Who’s on First?

“Maybe President Trump isn’t clamoring to push Ukraine under the bus after all. Tuesday’s meeting in Jeddah, between his top officials and their Ukrainian counterparts, ended with the Americans handing Kyiv a clear advantage—militarily and diplomatically—and putting Moscow in a tight, awkward spot.” The U.S. Just Handed Ukraine a Clear Advantage.

+ CNN: “Even if Russian negotiators can impose their own conditions on the ceasefire – a Ukrainian withdrawal from Kursk, for example, the small pocket of Russia captured by Ukraine, where fighting is now raging – it is hard to imagine that its greater territorial demands, yet alone the goal of removing NATO from its western flank, would be met.” Trump said Russia had ‘all the cards,’ but this ceasefire proposal just called Putin’s bluff.

+ Needless to say, this situation could change dramatically on the drop of a dime – or a Truth Social post. But the tariff-like flip-flop on this issue is surprising. My guess is that there is some serious daylight between what Trump wants and what some in his administration want. But it’s just a guess. Speaking of guessing, I’ve seen about 50 headlines on Putin’s response to the ceasefire proposal, and none of them seem to agree on his position. AP: Putin agrees in principle with proposal for Ukraine ceasefire and says more discussions are needed. “We agree with the proposals to halt the fighting, but we proceed from the assumption that the ceasefire should lead to lasting peace and remove the root causes of the crisis.” (There may only be two people in the world who aren’t clear on the root causes of this crisis.)