Looks like Ukraine as a nation has shot themselves in the head. Is that something that the world leaders wanted to happen? Whether they wanted it or not, they just might be getting it.
Since a lot of corruption is set up in Ukraine, it just might be that Trump getting rid of the corruption will be what kills Ukraine. Trump didn't want it to happen this way. But he was playing a losing game trying to appease both Russia and the European Union.
This might mean a formal WW3 in the near future, but Trump's US people backing out of the talks are the only thing left that they could have done, with these two stubborn countries. And Zelensky, especially... foolishly stubborn.
Since things are so complicated, who can tell what the final outcome will really be?
Note that the article says that Russia is NOT a great power. However, had Russia wanted to do a total, fast military conquest of Ukraine, they would have done it a different way. What Russia wanted was to let Ukraine live while putting down their rebellious ways.
There Will Be No Ukrainian Peace Deal
https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2025/04/23/there-will-be-no-ukrainian-peace-deal/Trump has not included in the deal Russian Donbas, which also voted to be returned to Russia or the other Russian areas that Russian forces have liberated and have been reincorporated into Russia.
In other words, so far, other than Crimea, President Trump has offered President Putin none of the former Russian territory that is now again part of Russia herself. Is the implication that Putin must hand back to Ukraine the territory from which Russian soldiers have driven out Ukrainian soldiers? So Putin's 3+ years of war was all for nothing?
Zelensky himself, treated by Trump as Ukraine's leader despite the fact that Zelensky's term has expired and he is no longer legally or constitutionally the president of Ukraine, states that he will not even discuss recognizing Crimea as Russian territory: Crimea "is our territory, the territory of the people of Ukraine. We have nothing to talk about on this topic."
https://www.rt.com/russia/616120-ukraine-crimea-recognition-zelensky/ To understand how absurd Zelensky is, consider that Crimea is the home since the 1700s of the base of Russia's Black Sea Navy, Russia's access to the Mediterranean.
As Zelensky appears to have a veto, even Trump's partial concession to Russia has no chance.
Trump threatens that he will walk away from the negotiations. That w0uld be a good thing if he takes American weapons and money when he goes.
Zelensky would be left to deal with Putin, perhaps an easy task as Putin and Lavrov continue to bleat for negotiations, neglecting their responsibility to win a war that has gone on for far too long drawing in the US and Europe. It seems Zelensky is relying on Britain and France to send their troops to continue the fight against Russia. The French president is talking about extending France's nuclear umbrella to include Ukraine.
Putin and Lavrov seem to prefer a negotiated deal to a military victory. Would the Kremlin accept a deal that requires Russia to give up battlefield successes won at a large cost in Russian life, the life of young men lost and gone and unavailable to create needed Russian population? Is it Putin's hope for a Great Power Agreement that has prolonged the conflict?
A great power agreement happens only among great powers, but President Putin has convinced the West that Russia is irresolute, averse to using force, and only wants a negotiated settlement to the conflict with Ukraine, for which Putin will pay almost any price, no matter the humiliation.
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