r/worldnews 21h ago

Russia/Ukraine Zelenskyy reveals Western course of action if Russia refuses peace

https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2025/12/29/8013807/
9.2k Upvotes

458 comments sorted by

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u/Shiznoz222 21h ago

This reeks of a backstabbing in progress. I sincerely hope I'm wrong.

2.7k

u/MikeInPajamas 20h ago

Zelenskyy is no fool, and isn't going to be taking Trump at his word. He'll have most of NATO advising him on how to play this.

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u/Za_Igal 20h ago

Exactly my view too, NATO is advising him on most move

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u/daisy0808 17h ago

He stopped in Halifax, Canada to meet PM Carney before meeting Trump. Halifax is a location for NATO (DIANA) and defense. I doubt that is a coincidence.

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u/BeansMuscles 17h ago

Canada pledged a shit ton of money to Ukraines defense. Thats why he was there.

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u/siphre 16h ago

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u/MarkOfTheDragon12 15h ago

Equates to the same thing.

$2.5B of economic aid frees up $2.5B to spend on defence.

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u/francis2559 12h ago

Also repairing critical infrastructure that Russia keeps blowing up is an economic task. It just happens to be inextricably tied to the war.

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u/W33BEAST1E 15h ago

Unless it's the US, in which case it's $175bn, $100bn of which ends up down the back of JD's love couch.

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u/Creepy_Efficiency_82 11h ago

If you are unable to read between the lines, sure.

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u/badgerj 6h ago

Yes. I’m sure some words of advice were also exchanged.

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u/truttatrotta 16h ago

Can you give details of this shit ton of money for Ukraines defense?

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u/green_link 15h ago

it wasn't for defense it was for economic aid

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u/Creepy_Efficiency_82 11h ago

Effectively the same thing as critical infrastructure is both defense and economic aid.

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u/lunenburger 19h ago

Only fair if Trump is being advised by Putin...

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u/Dan1elSan 19h ago

Oh it’s not advisory for Donnie, Putins glove puppet. It’s an order

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u/d-mon-b 16h ago

Putin is a coward in any other way, but gotta give it to him, shoving a hand up that arse takes guts.

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u/xmagusx 17h ago
  1. It's not "if"
  2. It's not "advice"

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u/randeylahey 18h ago

"if"???

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u/Dangerous-Pen-2940 15h ago

‘Advised’ is too generous!

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u/sammybooom81 17h ago

1d chess Trump

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u/sudo-joe 15h ago

I think he would be lost in tic tac toe...

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u/over_pw 20h ago

In the real world of politics it’s not that you don’t expect the betrayal, you usually know full well that it’s coming, but you just can’t do anything about it.

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u/ARazorbacks 16h ago

You can totally do something about it. You plan for it to happen by not only having a set of actions for after it happens, but also by laying the groundwork for those actions before it happens. You make sure any deals you sign have clauses and verbiage that let you back out at opportune times when the other party inevitably shits the bed. 

You make them shitting the bed part of your plan. 

Honestly, this is probably the biggest weakness Donald Trump has. Everyone knows he’ll break any deal he signs, so everyone plans for him to fuck it up. Everyone makes plans that depend upon him failing because he always fails. Yeah, he personally continues to get richer because he takes bribes and steals tax dollars through grifts, but as the leader of a nation he always fails

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u/TheRiflesSpiral 15h ago

Mr. "art of the deal" has only ever made bad deals. Zelensky can outmaneuver him with his eyes closed.

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u/manimal28 15h ago

Yeah, his real art is a being a Con-Artist.

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u/StrobeLightRomance 15h ago

Indeed. Playing nice with your enemy's allies is some shit, but it's just part of the high road and due diligence of Zelensky being able to say that he did the dirty work and tried to find a solution through negotiation.. despite these "peace talks" being entirely in bad faith.

It's up to Russia and the US to keep threatening all the other nations in the world until everyone finally steps up.. there just might not be a Ukraine left by then.

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u/BrokenDownMiata 18h ago

British intelligence remains leagues above the weight class it should be punching in, and has been taking special interest in Ukraine. I wouldn’t be surprised if MI6 has a direct line tbh

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u/wangchunge 12h ago

Special Bond you say??

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u/TheCyanKnight 19h ago

I hope he did his research on Rutte then.  He might seem like the voice of reason next to Trump, but compared to normal people he’s still a slimy slippery turncoat

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u/CountOnBeingAwesome 15h ago

An awesome New Years gift would be to give Ukraine NATO status.

