Negotiations Continue to Go Nowhere as Europe Bashes Head Against Wall
The next go-around of negotiations has concluded today between the Ukrainian and American sides in Riyadh. It’ll be the Russians’ turn with the Americans in the same place tomorrow, where Ukraine’s positions from today’s meeting will be conveyed.
The most fascinating part of these developments is that on their eve, Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff made a number of compelling statements on his media circuit. It provided some of the first glimpses of a real possibility of the US reconciling with Russia’s operative framework of the war. Most significantly, he implied that the US is on board with Russia taking not just Crimea, but all the newly annexed regions:
In fact, Witkoff demonstrated such an emotional intelligence and sensitivity to the Russian cause, that some commentators have even gone as far as noting ‘this is the first time a US administration has viewed Russians as truly human.’ Maybe Witkoff has an affinity for his ancestral homeland—both of his grandparents were born in Russia.
Witkoff demonstrated this in his talk with Tucker Carlson, wherein he called for Russia and the US to work together—a proposal that strikes so discordantly against previous US approaches that it’s nearly surreal to hear:
But the moment that stole the show and aroused eye-watering resentment from the war-hawk faction was the following, wherein Witkoff relayed an unexpected level of commiseration between Putin and Trump, stating that Putin prayed for Trump after the shooting, and commissioned a portrait for him as a gift:
Such things lead one to believe there is some hope, after all, in Russia and the US resolving things in an amicable way. Of particular interest were simultaneous reports that Russia would allegedly end the conflict if the currently demanded regions were recognized, but with one big kicker:
The kicker?
In return for recognition and if it happened "in the near future", Kommersant said Putin would undertake not to lay claim to the Ukrainian port city of Odesa and other Ukrainian territory.
Keep in mind Kommersant is not a ‘tabloid’ or rag, but one of Russia’s most respected publications. So, if we are to believe the claim above, Putin is essentially giving the West and Ukraine a short window of time to accept the current territories, or risk having Odessa be included in the official demands.
This obviously fully goes along with Putin’s previous more ‘vague’ statements, echoed by the likes of Lavrov et al, about how Ukraine’s terms would progressively worsen over time, should they refuse to accept Russia’s current ‘generous’ ones. But recall that in the last report, we’ve already mentioned how Ukraine is getting increasingly antsy over potential ‘secret talks’ between Putin and Trump on the Odessa bargaining chip:
As Forbes further notes, the Kommersant journalist claims Putin said “and other regions” besides Odessa, which could obviously point to Kharkov and the like. But Russia could change its mind and decide to close this window short:
However, the point at which Russia is ready to abandon its claims to Odessa and other territories with the recognition of the Crimea, the LPR, DPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions may also move, the correspondent notes. "They don't have time to dig in," Putin said at the meeting.
For those interested in the full lowdown on Putin’s statements, it came during the ‘closed meeting’ of the XXXIV Congress of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP), which Kommersant's special correspondent Andrey Kolesnikov attended, and gave his paraphrased transcription of: https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/7586520.
In the meanwhile, Europe continues to hold ‘summits’, which time and again embarrassingly come to naught. One summary courtesy of Goldman Sachs trader Alberto Bacis:
Strange summit. EU ReArm was created after the Munich conference and Trump-Zelensky fallout. Now the situation is completely different and that shifted the priorities.
Council was supposed to last 2 days. It was wrapped up tonight and tomorrow is free.
EU council struggled to formulate a single strategy on delivering military help to Ukraine and how to be represented in Us-led peace talks.
Kallas’ proposal of up to ¢5 bln for immediate help to Ukraine was stalled by France and Italy, who were reluctant to commit to a specific sum
Meloni (Italy): stressed the need to mobilize private capital and have real common funding for defense so as not to rely on countries’ national debt; Commission’s plan for defense funding is not enough as it’s based mainly on using national fiscal space that Italy does not have.
