Trump fucks up again. Ukraine negotiation goes sideways

[ChloeTzang]

Food for thought in this article.....

Supply Chain at War: Critical Materials and the Fight for Microelectronic Sovereignty​

NOTE: Ukraine’s emergence as a defense innovation hub brings with it both opportunity and urgency. The country has the potential to supply critical raw materials and eventually serve as a friendshore partner for allied microelectronics supply chains. But it must also confront the same hard reality facing Western nations: building advanced systems without Chinese inputs is nearly impossible. Printed circuit boards, motors, and even basic components often rely on Chinese-sourced materials or refinement. As Ukraine builds out its defense industrial base, it must adopt an onshore, nearshore, and friendshore strategy—not only to serve partners but to safeguard its own supply. Strategic stockpiling of vulnerable materials like barium, tin, niobium, and tantalum will be essential. This paper is about the US. Not Ukraine. But it was Ukraine’s vulnerability that got me thinking about it. Also, it’s important to note while you read this how current US policy is completely counter to its own long term interests regarding mineral inputs.

That line I highlighted is particularly relevant.

• The manufacture of microelectronic components underpins everything from national defense systems to consumer electronics. Modern warfare, AI acceleration, aerospace, telecommunications, and data infrastructure all depend on a stable and secure supply of key microelectronics.
• At the heart of this system lies a complex and globally distributed supply chain—one increasingly vulnerable to geopolitical disruption, especially due to overreliance on China for critical materials and value-added processing.
• Each component relies on a unique mix of raw materials—many of which are not widely available in the United States and must be sourced internationally.
• Semiconductors require elements such as silicon, germanium, gallium, arsenic, and indium. Conductive layers rely on copper, aluminum, tungsten, cobalt, nickel, gold, and silver. Insulating and dielectric materials are drawn from silicon dioxide, hafnium oxide, and barium titanate. Critical doping and specialized performance characteristics also depend on boron, phosphorus, and antimony. Less visible but equally important are niche metals like tantalum, niobium, manganese, and tin. Any disruption in the availability or processing of these materials creates cascading risks to entire industrial sectors.
• The United States has partial mining access to many critical inputs. Silicon, copper, gold, silver, zinc, iron, lead, lithium, manganese, germanium, gallium, and indium are all mined domestically to some degree. Tungsten, boron, antimony, and chromium are also accessible, albeit with limitations in scale. But four critical materials remain essentially out of reach without imports: barium, tin, niobium, and tantalum. These elements are either not mined at scale in the U.S. or lack refining capacity entirely.
• To close this vulnerability gap, the focus must turn to nearshore and friendshore sources.
  • Canada is a linchpin in this strategy. It provides niobium, tantalum, cobalt, lithium, and refined metals including nickel and gold.
  • Mexico adds key inputs like antimony, silver, zinc, and iron, and has nascent lithium projects underway.
  • Australia is a global leader in lithium, manganese, and rare earths
  • Brazil dominates niobium and tantalum production.
  • Peru and South Africa offer zinc, tin, silver, and manganese.
  • Germany and Estonia contribute refining expertise for rare earths, tantalum, and copper.
  • Japan and South Korea bring high-purity metal processing and precision refining to the alliance network.
• Barium remains a singular vulnerability. China controls the vast majority of barite production, the primary source of barium. No large-scale, non-Chinese alternative exists.
• Tin is also a concern, with only minor production from Peru and Indonesia and limited commercial attractiveness to Western refiners.
• Niobium and tantalum refining remains concentrated in Brazil and Canada, with no U.S. capacity.
• Refining capacity—not just mining—is the fulcrum. Even when ally nations extract the raw materials, value-added processing frequently returns to China due to its industrial scale and permissive environmental policies. This is particularly true for gallium, indium, germanium, and rare earth elements.
• U.S. policy must focus on rebuilding refining infrastructure domestically and across aligned countries, including Canada, Australia, and Japan. Critical facilities such as the Hermosa Project in Arizona and MP Materials in California must be accelerated through permitting and investment. Without this, the U.S. remains exposed. Defense platforms, space systems, advanced sensors, and AI hardware cannot function without reliable access to purified, processed strategic materials. In a wartime scenario or global supply shock, current dependencies could become fatal bottlenecks.
• With a unified strategy that spans domestic mining, allied sourcing, and non-Chinese refining, the United States can shift from dependence to resilience. China’s dominance is not unbreakable. Only one material—barium—has no scalable substitute outside China. Every other critical material can be mined, refined, or processed through partnerships, infrastructure investment, and decisive policy.