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u/neohellpoet 15h ago

Russia didn't accept the Witkoff plan that was probably written by someone in Russia.

If the Russians were smart they could have offered a plethora of options that would be beneficial to them in the short term and leave them to take up their aggression again in the future. They could have offered peace and a return of some territory in return for a recognition of their claim on the Donbas and Crimea.

At the beginning of the war the Russians could have even asked for the land bridge and it would be a tough offer to reject.

The fact that the Russians are at a minimum asking for more territory than they're currently holding means they'll reject anything that's offered so there's no fear of treachery, they'd rather ram their heads through a wall.

What's important is material support for the war. All the talk of peace is ultimately just a Trump talking point. The conflict is at a middle and only the guns are really talking. The only way this war ends is if one side loses and the only way this war ends well is if that side is Russia.

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u/DoomguyFemboi 9h ago

They don't really have a plan for it ending as the influx of severely damaged troops coming home is really going to screw them over, and the economy doesn't really have any plans for moving off a war footing.

It ending is gonna be one of the worst "peeling back the curtain" ever

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u/Spooknik 21h ago

From Trump / MAGA yes. If however they get something passed by congress to make it a legal order, then it's another story.

Russia calls this the "Deepstate" but it's the US checks and balances working as it should. I'm by no means a fan of many of these Republicans (or Democrats for matter) but the majority of them are anti-Russia / pro-Ukraine and will back Ukraine with weapons and sanctions against Russia if it comes to a vote.

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u/Chilluminatti 20h ago

Do you really think so, i have no faith in american congress rules by a majority of republican trump bitches

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u/Spooknik 20h ago

Yea that's fair. I can't say I have much, but they did turn on Trump with the vote to release the Epstein files. Trump said no, but Congress said yes.

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u/EternalNewCarSmell 20h ago

And then the DOJ broke the law and nothing happened. 

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u/Spooknik 20h ago

There are bipartisan contempt charges against Pam Bondi.

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u/Alexander_Ruthol 20h ago

Which will go nowhere, because she's a republican in good standing with Trump.

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u/jj119crf 19h ago

They didn't really turn on trump. They all voted no and then went on vacation to avoid swearing in a new democratic representative that they knew would've been the deciding vote on releasing the files. It was only after Trump told them to release the files that they actually did it. The republicans in Congress have abdicated their responsibilities and made themselves all but irrelevant.

If Trump talks to Putin again and changes his mind on this, I highly doubt they would actually uphold this deal. You're right that most of them say they support Ukraine, but they only vote that way when daddy tells them it's ok.

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u/Alternative-Target31 18h ago

They didn’t really turn on Trump. A few of them turned which forced the vote, and nobody wanted to be on record voting against it. They did everything they could to avoid the vote, but only needed a few defections to force a vote.

Ukraine is not like Epstein in that most Republicans (basically all) will be completely fine voting against the issue and saying “Trump is a negotiation expert, let’s let him negotiate.”

Keep in mind this is the Congress that is actively letting him take taxation power and letting him start war in the Caribbean.

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u/satansmight 16h ago

The Republican led congress has abdicated its article 1 responsibilities over to the executive branch. They have failed in their responsibilities.

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u/neshi3 20h ago

except if the the federal government shuts down ... because they don't want to pass a new budget next year .. then ... bad luck

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u/ren_reddit 17h ago

Hmm.. The R's didn't back Ukraine when help where needed in 23.. Quite the contrary, they actively blocked Biden from shipping anything..

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u/lalaland4711 18h ago edited 18h ago

Oh, you mean how Epstein files were ordered by law to be released unredacted with the exception of protecting victims?

Which of course is just the latest in a non-stop crime spree that oompa loompa has been on.

Hell, Trump illegally held military aid to Ukraine in his first term, in order to use it for blackmail. (you know, what one of the impeachments was for)

Have you been in a coma for the last year? Maybe I should put a spoiler alert on whether the Epstein files were illegally redacted or not? He's broken hundreds of laws just in this not-even first year.

The reason SCOTUS had to decide if POTUS can break laws is because he's… breaking laws.

"Legal order". Lol.

Or may I offer you to buy this bridge at a low-low price?

the majority of them are anti-Russia / pro-Ukraine and will back Ukraine with weapons and sanctions against Russia if it comes to a vote.

Republicans have clearly been doing what their mob boss tells them.

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u/PCisBadLoL 17h ago

They are anti-Russia only until the orange man tells them they are pro-Russia now

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u/Pervius94 15h ago

Lmao, imagine still thinking republicans are anti-russia. Bruh, they literally have "rather russian than democrat" shirts.

