The Ukraine war thread

[xenon]

The Kremlin doesn’t seem to care what the US says… curious what the next step here is.

[Renauda]

@xenon

Don’t expect much from the Russians, unlike Washington, they are in no rush to end the bloodshed:

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/03/21/putin-warns-business-leaders-of-slow-and-difficult-ukraine-ceasefire-talks-report-a88434

[Wim]

Trump 'pissed off'

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/russia-ukraine-war-trump-criticizes-putin-zelenskyy/

[Renauda]

Wait until it dawns on the old Fat One that he’s been Putin’s Muggins since before they even met in Helsinki back in 2018.

[xenon]

So… back to what Zelensky was saying in the White House. How do you trust anything Putin says?

[Wim]

@xenon Pretty obvious: not at all.

[Mik]

You have to go with the assumption of deceit, then try from there to figure out what is real.

[jon-nyc]

[Renauda]

@jon-nyc

“There’s no place [in the U.S. plans] for our main demand today, which is resolving problems related to the root causes of this conflict,” he said.

Russian officials have repeatedly invoked the term “root causes,” which Putin said last June include Ukraine withdrawing from the partially Ukrainian regions and abandoning its NATO bid.

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/04/01/russia-cannot-accept-us-ceasefire-proposal-in-ukraine-deputy-fm-says-a88564

[Mik]

Tease the ceasefire enough and people will come to want it more and be willing to surrender more to get it.

[Renauda]

I doubt very much the Kremlin will be willing to surrender any of its stated terms.

[Mik]

Exactly. We've added a carrot when we should have stuck with the stick. But the carrot is tempting the west, not Russia.

[Renauda]

The carrot is of the Trump Administration's own making and imagination. It holds little, if any, credibility outside of a few minds in Washington and Budapest. The Kremlin however immensely enjoys the black humour of the tragicomedy theatre it offers.