Unfortunately, Trump is doing his best to piss of every former ally and trading partner the US has, which may make this a challenge.

https://xxtomcooperxx.substack.com/p/supply-chain-at-war-critical-materials

 

[ChloeTzang]

and now trump's flapping again... not sure how much (or any) of this is due to putin grabbing some of Ukraine's rare earth, but trump bends whichever way the wind's blowing:

He went on to blame Ukraine, which Russia invaded over three years ago, sparking the war, for the situation. "I’m starting to doubt that Ukraine will make a deal with Putin, who’s too busy celebrating the Victory of World War ll, which could not have been won (not even close!) without the United States of America. HAVE THE MEETING, NOW!!!"

Trump hasn't figured out that at this point he's a irrelevance to Putin, who's treating him as a joke, and a handicap to Ukraine, who unfortunately have to humor him. At this point nothing will stop Putin continuing this war and Trump would far rather that Ukraine just folds and surrenders. He has no real concept of geopolitics and the disaster this would be for the USA. Let alone Europe. Europe does, which is why they are now increasingly serious about supporting Ukraine altho there are some unfortunate Russian symps within Europe like Orban, Fico and the AfD (otherwise a very sound and based political party).

 

[ChloeTzang]

Endgame Arrives For Team Trump's Vain Ukraine Peace Push - post I

Imagining peace without victory in Ukraine is like trying to picture lions being voluntarily eaten by lambs. Putin's latest ceasefire ploy is a reminder of his astonishing weakness
Andrew Tanner, Apr 29, 2025

A three-day ceasefire for Moscow’s annual victory day parade? What a joke, Vladimir!

Every winter since 2021, when the ruscist assault on Ukraine became inevitable thanks to Team Biden’s cowardice, the same basic script has played out on the diplomatic front. Once the weather turns and holidays beckon, talk of ceasefires and peace negotiations is all the rage. Several months of pure theater commences as diplomats again discover that nothing has fundamentally changed in either side’s stance.

The present regime in Moscow doesn’t accept the existence of a free and independent Ukraine and never will. Worse, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania are all in exactly the same boat, so far as Putin is concerned. In point of fact, so is much of the North American Pacific coast, including all of Alaska and chunks of British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and northern California. We are all Ukraine to Moscow, just lower on the priority list for domination or outright conquest thanks to the hard limits on Moscow’s power at present - thanks to Ukrainian blood.

The logic animating the imperial virus is always the same in every incarnation: expand until a countervailing force is encountered. It rests on a vicious dare: give in whenever I make demands, or suffer the price. Sooner or later, a stand has to be made to establish firm boundaries, prove where the lines in fact are. Giving up even a nanometer only tells the imperialist that there’s more to be had where that came from. This is why the fundamental principle of territorial integrity must stand, and why Team Trump’s pathetic play to have Ukraine give up Crimea in exchange for nothing materially tangible is so laughable and self-defeating.

This era of world history is bound to go down as one where people in the future wonder how leaders today could be so ruthlessly inept, even with 1938 as an eternal warning against appeasement. While overpaid types in expensive suits sit around fancy tables and work out how to keep their political masters and their donor overlords pleased while pretending that talk will solve the problem, soldiers on both sides continue to die. I may be a whole lot angrier about the losses on the Ukrainian side, and I may accept the horrible necessity of killing as many of Putin’s orcs as possible as the least bad option now, but Moscow’s war on Ukraine is still a pointless waste of human potential any way you slice it.