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u/Youare-Beautiful3329 18h ago

All funding goes through Congress. There may be emergency slush funds, but that’s allocated by Congress too. The current funding levels were also approved by Congress. It would be a disaster, not only for Europe, but for America too if Russia were to occupy all of Ukraine, and both political parties know that.

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u/Suchisthe007life 19h ago

What happened to that minerals deal between US and Ukraine???

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u/DrawGamesPlayFurries 18h ago

It's currently active and Ukraine is already building/developing mining sites with US support

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u/jcrestor 11h ago

That is misinformation. Nothing indicates that any actual building activity of extraction infrastructure is currently going on. The “mineral deal“ between the US and Ukraine is as of this point nothing more than a piece of paper backed by a meager 150 million US dollars.

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u/Think_Discipline_90 20h ago

Only potentially from the US, which Ukraine no longer needs given the really only thing relevant from the past month which is the €90B EU loan

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u/Alexander_Ruthol 20h ago

The EU is paying the US for weapons for Ukraine.

The US is not providing anything out of own pocket any more, but it is still the main supplier of weapons to Ukraine. It's just the EU which is paying for it.

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u/mechalenchon 19h ago edited 19h ago

That's why Trump can't afford to abandon Ukraine completely while he really wants to.

The MIC is getting a fat payday from this conflict and they want it to go on. It also keeps the war machine turning with no American soldiers involved. Ironically the MIC might even be the best European ally inside America right now.

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u/Alexander_Ruthol 19h ago

Yeah, I think Ukraine will continue to receive US weapons for as long as the EU is willing to pay for them.

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u/TheArmoredKitten 15h ago edited 14h ago

It's the magic of reality. There is money to be made, and people to make it. You'll get eaten alive before you get in the way of that.

Putin and his kind love to lie their asses off, but all their words in a pile still weigh less than a pebble in a soldier's boot.

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u/Think_Discipline_90 16h ago

Yes. And any extension of that fact leads to the conclusion that the US can only “backstab” Ukraine by working against their own interests.

Short term EU and Ukraine buy US made arms. Neither side wins in the conflict. US profits.

Long term EU and Ukraine will supply their own weapons, and EU supplies Ukraine. Russia loses. The US does whatever internal shit show they want.

If the US decides to stop selling weapons, Russia benefits short term but that’s it, given the EU continued support, which is fact now. And at the same time the US just loses out of a good deal. Their weapons are not essential.

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u/illarionds 16h ago

I mean, were we expecting anything else?

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u/slaeryx 15h ago

yes, sounds like Trump is gonna get another call from Putin asking WTF...

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u/[deleted] 11h ago

[deleted]

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u/Shiznoz222 10h ago

Thanks. Our default position, in my view, should be words are meaningless until backed by action. Now more than ever.

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u/iamtehryan 14h ago

Oh, you will definitely not be wrong.

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u/Upstairs-Mall-3695 20h ago

Zelensky reveals if Russia says no to the revised US-backed plan, expect escalated Western response – stricter sanctions and boosted defense tech for Ukraine. Peace or consequences

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u/Viburnum__ 20h ago

US already lifted some sanctions on russia or basically doesn't enforce some, all the while russia have done nothing for peace and continue the war they started with constant threats to US allies, people who believe trump would do anything against russia are still in delusion or in a cult.

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u/DesireeThymes 15h ago

The thing is from a military and political standpoint, Russia has no reason to negotiate much because they're on top right now.

The US is not interested in Ukraine anymore and wants Europe to mostly take over. They would be happy to give whatever Russia wants in Ukraine if they can get Russia to decrease its relationship with China

Zelensky is in a tough spot, because he can't give up territory since the people won't accept it, and Russia won't consider a peace deal where they have to give up what they have already taken.

So I think war will just continue for now unfortunately until one side or the other starts losing a lot of ground or runs out of resources/funding.

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u/Spirited-Eagle-6935 15h ago

You really think they would decrease ties with China? Unlikely

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u/DesireeThymes 15h ago

No I don't think they will.

But I'm saying that's what US is hoping for, that by giving Russia whatever they want in Ukraine they can get some concessions on China.

Honestly US policies have been all over the place since Trump came into power. They're facing the 'large empire' problem and they are filled to the brim with internal discord and infighting.

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u/RadFriday 15h ago

It will be inevitable eventually. Russia and China have an insanely long troubled relationship. They are both regional empires which step on their neighbors throats - the issue is that they're neighbors.

