3 out 4 people.
Here’s the thing which denies this claim. Ukrainians were given two chances to vote out the war. I believe the elections were likely rigged, but let us assume that this is not so. Both the election of Poroshenko in 2015 and of Zelensky in 2019 led to the election of a peace candidate, who promised to heal the rifts in the country and to end the war. If these elections were honest, it indicates that the Ukrainians were in fact opposed to everything that has been done. If the elections were not honest, it shows us nothing but the lack of agency of the Ukrainians whose electoral dignity was abused without the slightest objection. Either way, it either speaks well of the Ukrainians, or it at least demonstrates their complete lack of input into the fate they are suffering. Personally, I am of the opinion that the latter is true, but either way, it speaks less ill of the Ukrainians in general.
Relevantly, just as took place in 2015 and again in 2019, if Zel ever actually holds elections, it will be with only a partial electoral base, meaning that either the radicals in the nation will have a larger say in any honest election, or that the radicals will have to stuff half as many boxes in a rigged election.
Trump and Zelensky cannot end the war. Only Putin can and he won’t.
Hi, Laura
I think Konstantin has the most reliable info on things in Russia. He is a recent refugee from Russia, living in Uzbekistan. His observation is that Russia is heading toward catastrophe.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwSiQjNhV3k
I agree with you, that Putin is the only one who can call it quits; but even if he did, and descended to his final resting place, the Russian people may have passed the point of no return. The main force there today is the security services; and this does not bode well for the country.
@Michael
I think this has been an important chord throughout the war. They see the West as their enemies now, as they have been painted as the real villain’s in this war, and their ability to survive as a nation as the real target of this war as well.
I listened to Konstantin, and his doom story for Russia does not correspond to what I hear from the people that I know in Russia.
Actually Russian economy is doing well.
@Vivarto
I agree with this, but the US gas production is rising and the price of gas is falling. This will inevitably have a sizeable effect on Russia’s gas sales, as will the increasingly effective manipulations of Trump’s tariff deals with Russia’s various trading partners. Russia is looking to have a serious economic fight on her hands with the US whose economy requires the radical reduction in gas prices to support its economic recovery and deficit reduction.
Well, that’s even more dangerous. Because that means that China will gain even more leverage over Russia. This is the last thing intelligent American leadership should wish for.
@Laura
Actually, only the Ukrainian far right can end this war, which is why it is still not ended one year after Trump took office.
I listened to Konstantin, and his doom story for Russia does not correspond to what I hear from the people that I know in Russia.
Actually Russian economy is doing well.
It’s like saying only Hitler can stop being Hitler, but he won’t
Both Trump and Putin can end the war.
Zelensky cannot do anything because he is just a patsy.
Trump can end the war very quickly by stopping all support for Ukraine:
Financial, military, intelligence sharing, and satellite guidance for the Ukrainian weapons.
That will end the war within a month or two.
In such scenario Ukraine will start losing territory very rapidly.
Within a few month Ukraine will be cut off from the Black Sea, with Nikolaev and Odessa firmly in Russian hands.
If they wait longer then Kharkov, too.
Also, Dniepro, Krivy Roh.
At some point Zelensky or whoever will be in charge there, will eventually decide to stop the war and agree on Russian conditions.
Without American control this phase can last between 1 and 12 months (depending on how much help the Europeans will offer.) Most likely much closer to 3-5 months.
Of course Putin could also end the war by agreeing to giving back all territories to Ukraine, paying $1 trillion in reperation, plus surrendering to the international court to be judged and found guilty of war crimes.
However realistically the third option is not going to happen, because even if Putin suddenly suffered from acute Schizophrenia, someone in the Kremlin would stop him.