Trump Announces Alaska Summit with Putin

[xuenchen]

Here they all come! 

Looks like Trump's strategy is to "face zi enemi" first, then assemble all the "others" in one place. 

Ukraine updates: Merz to join Zelenskyy at US peace talks
 

What you need to know

• Chancellor Merz to join talks next week between Zelenskyy and Trump in Washington.
  
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• The president of the European Commission, French President Emmanuel Macron and NATO chief Mark Rutte will also travel to Washington.
  
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• The German chancellor pushed for Kyiv's involvement following the Trump-Putin peace summit.
  
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• European leaders are due to hold talks of the so-called Coalition of the Willing on Sunday.
  

[FlyersFan]

ppft i don't think any of them want to "end the war"
that's public narrative

I agree.

[Kurokage]

What else can you do? Lest I checked Ukraine switched from ejecting Russia to invading. And it worked in 2014 and no one cared then. So why not do it again?

Russia is throwing everything it has left at Ukraine since Trump came back into power, and all Putin has to do is phone his friend Donald and tell him a pile of sh*t and old Don swallows it (so no consequences). It took Melania to draw Donald a few diagrams recently showing that after talking with Donald, Putin always launches a fresh attack.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5yl6eegv63o

Russia has more than doubled the number of drones and missiles fired towards Ukraine since President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January, a BBC Verify analysis has found, despite his calls for a ceasefire.
Attacks had already been rising under former President Joe Biden in 2024 but climbed sharply after Trump's election victory in November. Since he returned to office in January, recorded aerial attacks from Moscow have reached their highest levels of the war.

[andy06shake]

Why was Putin allowed to speak first?

My understanding is that's not how it works.

And it let him set the stage and tone.

[xuenchen]

Well gollygee Gomer!!
Who'd wuuda thought

Putin demands control of key Ukrainian territory in exchange for peace: European diplomat

Who believes THIS?: 
"a European diplomat told Fox News" 

Russian leader Vladimir Putin has proposed for Moscow to take full control of the Donbas region and freeze the front lines elsewhere in exchange for ending his nation's war with Ukraine, and President Trump supports the terms, a European diplomat told Fox News.

[xuenchen]

Why was Putin allowed to speak first?

My understanding is that's not how it works.

And it let him set the stage and tone.

What made you "understand" that?

[FlyersFan]

Why was Putin allowed to speak first?

My understanding is that's not how it works.

And it let him set the stage and tone.

I don't think it matters who went first.
We all know the only way this can end.
Russia gets to keep the land it stole.
They will sign a fake peace treaty.
Then they'll find an excuse to break it in a few years and go for more land.
Either from Ukraine or elsewhere.

[Kurokage]

Why was Putin allowed to speak first?

My understanding is that's not how it works.

And it let him set the stage and tone.

 It looked like Munich 1938 to me, when Chamberlain and Lebrun permitted Nazi Germany to annex Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland, the territorial concessions ultimately emboldened Nazi aggression. If people can't history repeating itself here, they're beyond dumb.

[FlyersFan]

 It looked like Munich 1938 to me, when Chamberlain and Lebrun permitted Nazi Germany to annex Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland, the territorial concessions ultimately emboldened Nazi aggression. If people can't history repeating itself here, they're beyond dumb.

If Europe is unhappy with Trump dealing with Ukraine and Russia ... then they should just do it themselves.  It's THEIR backyard.   It's THEIR borders that are in Putins crosshairs.  It's THEIR part of the world.   Frankly, America shouldn't be involved in this at all.   The only thing we should be doing is selling weapons/munitions to Europe/Ukraine if they want to buy them.   Otherwise we shouldn't be involved.

[Kurokage]

If Europe is unhappy with Trump dealing with Ukraine and Russia ... then they should just do it themselves.  It's THEIR backyard.   It's THEIR borders that are in Putins crosshairs.  It's THEIR part of the world.   Frankly, America shouldn't be involved in this at all.   The only thing we should be doing is selling weapons/munitions to Europe/Ukraine if they want to buy them.   Otherwise we shouldn't be involved.

The problem was the American battle with communism after WW2, and the division of Germany (America had her zone too). Since then America has always had a hand in Europe as it saw communism as it's arch enemy. It hasn't just been "THEIR part of the world" in a long time. Europe was happy to allow America to build bases at their cost (mostly) to defend 'capitalism and the American way of life'. 

After dropping the only Nukes ever used in combat, America became the world police, sadly giving up that role now is just opening a world wide can of worms.

Edit to add...

Putin being a throw back to those days (ex-KGB) knows how to play Trump, and also knows that the average American doesn't want to be involved in 'foreign wars' or even support financing 'Freedom' in other countries any more.
America lead the way by example for many years, supporting it's goals across the world. Now it's people have had enough, others (like Russia and China) are happy to try to take that crown.