P&D Geopolitics Edition: Russo/Ukrainian War, and Donald Trump, Part II

By Rich Kozlovich, Tags: P&D Geopolitics Edition: Russo/Ukrainian War, and Donald Trump

On February 20, 2025 Victoria White Berger published this article, Oh, horrors! Trump pursues peace and tells the truth about Zelenskyy, saying:

The war machine is up and screaming. Zelenskyy is having a hissy fit for not continuing to be the absolute center of attention as Trump proceeds, diplomatically, to pursue perfectly legitimate routes to, firstly, engage the “aggressor” (Russia) in talks for peace. For the first time since the current Ukraine/Russia war began—exactly 3 years less 4 days ago—the leadership of America is speaking for the people, those being killed, and all those paying for it.

Zelenskyy is furious that America, whose taxpayers have financed “his” war, did not yet include him in the first diplomatic efforts with Russia. But this is not all about Zelenskyy, fortunately.  It most absolutely stands to reason that the peace talks, from the perspective of any historically successful diplomacy, must begin with the most powerful participant: Russia. This is Diplomacy 101.

There’s only one thing in this article I disagree with and this is “Zelenskyy’s war”. It’s Putin’s war, and his excuses for starting it are pathetic. And none of this could have happened if it wasn’t for Joe Biden stealing the election via massive voter fraud because he gave Putin carte blanche for supplying energy to Europe when he shut down all the drilling, and even started buying oil from Venezuela. That funded Putin’s war, and it put all of Europe in a bind.

However, that wouldn’t have been a problem if Europe’s leaders hadn’t gone insane, aka, green, buying into the global warming lies.   Now Europe had to buy so much more natural gas and oil from Russia. They’re either stupid or crazy. 

If the Ukrainian government hadn’t been one of, if not the most corrupt government in Europe, they could have easily provided for adequate defenses to thwart any Russian invasion.  And if there are all these wealth building natural resources there, as is being reported, why didn’t they develop them before and become a very wealthy nation, capable of buying or building a huge defense capability that would have thwarted any invasion.

Russia has been at it against Ukraine since 2014, not to mention all the other former Soviet states they've attacked, so they had to know it was coming.  Putin would have known those defensive capabilities were in place, and this would have never happened.   But you can’t corruptly line your pockets and meet the needs of the nation at the same time, and it seems perfectly clear that’s what has been happening all these years.

From the beginning my view is this is Europe’s problem, let them fix it or not, if they don’t it’s on them.  If they do, it’s still on them, we have no skin in this game.  And all this insane clabber about how the US and NATO forced him to attack is nonsense.  

NATO was set up to prevent aggression by the Soviet Union against Europe, and that was a very real threat.   But NATO, no matter who became members had no desire to attack Russia, and without US support they couldn't have beaten their way out of a wet paper bag, and Putin absolutely knew that.  This attack wasn't about depth of defense, it was about revanche, the return of the lost territory of what was the Soviet Union.  

If you’re a moral person you must feel compassion for the people of Ukraine, the same people who suffered the death of millions at Stalin’s hands, but if you’re a rational person, you must realize this isn’t our fault, nor is it our responsibility.

There's been a lot of effort by the Trump administration to bring this Russo/Ukrainian War insanity to an end, and it's also clear neither Zelenskyy or Putin want that as they're both playing games. 

Below are some of the latest articles dealing with this insanity.   Today we're told there will be peace.  Tomorrow neither Putin or Zelenskyy will sign a peace deal unless ___________ add the caveat of your choice here.   

Now there's all this talk about Europe putting boots on the ground in Ukraine, and now that Russia is using both North Korean and Chinese troops, it give Ukraine and the rest of Europe an excuse to do the same. Any talk about other countries coming to Ukraine’s aid is hot air, which Europe’s leaders are exceptionally good at. 

• U.K. to Rush Experimental Laser Weapon into Service to Deploy in Ukraine - Oliver JJ Lane Ukraine is to become a giant testing ground for a revolutionary new laser weapon which, if successful, promises to radically alter the economics of warfare, the British government says. The “sovereign” British Dragonfire laser was successfully tested at an Army range in Scotland earlier this year. Now, defence procurement rules are being changed to rush it to deployment five years early, and perhaps to the front line in Ukraine even sooner. British Defence Minister Grant Shapps said the rollout of the anti-air laser to the Royal Navy warships was being brought forward five whole years, from 2032 to 2027, but made clear it could be seeing action earlier yet...........

There will be no European troops on the ground doing any fighting, there will be little organized efforts to give them money, as Europe keeps saying they're going to finance Ukraine, but they don't seem to know where the money will be coming from, and now because Trump has put the hammer down on NATO about meeting their financial obligations, they're all investing far more money in their own national defenses, and their national debt keeps climbing.

Ukraine is running out of bodies and military supplies, a lot of which has ended up on the black market. If the US walks away, it’s over, Zelenskyy knows it, Putin knows it, Europe knows it, and Trump knows it, irrespective of all of the grandstanding by Zelenskyy and Europe's leaders against Trump.

