Didactic Mind points out that just because the USA has finally come to its senses and is willing to discuss a peace settlement with the Russians, that doesn’t mean that the Russians will have any interest in outdated proposals that are based on the situation back in 2022 rather than the one that reflects the current one three years later.
When the news broke of Mr. Hegseth’s comments, and Mr. Trump’s call, I was among those who reacted with joy, thinking this meant an imminent set of peace negotiations. But, if you read the Russian reactions carefully – and I did, and do – then you will quickly understand that the Russians are in no mood for tomfoolery, and they are not optimistic about possible negotiations, at all.
Nor do they have any reason to be.
You see, the fundamental realities of the Russian position have not changed. Russia’s list of demands goes far beyond the mere inadmissibility of Ukraine into NATO. This is but a condensed version of the things on the minds of the Russians:
- Not only can Ukraine not join NATO, but NATO itself must roll back far beyond Russia’s borders, preferably to where it was back in 1991;
- Russia needs to see treaties signed and ratified between itself and the US, and itself and NATO, that forever solves the problem of Russia’s western border, by ensuring NATO never again expands anywhere near it;
- The extremely odious Banderite-controlled government in Queef must be disbanded, and held to account for its war crimes against the Russian people of Donbass;
- Arms control treaties – which THE AMERICANS TORE UP – must be restored and renegotiated in light of new realities (which is to say, the fact that Russia has won the arms race, and by a huge margin);
- All – I repeat, ALL – Western sanctions against Russia must end, and the insane attempts to box in and bankrupt Russia must end, forever;
- The rabidly Russophobic elites of Europe must be put back in their box, never to appear again, and Europe itself must never again be in a position to threaten or invade Russia;
This is before we get to a whole host of other questions, like bringing to justice those who destroyed the Nord Stream pipeline (the Americans under Brandon, obviously), or the supply corridors to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, or the competition over the Arctic, and a whole other batch of problems.
I think the Russians will listen to the US proposals, but I don’t see that even the God-Emperor 2.0’s administration, as radical and exceeding of expectations as it has been, is going to be inclined to do what it should, which is a) end all sanctions, b) withdraw all troops from Europe, c) pay the relevant reparations that are owed to Russia for the damages that were caused by the various sanctions and seizures, and d) turn over all of the US and European war criminals to the Russian authorities.
That’s what I would consider to be a reasonable demand from Putin. He has no reason to settle for anything less. Anything short of that, and he will likely continue to strangle both Ukraine and the EU states until they surrender unconditionally. His problem is that even now, the European authorities believe they cannot be touched by the Russian forces. If he’s not going to reach a settlement with President Trump, he is going to have to convince them otherwise.