The most important priority of European governments is to secure their continent. The European security order hinges on holding Russian President Vladimir Putin’s imperialist ambitions at bay. On the day that Trump won reelection, Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chair of Russia’s Security Council, announced that “the objectives of the special military operation [in Ukraine] remain unchanged and will be achieved”—a rejoinder to Trump’s campaign pledge to end the war immediately. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has signaled that he might be willing to agree to a cease-fire that includes some loss of territory in exchange for credible security guarantees such as Ukraine’s admission to NATO and support for its defense. But Keith Kellogg, the incoming U.S. special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, has said that the United States should bring Ukraine to the negotiating table by withholding weapons and suggested that a cease-fire built on Ukraine’s acceptance of a de facto long-term Russian occupation of eastern Ukraine could be on the table. And although Zelensky wants NATO membership and ongoing U.S. military aid to ensure that the rest of the country remains independent and sovereign, neither the United States nor Russia currently seems ready to agree to such terms.

It's a 180 which I've been fearing with Trump, but still seems hard to believe.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] Cephalotrocity@biglemmowski.win 57 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (12 children)

The threat of withholding weapons is insufficient at this point. A ton of stuff was sent last minute by the Biden administration, and Ukraine has enough to last at least a year let alone 'one day'. Couple this with all the signs Russia is seriously hurting militarily and economically to the point it is reasonable to expect some sort of internal catastrophe sometime this year and it becomes clear that for the US to force peace they would have to do something more overtly anti-Ukraine like cancel (or more likely stop-enforcing) Russian sanctions or denying NATO membership.

Then again, I didn't think Trump had a chance of getting back the presidency so WTF do I know.

[–] AllNewTypeFace@leminal.space 20 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (10 children)

Trump will go to talk with Putin, and come back saying something like “I went up to him and laid down the law, told him you can’t do that, and the USA will destroy you if you do that, and he surrendered, and from now on Russia is going to be a force for peace and stability”, and then announce that the US is lifting all sanctions and providing military aid to Russian “peacekeepers”, while imposing sanctions on the “rebel Zelenskyy regime”. And the press will timidly go along with it, turning on a dime to describing Ukrainian forces as they were ISIS or someone, and running a scoreboard of allied success against the enemy. After a convicted rapist and insurrectionist was elected and universally anointed as legitimate, I’m not convinced that there is enough object persistence in the US corporate media for this not to happen, or that anyone who notices that there’s something hinky won’t just shut up and file it away with all their other low-level doomscrolling anxiety.

[–] FlowVoid@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago (8 children)

the US is lifting all sanctions

The main effect of sanctions is to stop Russia from selling oil to the EU. That isn't going to change simply because Trump says so.

[–] bradorsomething@ttrpg.network 1 points 1 week ago

If this ends with russia sending the US cheap oil and american partisans blowing up refineries, I am going to need a new bingo card.

load more comments (7 replies)

load more comments (8 replies)

load more comments (9 replies)