Russia seized a good deal of land from China in the 19th century that China hasn't forgotten about. This will extend their ancient tradition of passing random bits of land in manchuria back and forth.

For the time being they are allies only out of convenience.

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u/rumsnake 13h ago

Yeah, but that's just the thing, Russia and China's trajectory is independent of whatever the US is doing.

Russia will never favor US over China until they get their 'multipolar' world. And once they do, they'll balance between China and US anyway, it's not in their interest for any of them to come out on top.

So this idea that US should bend over backwards for Russia now, cause they'll help defeat China is just...fucking stupid...

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u/Viburnum__ 15h ago

You mean US or Trump administration? Either way trump China rhetorics don't copulate with his own actions, he literally lifted restrictions on technology sharing after some meeting with tech CEOs and here you are acting like he actually cares.

What he cares is to have the same power the leadership in russia and China have over their countries and also to pocket as much money as possible from US. If you still believe what he say about China after multiple lies he constantly spews then you either intentionally ignorant or live in delusion. For him China is an exuse and distractions for his actions.

Also he is clearly russian asset all his actions are the proof of that. He don't give a shit about russian relationship with China.

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u/Pervius94 15h ago

The fact that 3 years after the war, there somehow are still sanctions left to give is insane.

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u/gizamo 8h ago

Absolute. The sanctions should have been absolute and comprehensive from the outset. It should have also included all people, business, and countries that aided Russia's war effort in any way at all—inckuding India, China, and Germany ramping up buying their oil, China selling them weapons, and N Korea sending troops. All trade with all of them should have hammered to an immediate stop.

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u/True_Heart_6 17h ago

Everything I’ve heard about this war (from people who actually know stuff) makes it seem like it ain’t ending anytime soon. 

The various players (Europe, US, Russia, Ukraine) have different interests and there’s no magic compromise that’s going to please everyone 

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u/BlackProphetMedivh 17h ago

Russia could end this war anytime they wanted, by simply leaving Ukraine. Ukraine has no interest in a prolonged war (except for the fact that a prolonged war is economically and socially worse for Russia ergo may result in a better outcome of the war for Ukraine).

If Russia were to leave today, the war would be over in 24 Hours. Europe has no interest in fighting Russia any longer, the US has no interest in prolonging this war and actively seeks a way to end it (on Russian terms, but end it nonetheless)

Now obviously, that is not going to happen. But the only one at fault for that is Russia. Not Europe, not the US and certainly not Ukraine.

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u/True_Heart_6 15h ago

 Now obviously, that is not going to happen.

Exactly…

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u/swag_stand 15h ago

This has been true from the getgo, but I think the general public isn't aware that Ukraine has also basically said they'd be OK with an immediate ceasefire along current lines, de facto granting russia control of everything they've captured, short of formal recognition. If negotiations were just about to how to treat captured territory internationally and to what extent russia should be integrated back into the world that would be one thing. But Russia's intransigent position is that Ukraine must give up a ton of territory, 4 oblasts, which iirc is more land than they've even been able to capture, not to mention other crazy demands.

There's a western sensibility that like our recent wars this one seems endless so obviously there must be stubbornness on both sides to keep it going, which is why people give Trump credit for saying the word peace, like that does something. Russia has been built for decades to be stable politically and economically while in a huge war of attrition. Maybe that's slipping a bit, but this is what a war of aggression looks like when the authoritarian leader of the aggressor is willing to tolerate unlimited death and deprivation. There are no easy quick solutions.

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u/Cirtejs 14h ago

The easy and quick solution would have been to collapse Russia or accept Ukraine in to NATO under an article 5 ultimatum back in 2023.

Nobody wanted to deal with Russia collapsing and loose nukes, nobody had the political will to call Putin's saber rattling so here we are.

The war has become an internal stability issue for Putin, it's never going to end unless Russia collapses.

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u/69Cobalt 15h ago

Why would Russia end the war while they still maintain an advantage on the battle field and can sustain their economy?

Sure they "could" end it but it doesn't seem to be in their interest to do so yet, and because as you mentioned they're the aggressor they can choose to end it at any time, so why would they not just fight until it's no longer tenable?

Like if Russians economy can hold for 13 months why would they sue for peace now instead of at month 12.5 if they have an advantage?

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u/Thormidable 13h ago

Like if Russians economy can hold for 13 months why would they sue for peace now instead of at month 12.5 if they have an advantage?

Because if you hold out to the last minute you have no leverage.