Here was Jack Hellner's  overview of the Russo-Ukrainian war, from 2008–2025, which I thought was a good article, with excellent time lines, and clear definitions of who is who and what is what. All necessary as the Pravda media keeps trying to redefine reality and history.

There's a reason why he wasn't included in negotiations.  President Trump: It’s “Not Important” for Zelensky to be Involved in Peace Talks – “He Makes It Very Hard to Make Deals”.  Arrogant on the part of Trump?  Possibly, but Zelenskyy has demonstrated beyond any doubt he's not reliable, and the yellow jacket in your soft drink.

1.  Trump resurrects Kissinger 
2.  Trump Torches ’Dictator’ Zelensky For Opposing Peace Push 
3.  Trump Gives an Update on Russia-Ukraine Peace Talk 
4.  Analyzing the Trump/Zelensky meeting

Let's try and get this right, just once, please. Zelenskyy is a dictator.   His government was corrupt and given everything that's happened there's every indication it still is.  There's no way of knowing how many millions of dollars Biden gave to him ended up in Ukrainian officials pockets because Joe wouldn't allow that money to be tracked. How insane is that?

As you go through these posts you will see a man who can twist himself into a pretzel with his proclamations, but it seems perfectly clear nothing he says can be trusted.   And the same absolutely goes for Putin.  

1.  Zelensky Says ‘Ready’ to Resign for the Sake of Peace, NATO Membership
2.  Zelensky Offers to Resign for Peace, but There's a Catch
3.   Zelensky surrenders to Trump and will sign rare earth mineral deal within hours.
4.  WSJ broke the story, full details here.
5.  Media Fears: Could Lose If He Holds Elections
6.  Zelensky Tantrum: Cancels Peace Talks Trip
7.  No, President Zelenskyy and the EU, you don’t dictate American foreign policy
8.  No, Zelensky is not Churchill
9.  Yes, Voldemort Zelenskyy Is a Dictator
10.  Marco Rubio Confirms Snakelike Behavior of Zelensky During Negotiations and Peace Talks
11.  What Zelensky Didn’t Get
    

Is peace possible? Not now it isn't, and no matter how much effort Trump puts into bringing it about, he can't make them want peace, and that's the key, neither party wants it, nor does Europe.

1. ‘Freezing’ Ukrainian Conflict Will Not Bring Peace Both Kyiv and Moscow say they are not interested in “freezing” the conflict in Russia’s war against Ukraine. Moscow insists that any accord must address the “root causes” of the conflict, and Kyiv........
2. Is ‘Peace’ a Dirty Word?
   
3. A Possible End to the War in Ukraine 
4. Is the Ukraine war everyone's war?
5. Why Ukraine Is Cautious
6. All the Ukrainian Known Knowns

Russia is in trouble, and Putin will tolerate no dissent.  He's jailed four Russian journalists who were supporters of political rival Navalny, who he had arrested and then murdered, and he's causing trouble everywhere, and the reason why more nations joined NATO, and is causing a lot of unrest with all of their neighbors.  Belarus is now openly supporting Putin, which is positioned on Ukraine's North West border allowing for attacks behind Ukrainian forces, and Turkey is walking an economic tightrope. 

1. Russia’s Double Game in Arctic is Cooperation in Name, but Confrontation in Practice 
2. Sweden’s SÄPO Reports that Russia is Evolving Sabotage Tactics
3. Ukrainian War Unsettles Russian Regions and Non-Russian Republics
4. Russia Uses Black Sea Ceasefire Talks to Regain Former Hegemony

This war has impacted Russia negatively at many levels.  Internally ethnic enclaves are spreading across Russia, in effect they're saying they're not Russian, and that's scaring Putin, but he has serious economic issues he can't resolve while continuing this war, and what Putin's seeing play out is the central Asian nations are now doing far more business with China than in the past, and that's going to grow.  

1. Global Trade War Does Not Diminish Pressure on Russia to End Its War
2. China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan Railway Emerges as Competitor to Kazakhstan’s Rail Network

I thought this was an interesting piece by Jordan Schachtel, Washington's $300 billion dilemma, saying:

 

 What are the implications of stealing hundreds of billions of dollars from Russia? After the onset of Russia’s invasion into Ukraine, western powers responded with haste to impose a plethora of sanctions against Moscow, hoping to use the dollar as an economic weapon to strike back against the Kremlin’s kinetic activities in Ukraine.   Two years ago on this very day, the Biden Administration’s Treasury Department moved to freeze hundreds of billions of dollars in Russian assets that are held in the United States. The number held by the U.S. and European powers is estimated today to amount to $300 billion.

 

Interesting information, and I thought it worthwhile to highlight it, but it seems clear to me he's a Putin apologist, and Putin apologists just irritate me.

 

Conclusion?  It seems to me at some point Trump is going realize he's wasting his time, and say, I've had it.  No more money and no more negotiations.  Letting Europe, Zelenskyy, and Putin know, they're all on their own.