All things being equal, an immediate and total ceasefire in Ukraine is the best possible thing that could happen. If only this were a normal conflict, where there’s plenty of right and wrong on both sides. Moscow’s attempt to destroy Ukraine is a different beast, with negotiations themselves serving as one more tool in Putin’s arsenal. Even though it is now impossible for him to win, Putin will keep throwing away lives and treasure to sustain the illusion of invincibility that is the only thing keeping him alive at this point. Putin’s refusal to accept an immediate ceasefire without preconditions is highly suggestive. It is grimly amusing to see him tacitly accept my case that it would take a week for fighting to dwindle to isolated incidents even if he declared a ceasefire tomorrow - hence the announcement about a ceasefire in early May. His actual control over his forces in the field is less than he pretends. Hence the timing of the ceasefire he says he’s calling to fall when he’s presiding over a parade he probably dreams that Trump might attend.

Still, all Putin has to do for months is order his troops to cease advancing, pull back to defensible lines, and hold fire unless the Ukrainians move forward in strength. This posture could persist for an indefinite period to allow real talks to proceed, and the character of the conflict would immediately change. But Putin is only willing to let the fighting die down on his schedule, an obvious bid to gain control over the whole process. Same old tricks.

Putin is actively stringing Team Trump along, exactly as anyone who understands the creature of the ruscist state has warned would happen. Aware that Trump wants a big foreign policy win by day 100 of his final term in office, but not wanting to give Ukraine any chance to rest, Putin has responded to Team Trump’s attempt to force a deal before the first of May by trying to appear as if he wants to negotiate while simultaneously dragging everything out to fit his desired schedule.

Adding new preconditions no matter what offer is made, demanding that everything Moscow has stolen from Ukraine to this point be accepted when Ukrainian forces are building up for a major counteroffensive to take much of it back- all classic Putin. In claiming that he’ll order a ceasefire around the ruscist state’s annual effort to colonize the memory of the sacrifices of the soldiers who defeated Hitler, he’s trying to seize the initiative on the diplomatic front to compensate for glaring military weakness.

Yet even Trump appears - appears, mind - to have woken up and scented the shifting winds. Pope Francis gave one final and rather beautiful parting gift to humanity, his funeral offering an opportunity for Zelensky to be placed on a level equal to Trump on the global stage at highly symbolic moment and place for Christians. As what you might call a pagan scientist, I don’t have any attachment to popes or the Vatican so long as they leave me be, but I do appreciate many aspects of the way pope Francis led his church.

And the wonderful thing about getting Trump away from his entourage, surrounding him with pomp and ceremony, is that savvy personalities like Macron can manage the situation such that Trump’s own vanity makes him behave. Trump always reflects the energy around him, like any good New Yorker keenly aware of his social standing and determined to put on a particular face to fit in. He also visibly loves being able to defy artificially set media expectations about how he’ll behave, being relatively sedate when they’re frothing for a spectacle.

Right when he might be expected to initiate another public spat, instead Trump and Zelensky did just fine, with Trump coming away focusing his criticisms on Putin again. By yelling and raging on social media Trump can make his base feel powerful and force negotiations on whatever topic happened to attract his interest. Once the MAGA types are frothing at the mouth about whatever upset their delicate egos this week, they won’t even notice when Trump sells them down the river for the thousandth time - or they’ll make excuses about there being some grand strategic plan only the true believers are privy too. Pretty sure Scientology works the same.

 

[ChloeTzang]

Endgame Arrives For Team Trump's Vain Ukraine Peace Push - post II

Imagining peace without victory in Ukraine is like trying to picture lions being voluntarily eaten by lambs. Putin's latest ceasefire ploy is a reminder of his astonishing weakness
Andrew Tanner, Apr 29, 2025

......Simple as the system is, the anti-MAGA set mostly plays right into their enemy’s game time and again. To the point that a fella has to start wondering if they're self-aware parts of the con playing their designated role, or just that bad at strategy. Looking at you, literally everyone who has ever been published in The Atlantic.

Trump’s latest turn comes after another week Team Trump relentlessly attacking Zelensky and Ukraine on various spurious grounds. Now he’s using attacks on civilians as an excuse to take a harder rhetorical line with Putin - one that a stable majority of Americans constantly favors in polls. Even a solid chunk of Republicans remain on board with the traditional conservative view that American power requires keeping Moscow in check.