Fico (Slovakia): “We cannot stubbornly insist on sanctions at all costs. There may come a moment when we say that we disagree, because we believe it goes against the peace efforts that are currently being made. If we perceive an attempt for further sanctions as something that could undermine the peace process, we are ready to veto it,” He added that it would be “dangerous” for the image of the EU if the bloc remains “the only one that wants to fight.”
EPP. Open to debate EU Defense bonds if needed.
PES. published a long doc supporting Defense bonds but also widening the definition of Military investments: The progressive approach to European security is not just about arms – it is also about stability, welfare, cooperation and European cohesion.
Next meeting: March 27, in Paris, “Coalition of the willing” will meet under Macron leadership.
This news has flown under the radar a bit, but essentially comes down to two main points.
Firstly, the idea of stealing Russia’s ‘frozen’ sovereign funds was again rejected in the EU:
🇪🇺🇷🇺"EU will not confiscate frozen Russian assets": EU countries have officially abandoned the idea of seizing Russian 200 billion - too severe consequences.
"The EU has stopped the discussion on the confiscation of frozen Russian assets. This is evidenced by the text of the EU summit conclusions of March 20.
"In accordance with EU law, Russian assets should remain frozen until Russia stops its war of aggression against Ukraine and compensates it for the damage caused by this war," said the text adopted by EU leaders.
Several EU countries opposed the confiscation of more than 200bn euros of Russian assets, arguing their position with the EU legislation, the danger of such a precedent for European competitiveness in the financial services market, the need to support Ukraine on the interest from these funds, as well as the fact that this amount is a card in peace talks and a lever of influence on Russia.
That said, the EU is ready to further increase pressure on Russia, including by imposing additional sanctions and strengthening enforcement of existing measures, to weaken its ability to wage war against Ukraine"
Shortly afterwards, Macron effectively rejected Starmer’s more heavy-handed and belligerent ‘boots-on-ground’ plan, preferring to explore a more—how shall we say—strictly legal, and not off-putting, way to backstop the AFU with European troops. Starmer was getting increasingly gung-ho to the point Macron apparently got cold feet, and realized just how far outside ‘international law’ he was careening. Also, the plan was primarily doomed by US’ refusal to give security guarantees to the Europeans, in the event Russia begins shooting at them.
Now they seek to explore a “UN”-sanctioned peacekeeping force, but the idea was quickly shot down by Zelensky himself, who shrank away from the idea of a UN-led, non-NATO peacekeeping mission because it would rob him of his opportunity to incite nuclear war between Russia and NATO via a false-flag induced Article 5:
In short, the game has become clearer than ever: Russia and the US are working on ending the conflict by acknowledging first principles, and Ukraine and the UK seek to sabotage the peace in any way possible, in order to prolong the war and bleed Russia for as long as possible. Why? Because the longer the conflict can be prolonged, the greater the possibility of interlacing it with a broader one, by inciting Russia to attack the Baltics. The point of this war is to continually chip away at Russia, provoking its most existential security worries, until Russia bites back against the Baltics, Poland, etc. Then tying this off onto a major European war to destroy Russia once and for all.
Just look at the latest shtick coming from the European deep state:
Russia's attack on Lithuania is possible as early as this fall. This could be our last peaceful summer — BILD
Russia announced large-scale exercises in Belarus. The Baltic countries are concerned that during these exercises, Russian Armed Forces may cross the border. At the same time, NATO's Article 5, at least for the US, may cease to apply. Deterrence is weakening.
This was stated by professor and ‘military historian’ Senke Naitzel:
Read the above if your stomach can take it, as it is an unfettered smorgasbord of war-mongering.
In fact, the 24/7 war calls are being ratcheted up to a deafening degree in Europe.
German elites, it seems, are absolutely chafing to get Berlin occupied by Russian troops again; a bout of nostalgia, perhaps?