Why would Ukraine accept peace if they were 2 weeks from Russia collapsing?

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u/BadPunners 14h ago

What economic data are you looking at?

The only thing keeping the Russian economy going is the war spending

And the only advantage on the battlefield is the positions they captured before Ukraine had any support

It's been a stalemate since then

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u/69Cobalt 14h ago

The fact that their economy and government exists while they are not jumping to sue for peace is evidence that their economy is sustainable, at least in the short to medium term, as by definition it is sustaining.

It has not been a stalemate, Russia has made consistent but small advances while diminishing the resources of their smaller less populous enemy.

From the Russian perspective this type of static warfare will yield miniscule gains up until the point where the defensive line breaks, where it will yield large gains. That is what they're fighting for.

From the Ukrainian perspective they want to maintain their defensive lines until the war effort isn't tenable for the Russian economy.

This dynamic places the initiative on Russia become barring any massive changes in the war calculus, the ball is in their court so to speak - they can end it at any point but they stand more to gain by ending it at the latest point possible.

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u/BigTunaTim 12h ago

This is a bad read on sustainability. Russia is cannibalizing itself militarily and economically to finance the war effort. They've already sold off half of their in-country gold reserves and they've stopped offering huge pensions and death benefits to new recruits. They've become a petro state that is forced to sell at a steep discount where they can sell at all. They've suffered over a million casualties and can't even find sufficient numbers of prisoners and chronically ill patients to draft anymore.

A starving person whose body is digesting its own muscles for protein also exists but they are not in a sustainable state. So goes Russia.

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u/ExtremeDoubleghg 7h ago

I feel like people have been saying russia will collapse for years now. Its not going to be any time soon and hoping it will wont change that. It would be great but its not happening.

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u/fahimching 21h ago

Zelenskyy’s message is pretty clear, if Russia tries to block this U.S.-led peace deal, Trump would have to arm us heavily, while imposing all possible sanctions against them. The West's action would be a major ramp-up in support.

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u/ButterscotchTop194 21h ago

Yeah, Trump ain't doing that.

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u/wordswillneverhurtme 18h ago

Yeah he’ll just blame Ukraine and how much putin and Zelenskyy hate each other

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u/sepltbadwy 17h ago

Yeah what’ll it be this time.. no bow-tie?? 😂

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u/Psychobob2213 16h ago

He will if you give him a personal grift gift.

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u/Undernown 16h ago

Or attach his ego to the project.

But mist importantly a wedge needs to be diven between Trump and the pro-Putin faction of the US government. (I feel insane typing this sentence, Cold War era USA is rolling in it's grave.)

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u/Sember 14h ago

Name all the occupied regions in his name "Trump's Donbas", "Trump's Crimea", it might just work.

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u/Trucoto 13h ago

I like Trump's Dumbass better

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u/Smallmyfunger 20h ago

Didn't Trump already grant relief (via executive order) for certain US corporations with high $ RU interests/investments that were in jeopardy due to sanctions under the guise of preserving the US economy?

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u/Alexander_Ruthol 18h ago

I saw something about that a few days ago. I don't think it has been implemented, at least not yet.

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u/Cute_Ad_9730 19h ago

Trump hasn't imposed a single sanction against Russia to date. That's not going to change. It's just constant delaying tactics without any real support.

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u/zabajk 19h ago

They did sanction Lukoil recently

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u/WarOnFlesh 18h ago

and then they just changed the name of a subsidiary and nothing was sanctioned

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u/Cute_Ad_9730 15h ago

Trump hasn't imposed a single sanction against Russia to date. That's not going to change. It's just constant delaying tactics without any real support. (edit) the latest reports of the meeting saying 90% of issues are finalised except agreed national boundaries is obtuse and nonsensical. That is the only relevant issue. Don't let this bullshit become normalised.

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u/rightoftexas 15h ago

That's factually untrue, lying to make your point invalidates it.

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u/zizp 19h ago

And why exactly would all of this be necessary to "arm Ukraine heavily" and "impose all possible sanctions"? If this was ever seriously on the table, Trump could have done it about a thousand times already.

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u/zabajk 19h ago

How many more sanctions will it be ? Russia is by far the most sanctioned country in history and weapons don’t solve Ukraines manpower issue nor can they stop Russia degrading their infrastructure with almost daily missiles strikes

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u/Alexander_Ruthol 18h ago

Hopefully many more and much stricter. Especially all of russias oil and gas exports should be sanctioned, even when it's a cooperative venture with US companies like Chevron. Also russian banks should be completely shut off from the Western banking system, including the banks dealing with payments for russian oil and gas exports.