But under the hood, here’s what’s happening: after pushing Ukraine and Europe as hard as he possibly could to make dumb concessions for months, Trump has nothing to show for trying to seek “balance” between the Muscovites and Ukraine except a near-total alienation of the US from the very partners it will depend on to make any ceasefire stick or participate in tariff negotiations. Thus the latest round of sham negotiations it set to draw to a close with no tangible result, the war continuing through most of this year at least. All that remains up in the air now, unless my mode of analysis has just been getting stuff right thanks to sheer luck, is whether US arms will still be sold to Ukraine and if intelligence shared with NATO can still filter down to Ukrainian forces.

Trump wants to focus on Iran in May and June, which as far as I know is the ideal window for major military actions in that part of the world. He certainly knows that his base is less anti-Ukraine than opposed to anything Biden ever touched, save for a core group of Reagan Republicans who he’ll need to pass anything through Congress that is meant to survive his final legal term in office (there are no loopholes on this matter, and anyone who says differently is a liar). It’s not like diehard MAGA types are going to be weeping in the streets if Ukraine wins - they’ll just attribute victory to Trump. The situation is win-win for him, provided that he takes the easy way out and blames Putin before ignoring European affairs entirely.

For American power in the future, of course, the situation is lose-lose: either D.C. surrenders to Putin and winds up swiftly kicked out of all its alliances and defense deals, or Trump ignores Europe going forward, which results in American interests being wedged out more gradually. Fortunately for Ukraine, the better-case scenario aligns with its goals well enough to keep hope of Victory alive.

Trajectories continue to align as they need to if Ukraine is to win the war through a focused military effort this year or next. Europe is aggressively ramping up its military spending and support for Ukraine. The USA even under Trump appears likely to back the alliance on Ukraine behind the scenes, if only to keep China worried about the consequences of Putin’s defeat and prevent Europe from thinking too hard about doing a deal with Beijing, which has most of the rare earths needed by European high-tech industry.

Reliant on North Korean aid, Putin’s war machine has manifestly lost the ability execute effective military campaigns. Ukrainian troops are increasingly able to rely on the Drone Line to minimize the effort required to keep the line stable, allowing troops to get some badly-needed rest. There won’t be another shell famine like the one that helped Moscow advance such as it was able to in 2024. If you think about Ukrainian and Muscovite combat power as each following its own curve, since 2022 the balance has shifted from a 10:1 ratio in Moscow’s favor to Ukraine pulling ahead.

As a result, I continue to forecast a major Ukrainian counteroffensive effort this summer, beginning perhaps as early as June or even May. Moscow will continue to attempt to boost the intensity of its ongoing grind across multiple fronts as the weather improves but a steady rise in casualties and equipment losses continues to correlate with even less ground taken. And Trump will stop talking about Ukraine entirely at some point, writing it off as Biden’s war while he hares off to bomb Iran.

 

[ChloeTzang]

Europe's Belated Ultimatum: Calling Putin To Heel In Istanbul​

European leaders have finally united around the necessary policy stance when it comes to the Putin regime's war on Ukraine. Putin must demonstrate a desire for peace before real talks can begin.​

Andrew Tanner
May 14, 2025

This past week, president Zelensky of Ukraine, visibly backed by Macron of France, Starmer of the UK, and Merz of Germany, put Putin on notice: if he fails to show up in Istanbul later this week for direct talks with Zelensky, he proves that all his talk of wanting peace is just another deception campaign. One last maskirovka ahead of a desperate push to seize urban Donbas before his army is rendered incapable of major offensive operations for several years.

Ukraine and its European allies - with the reluctant endorsement of an American administration that has seen its vain hundred-day push to appease Putin terminate in humiliation - have delivered Putin the only response he deserves: an ultimatum to make peace, or face a united Europe giving Ukraine the support required to win.

All of a sudden - and orc propagandists are frothing at the mouth over the insult this represents to their worldview - Putin is in a position where he must either accept Zelensky as an equal on the international stage or know that Europe’s new mission in life is to oppose and contain Moscow. And once correctly mobilized - largely by simply giving money to Ukrainian industry - Europe’s economic power translates into raw military potential that puts Putin’s to shame. Especially now that he’s burned through his Soviet inheritance.