Meanwhile, in reality:
French Minister of the Armed Forces Sebastien Lecornu admitted that France has troops stationed in Romania prepped and ready to heed the call:
With the recent flood of videos showing trains and convoys of military gear traversing Romania toward Ukraine, it’s clearer than ever why “democracy” was aborted to oust Georgescu.
And recall when I mentioned the UK now in the driver’s seat of sabotaging peace efforts:
The notable thing about the above, is it creates a questionable paradox out of ceasefire efforts. Imagine that the US accepts Russian demands of stopping arms flows to Ukraine—but what good would that do if the UK and rest of Europe continue sending arms? Should Russia allow a ceasefire just on account of US’ arms halting, while nothing on the ground actually changes, due to European arms still flooding into Ukraine? From Russia’s perspective, it makes no sense—and as such, it means the UK has both sides by the stones, unless Trump finds such leverage as to even get UK to fall in line. Even threats of leaving NATO aren’t doing that, so there’s little hope.
Trump’s plan, for now, appears to include enticing Ukraine in handing over all its nuclear power plants to US control, which would ‘keep them safe’ from Russian attack, or so goes the claim.
With such ploys, it’s difficult to discern naked imperialism from thoughtful plans to woo Zelensky into peace.
Now we wait to see what tomorrow’s meeting with Russia will bring. Until then, the spring thaws are starting, and both sides have big plans for coming offensives, with new ‘rumors’ suggesting Zelensky wants to organize another broad-fronted assay sometime in April to show the world the AFU’s still got its legs, and to preemptively steal the thunder of impending Russian offensives. With the political pressures heating up, it’s sure to become a pivotal time for the war.
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Re: "Germany's Military Rebirth"
It took Hitler 6 years of big efforts by Albert Speer (economy/war procurement) and Hjalmar Schacht (Reichsbank) to get the Wehrmacht up and running. We can assume Berlin's more vested meddling in Ukraine started some time around the 2008 Bucharest NATO summit, bringing about a figure like Klitschko who was set to become Prime Minister after the coup in 2014, unless overruled by Victoria Nuland.
Only after the beginning of the SMO in 2022, voices like those of Sönke Neitzel grew louder to rearm the Bundeswehr, but the German leadership thought it be more profitable and effective to arm Ukraine by disarming Bundeswehr, while at the same time betting all hope on Rheinmetall to increase production.
On the paper things still look very much in favor for NATO, but the bean counters avoid naming proper numbers of what percentage of these numbers actually is service-ready.
Thus Germany's efforts of the last 15+ years are mediocre at best, and the results are even more so, effectively negative. Germany's economy is teetering downhill, strangled by high costs (not just energy, but pretty much anything) and massive bureaucracy, struggling hard to source enough gun-cotton. Even the nauseating domestic propaganda on level 11 just won't excite the population to cheer the war effort, not now and not in the foreseeable future.
In short: severe incompetence rules over the former country of poets, thinkers and engineers. No Speer, no Schacht, no Goebbels, no Führer, and no Jewish-Bolshevik boogeyman either. Eurozone-ECB-with-other-countries'-debt-Lagarde, Baerbock, Habeck and Scholz/Merz instead. Bundeswehr's recruitment is net negative. There will be no "Germany's Military Rebirth."
Not everyone was as impressed by Witkoff: https://larrycjohnson.substack.com/p/tucker-carlsons-interview-with-steve/comments
The UK is fighting for its very existence, as whn the war is over, the UK will be left holding the financial catastrophe - and there's F-A the US can do, or the Trump Team WANT to do. They won't stop.
FAF that Putin is now giving REAL time limits, before they add Odessa to the demands. And they know the Western 'elites' will diddle until that offer is too late.
:)
Stormer talking about nuking Russian cities if Russia harms UK troops sent into Ukraine... obviously as belligerents in the conflict. https://rumble.com/v6r3nau-has-the-world-gone-mad-totally-tonto.html?e9s=src_v1_ucp
People may ponder how different a Corbyn-led Party and Govt might have been.
The UK could certainly have slept better than with this hideous fascist lunatic.