Maria Popova

This foul betrayal is Trump's worst treachery yet Almost lost among Donald Trump’s latest assault on America, has been his utter disdain for our democracy, and love for Russian President Vladimir Putin.Amid Trump’s attack on our government, White House, health-care, food benefits, vote, the arts, environment, our economy, and peace and quiet, the R...

OPINION: Almost lost among Donald Trump's latest assault on America, has been his utter disdain for our democracy, and love for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Indeed. Ukraine is the biggest anti-imperialist in the world right now-- standing up to one empire militarily and to another diplomatically.

Keep in mind that given the intense/widespread opposition in Ukr to the "little Ru" conception, if Ru managed to conquer Ukr, it will intensify the genocidal policies it now pursues in the occupied territories to achieve this "transformation". Ru openly talk about killing millions if necessary.

Ru's primary/immediate goal in these negotiations is not territory but leaving Ukraine without credible security guarantees. This would allow Ru to keep alive its hope of conquering Ukraine later and turning it into the "little Ru" colony/vassal that Ru imagines is still possible and desires deeply.

For sure!

Thats where it would come to a head. @oxanashevel.bsky.social and I talked about it back in March. He can’t compel Ukr to surrender to Ru occupation just by talking. He would have to fully back Ru up militarily. I don’t think he can do that

Anyone who claims Ru seeks compromise when it pursues diplomacy is either uninformed/naive about Ru or simply pro-Russian. It's that stark.

They're not even fully keen on the 28 plan they wrote themselves. It needs to be worked out in more detail he says, i.e. "make Ukrainian capitulation complete, as we demanded in Alaska". This is how Ru ...erm... negotiates. No compromise; trying to achieve its elusive military victory diplomatically

And here we are, right on time!

Keep in mind that these talks now in Geneva do not include russia and therefore are quite meaningless. The moment something reasonable emerges out of them, Ru will cry out that it opposes it vehemently. They've been largely silent the past few days for a reason.

Yes

That could be seen as recognizing reality or something like that although it's deeply pernicious for international stability

Yes, indeed. The kickbacks to the US are offensive too, but more of the pathetic kind.

Yes, that's a ridiculous clause too

Yes, and there is one more dimension that is incredibly insulting: the various "anti-nazi" clauses mean, in fact, "anti-nation". How will it be possible to memorialize the war and its victims under the Russian ultimatum, a.k.a. the Trump peace plan?

The amnesty is perhaps the most offensive part of the unworkable Trump proposal.

🤣

Ah, criticism of American overreach is often a gateway for losing perspective. Plenty to criticize, ofc

I didn’t know of her before 2022 but she started out wrong and has ended up just ridiculous. I can’t even read her stuff anymore

Among the 28 points of the initial Washington/kremlin plan, one was a general amnesty for war crimes. This video footage shows Russian troops killing five Ukrainian soldiers, prisoners of war. This adds to the several hundreds such crimes committed by Russia.

I don't repost videos or screenshots of POW executions, but this is such an important point.

russia r*pes, c*strates, and b*heads Ukrainian POWs on camera. Any "peace" plan that ignores or normalizes that is absolutely worthless.

One plan. Six pillars of international law demolished.

Trump's Ukraine plan requires the US to violate 71 international commitments, @EerikNKross has calculated.

It systematically contradicts the legal order America built over 80 years—from the Geneva Conventions to NATO's founding treaty:

Exactly

Yalta, Helsinki, Budapest, Minsk - there is a long Western tradition of being weak in negotiations with the Kremlin.

We should stop signing treaties that favor Moscow and were written in the Kremlin.

Worth noting that when the intent is rhetoric annihilation of the Ukrainian nation, as it clearly was based on what Putin has repeatedly said, that fits the definition of genocide. Real genocide.

"This plan can be the basis of the final settlement" can mean wildly different things. To Ukraine, it means working out the details to realistically deter a 3rd Ru invasion. To Ru, it means twisting each provision to end Ukrainian sovereignty. That's why the plan won't work to end the war.

Ru's goal is the annihilation of the Ukrainian nation.

It's pronounced as something in-between Keeth-lee and Keef-lee. Absolutely wild for me to see a reference to this place-- I stayed there for a week in 1990 (or 1991, not sure) as a Bulgarian teen on exchange in England/Northern Ireland.

I agree. This proposal has the foreign troop deployment idea. That's part of what could work

Yeah, I figured that's the source of the claim. But those are really Ru bot farms. A ton of them in North Macedonia, for e.g.

I agree