The threat of more sanctions isn’t likely to frighten Putin much, given how long it takes for economic attacks to have an impact, but they are just the aspect of support that Europeans like to trumpet in the press. More hard material aid is forthcoming, and I can only hope to the level necessary to power Ukraine’s summer counteroffensive. Germany is even moving to make future aid deliveries secret, suggesting that Europe now wants Moscow guessing about how many armored vehicles and missiles are leaving European inventories.

Putin should accept a ceasefire, but probably can’t. His fancy parade is over with - hopefully for the last time - and that alleged three-day truce was a fake, an intensification of assault operations on the fronts noted by Ukrainian fighters. Only each side’s strike campaign saw a brief pause - right after Ukraine unleashed the biggest drone assault of the war on the eve of Putin’s party, striking factories and air bases in the heart of the empire.

(Follow link for the rest of this long and informative article)

https://roguesystemsrecon.substack.com/p/europes-belated-ultimatum-calling

 

[ChloeTzang]

Another excerpt from Andrew Tanner's article

Putin's basic strategic choice is now:

A. Accept the European ultimatum and try to pass off a million-casualty failure of a war as a triumph, risking a Wagner 2.0 style revolt that could easily end in Putin losing his life.

B. Carry on the bluff that Moscow can keep going like this in Ukraine forever, risking another major Ukrainian battlefield triumph that shatters the Putin regime's illusion of invincibility, likewise resulting in a potentially fatal challenge to his power.

This is classic zugzwang (unlike Mark Twain, I like German)- everything Vlad I. Putin does now stands to worsen his position. Without access to Chinese markets, he’s done for, so the nuclear option is tantamount to suicide. Trying it would risk triggering a revolt among Muscovite elites not keen to risk burning for his vanity or losing access to all international markets. While Xi would dearly love to see the Ukraine War last forever, if it goes nuclear, the global shocks will force Beijing to take a hard line out of self-preservation. Making peace means grappling with the consequences of probably 350,000 dead and as many crippled with the economy decimated, leaving Moscow a ward of Beijing.

Still, all things considered, option A is Putin’s best choice, because it’s a lot easier to fight off a rebellion before you’ve burned through your very last reserves. While he might think it safer to let the military destroy itself in Ukraine, trusting that its leaders can be made scapegoats after most of their soldiers are dead, Stalin style, what’s to stop a member of his own security services from turning on him, allying with the military’s remnants?

Better to have every arm of the ruscist propaganda machine proclaim a glorious triumph over NATO but insist that Ukraine was only round one. With Beijing’s help, Putin might ride out the next few years. Even hand over power to a chosen successor.

But Putin is almost certainly way too deep in this now. His mouthpieces have already stated that giving Ukraine time to build up new strength harms Moscow's fight. Ironically, this suggests an extreme lack of confidence in Moscow's military potential that rather undermines their own case. If Moscow is bound to win, that means the orcs are becoming stronger in a relative sense, in which case it will be easier to defeat Ukraine in the future.

Hence Zelensky accepting Team Trump’s proposal for a full ceasefire lasting thirty days. He knows that Ukraine is now winning the regeneration fight overall, through quality rather than numbers. Moscow would actually stand to claw back some ground in this domain during any lengthy pause, delaying the total time to defeat because equipment and people would accumulate instead of deplete. But the rate of growth of Ukraine’s capabilities means that Ukrainian forces would swiftly compensate on the other side, so it’s a fair trade if it means keeping Trump from sabotaging Ukraine’s fight.

So Putin looks stuck with option B. He’s gambled everything on this war: it is the sole purpose of his regime, and they’ll end together.

If my evaluation is correct, this means that everything happening right now on the diplomatic front is only a necessary prelude to a properly supported Ukrainian summer campaign. It’s diplomatic theater intended to give Putin one last chance to withdraw before it’s too late. Even if I'm wrong, Europe and Ukraine are at least acting as if they have the upper hand, which will move expectations in the correct direction. Some rather spiky walls are closing in around the old murderer in the Kremlin, even if American media is determined to pretend that powerful people can never lose and countries never die despite gobs of unambiguous evidence to the contrary. The economic situation in Putin’s empire is deteriorating to the point that the expanded mobilization true-blue Z-fans know is required to overwhelm Ukraine’s defense likely isn’t possible. Simply throwing more bodies at the front won’t shift it anyway if they lack essential supporting tools like tanks and effective artillery. Munitions from North Korea, drones from Iran, and components from China are all that keep’s Putin’s orcs in the fight. He’s being used by all three as a convenient means of exacerbating natural differences between the USA and allies in Europe and the Pacific.

 

[icanhelp1]

Russia was just too big for Germany to conquer. Stalin would have won if he had to fight alone.

Pure speculation!

 

[icanhelp1]

Another excerpt from Andrew Tanner's article

Putin's basic strategic choice is now:

A. Accept the European ultimatum and try to pass off a million-casualty failure of a war as a triumph, risking a Wagner 2.0 style revolt that could easily end in Putin losing his life.

B. Carry on the bluff that Moscow can keep going like this in Ukraine forever, risking another major Ukrainian battlefield triumph that shatters the Putin regime's illusion of invincibility, likewise resulting in a potentially fatal challenge to his power.

This is classic zugzwang (unlike Mark Twain, I like German)- everything Vlad I. Putin does now stands to worsen his position. Without access to Chinese markets, he’s done for, so the nuclear option is tantamount to suicide. Trying it would risk triggering a revolt among Muscovite elites not keen to risk burning for his vanity or losing access to all international markets. While Xi would dearly love to see the Ukraine War last forever, if it goes nuclear, the global shocks will force Beijing to take a hard line out of self-preservation. Making peace means grappling with the consequences of probably 350,000 dead and as many crippled with the economy decimated, leaving Moscow a ward of Beijing.

Still, all things considered, option A is Putin’s best choice, because it’s a lot easier to fight off a rebellion before you’ve burned through your very last reserves. While he might think it safer to let the military destroy itself in Ukraine, trusting that its leaders can be made scapegoats after most of their soldiers are dead, Stalin style, what’s to stop a member of his own security services from turning on him, allying with the military’s remnants?

Better to have every arm of the ruscist propaganda machine proclaim a glorious triumph over NATO but insist that Ukraine was only round one. With Beijing’s help, Putin might ride out the next few years. Even hand over power to a chosen successor.

But Putin is almost certainly way too deep in this now. His mouthpieces have already stated that giving Ukraine time to build up new strength harms Moscow's fight. Ironically, this suggests an extreme lack of confidence in Moscow's military potential that rather undermines their own case. If Moscow is bound to win, that means the orcs are becoming stronger in a relative sense, in which case it will be easier to defeat Ukraine in the future.

Hence Zelensky accepting Team Trump’s proposal for a full ceasefire lasting thirty days. He knows that Ukraine is now winning the regeneration fight overall, through quality rather than numbers. Moscow would actually stand to claw back some ground in this domain during any lengthy pause, delaying the total time to defeat because equipment and people would accumulate instead of deplete. But the rate of growth of Ukraine’s capabilities means that Ukrainian forces would swiftly compensate on the other side, so it’s a fair trade if it means keeping Trump from sabotaging Ukraine’s fight.

So Putin looks stuck with option B. He’s gambled everything on this war: it is the sole purpose of his regime, and they’ll end together.

If my evaluation is correct, this means that everything happening right now on the diplomatic front is only a necessary prelude to a properly supported Ukrainian summer campaign. It’s diplomatic theater intended to give Putin one last chance to withdraw before it’s too late. Even if I'm wrong, Europe and Ukraine are at least acting as if they have the upper hand, which will move expectations in the correct direction. Some rather spiky walls are closing in around the old murderer in the Kremlin, even if American media is determined to pretend that powerful people can never lose and countries never die despite gobs of unambiguous evidence to the contrary. The economic situation in Putin’s empire is deteriorating to the point that the expanded mobilization true-blue Z-fans know is required to overwhelm Ukraine’s defense likely isn’t possible. Simply throwing more bodies at the front won’t shift it anyway if they lack essential supporting tools like tanks and effective artillery. Munitions from North Korea, drones from Iran, and components from China are all that keep’s Putin’s orcs in the fight. He’s being used by all three as a convenient means of exacerbating natural differences between the USA and allies in Europe and the Pacific.

I believe Trump is running out of patience with Putin.

 

[ChloeTzang]

I believe Trump is running out of patience with Putin.

I hope so, but he keeps making excuses for him. He needs to take a crap or get off the pot, so to speak.

 

[ll74]

I believe Trump is running out of patience with Putin.

The only thing Trump cares about is that Putin strokes his ego

 

[icanhelp1]

I hope so, but he keeps making excuses for him. He needs to take a crap or get off the pot, so to speak.

Trump is giving him every chance to join in a peace initiative. Things are going on behind the scenes. I believe Trump will sanction Russian banks, if that happens game over. The Middle East investment and initiatives has to be playing on Putin’s mind. Putin doesn’t have global influence any more, he’s considered a pariah. IMHO

 

[ll74]

Trump is giving him every chance to join in a peace initiative. Things are going on behind the scenes. I believe Trump will sanction Russian banks, if that happens game over. The Middle East investment and initiatives has to be playing on Putin’s mind. Putin doesn’t have global influence any more, he’s considered a pariah. IMHO

Russian Banks are already sanctioned to the hilt, dipshit.

 

[Lazaran]

I hope so, but he keeps making excuses for him. He needs to take a crap or get off the pot, so to speak.

ineedhelp1 is an imbecile and a traitor.

Entertaining anything that traitorous imbecile says makes you look like a sympathizer and a fool.

Don’t do that ^.





Slava Ukraini!!!





We. Told. Them. So.

 

[icanhelp1]

Russian Banks are already sanctioned to the hilt, dipshit.

1. Existing Sanctions:

• The US has already imposed extensive sanctions on numerous Russian banks, including some of the largest institutions.
• These sanctions vary in their severity, ranging from restrictions on new debt and equity to full blocking sanctions that essentially cut off banks from the US financial system.

2. Potential for Further Sanctions:

• Secondary Sanctions: The US could potentially expand the use of secondary sanctions, which target foreign banks that do business with sanctioned Russian banks.
• Targeting Remaining Banks: The US could impose sanctions on Russian banks that haven't yet been targeted, though the list of major unsanctioned banks may be relatively short.
• Sectoral Sanctions: The US could introduce sectoral sanctions, impacting entire industries or financial activities, which could indirectly affect Russian banks involved in those sectors.

3. Factors Influencing Trump's Decision:

• Political Considerations: Trump's willingness to impose further sanctions could depend on his broader foreign policy goals and his stance towards Russia, according to DW.
• Economic Impact: The potential economic consequences of further sanctions on both Russia and the global economy would likely be a factor in any decision.
• International Cooperation: The effectiveness of further sanctions could depend on the degree of cooperation from US allies.

In conclusion:

• While the US has already sanctioned many Russian banks, there is still potential for further action, including secondary sanctions and targeting remaining unsanctioned banks.
• However, whether President Trump chooses to impose further sanctions depends on a complex interplay of political, economic, and international factors.

 

[ll74]

1. Existing Sanctions:

• The US has already imposed extensive sanctions on numerous Russian banks, including some of the largest institutions.
• These sanctions vary in their severity, ranging from restrictions on new debt and equity to full blocking sanctions that essentially cut off banks from the US financial system.

2. Potential for Further Sanctions:

• Secondary Sanctions: The US could potentially expand the use of secondary sanctions, which target foreign banks that do business with sanctioned Russian banks.
• Targeting Remaining Banks: The US could impose sanctions on Russian banks that haven't yet been targeted, though the list of major unsanctioned banks may be relatively short.
• Sectoral Sanctions: The US could introduce sectoral sanctions, impacting entire industries or financial activities, which could indirectly affect Russian banks involved in those sectors.

3. Factors Influencing Trump's Decision:

• Political Considerations: Trump's willingness to impose further sanctions could depend on his broader foreign policy goals and his stance towards Russia, according to DW.
• Economic Impact: The potential economic consequences of further sanctions on both Russia and the global economy would likely be a factor in any decision.
• International Cooperation: The effectiveness of further sanctions could depend on the degree of cooperation from US allies.

In conclusion:

• While the US has already sanctioned many Russian banks, there is still potential for further action, including secondary sanctions and targeting remaining unsanctioned banks.
• However, whether President Trump chooses to impose further sanctions depends on a complex interplay of political, economic, and international factors.

Lol ...chatgpt

Banks won't be sanctioned more.

 

[icanhelp1]

ineedhelp1 is an imbecile and a traitor.

Entertaining anything that traitorous imbecile says makes you look like a sympathizer and a fool.

Don’t do that ^.





Slava Ukraini!!!





We. Told. Them. So.

You slobbering all over Biden’s lackluster performance makes you a fool.

 

[Politruk]

You slobbering all over Biden’s lackluster performance makes you a fool.

He was a better president than Trump in either term and you know it.

 

[ChloeTzang]

"The whole thing's a farce. Putin has no intention of ending this war."

 

[Politruk]

Trump is giving him every chance to join in a peace initiative.

Putin could have done that in Istanbul this week. He didn't, and neither did Trump.

 

[icanhelp1]

Putin could have done that in Istanbul this week. He didn't, and neither did Trump.

I refer you to Chloe’s postings.

 

[ChloeTzang]

“The world will become much safer in 2–3 weeks,” Trump said. “I’ll meet with Putin as soon as we can arrange it,” he added.

Yet more more blah blah bullshit from Trump. Where is the big announcements about a "very big reaction" if Putin doesn't show. Where are the new sanctions? What pressure is he goimg to apply to Putin. The answere of course is Trump will do nothing except bluster. He's being shown up as a paper tiger and a bully who will only pressure the weak and semi-defenceless. The idea that a meeting with Putin will make the world safer is just as stupid as the idea that meeting with Hitler in Munich in 1938 will mean "peace in our time".

He could have turned up in Istanbul and forced Putin into showing or not showing but he doesn't want to and he's to busy with the Middle East scamming and grifting. Whatever Putin has got on him, or his visceral hatred of Zelensky and dislike for Ukraine, is enough to make Trump avoid anything which might be construed as pressuring Ukraine. He ain't gonna do squat. All he's going to do is keep up the bullshit and keep makimg excuses while Putin tries his best to win. The moment Ukraone inflicts another major defeat on Russia, yoyu just know Trump will step in and say "ceasefire now, ceasefire now. stop the deaths, stop the killing," which is when Zelensky should just shrug and say "sure. sure we will," and step up killing Russians.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1923305630141465018

 

[ChloeTzang]

And the view from Ukraine (and probably Europe) on Trump.....

 

[ChloeTzang]

 

[ChloeTzang]

Russia is not changimg it's demands. Putin can't afford to back down and Ukraone will not surrender.

This is all just a show for Trump by both sides. The end result is the war will go on but Reump will do his best to find a way to blame Zelensky for not surrenderig to Russia. I'm afriad that whatever else Trump may be doing that's good for the USA, his entire approach to Ukraine reduces him to the moral level of sewage pond scum. He's a clown, and unfortinately, a killer clown.

 

[ChloeTzang]

LOL. Here we go. Trump can't organize a party in a brewery.

Russia demands that talks with Ukraine take place without US, Turkish representatives​

Ukraine has blamed Russia for undermining the expected peace talks in Istanbul by demanding a one-on-one meeting, excluding Turkish or U.S. officials, at the last minute, Sky News and the Guardian reported on May 16. The news comes before what would be the first negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow since 2022. Turkish officials were expected to open the talks, while U.S. delegates are in Istanbul for separate meetings with Moscow and Kyiv representatives.

After Moscow proposed to hold peace talks in Turkey this week, President Volodymyr Zelensky agreed and invited Russian President Vladimir Putin for a face-to-face meeting. The Russian leader declined to attend and appointed his aide, Vladimir Medinsky, to lead the talks. The Russian delegation included deputy ministers and lower-level aides and excluded top officials like Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Zelensky commented that Moscow has dispatched a "sham delegation," while Western officials presented the move as an indication that Putin is not serious about peace efforts. Kyiv and its allies have urged Moscow to adopt an unconditional ceasefire starting May 12 as the first step toward peace talks — a proposal Russia has ignored. While Ukrainian officials said they hope to discuss a possible truce in Istanbul, Russia presented the meeting as the continuation of the 2022 talks and stressed the need to address what it sees as the "root causes" of the war.

https://kyivindependent.com/ukraine...stanbul-peace-talks-with-last-minute-demands/