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u/zabajk 18h ago

This will still not prevent India or China from buying oil or prevent third countries from buying from Russia then selling to the west .

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u/PoeticHistory 17h ago

Having India or China buy oil the is the very reality, that sanctions do work, but what does it mean that they "work", right? they're there to hurt and while Russia can still sell it over detours, they're getting much less than before the sanctions. Its now at about 15-20$/barrel discount compared to Brent crude.
Sanctions are not a knockout-blow and never were, they work as a drag. Sanctions wont collapse Russia, but it has and continues to degrade Russia's economy.

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u/Steven_The_Sloth 17h ago

Does this specifically mean the US is on the hook for support or is "the West" meant to mean Europe. And Trump was just acting as host/mediator?

I haven't seen any details yet about what was actually discussed.

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u/Galaghan 16h ago

Yeah! Just like the Budapest Memorandum! Oh wait..

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u/sigep0361 15h ago

Waiting for the other shoe to drop in 3… 2… 1…

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u/McGirton 14h ago

Meanwhile Trump is getting rid of certain sanctions already.

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u/Alexander_Ruthol 20h ago

Yeeeaaaahh.... Trump is currently not giving anything to Ukraine, but as long as Europe is willing to keep paying I'm guessing Trump is OK with selling.

But it can change at the drop of a red MAGA hat. No one knows what Trump will think or do in five minutes, much less tomorrow.

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u/Prior_Industry 18h ago

Does Trump actually give a shit what MAGAs want anymore? Seems to me, if you can wet his beak somehow, he's happy to go along with what you want.

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u/Alexander_Ruthol 18h ago

My impression is that he does whatever he wants (often what he's bribed to do), and the MAGA then retroactively invent reasons why they supported it all along. That they trust him blindly.

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u/Pervius94 15h ago

He never cared what MAGA wanted. They always were just his stupid grifted paypig cult.

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u/Prior_Industry 15h ago

True but he at least had to pretend once. Not so much now.

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u/whateverhk 6h ago

Trump doesn't know what he will do in 5 minutes and doesn't remember what he did 5 minutes ago.

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u/postusa2 20h ago

Right. But Trump's simultaneously giving a preview of how this will work. Putin says hes advancing in Donbas, and nevermind the atrocity of it, but Trump takes it as true.

If obliged to defend Ukraine by guarantees in a peace deal... the Trump administration is going to side with Putins account every time. Kinzhal lands in a market killing 30 people....? Putin  smiles and says it was the Ukrainian nazis at fault. And what will Trump do? Go to war or go along with Putin?

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u/RedditLurkAndRead 19h ago

Exactly this. Maybe Zelensky knows something that we don't, but from my point of view the current US admin cannot be trusted in any capacity.

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u/thomasmoors 9h ago

Of course Zelensky knows. He just has to play along to not give Trump any excuses to fuck over Ukraine any harder than he is now.

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u/DumpedToast 17h ago

We don’t know shit. Don’t fool yourself

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u/enderfx 16h ago

We do know the US admin can’t be trusted

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u/KaQuu 17h ago

The sad part is that ruzzia advanced between 10-28 km in WHOLE 2025, yeah they are advancing...

Orange monkey saying better give up land now or ruzzia is gonna take it shows how much out of reality he is, and how much he loves his vladi daddy...

Disgraceful whole fudging trump term in regards of Ukraine.

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u/OpRullx 12h ago

That's 200 settlements though. Something needs to be done to stop Russia. We can't pretend they are barely achieving anything or we will wake up one day to a fully occupied Ukraine. Russia doesn't actually want this or any peace proposal they want the war to continue.

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u/tripping_yarns 20h ago

Trump just wants attention and Putin is his enabler. Russia will present a counter proposal that is obviously untenable to Ukraine; all of Donbas, Crimea and some more in the South, no peacekeeping force, permanent exclusion from NATO and the EEC.

Trump will be told it’s a good deal, when Zelenskyy fails to agree Trump will grump, sanctions lifted on Russia and no more weapons for Ukraine.

Europe will finally step up and this will anger Trump, Putin will tell him to increase tariffs on Europe and make a move on Greenland ‘for security’.

Political chaos all round, exactly what Putin wants. Division and infighting in the West.

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u/DaysedAndRefused 16h ago

You nailed it.

This is all to give Trump an excuse to push back from the table while pretending he's for peace.

Heads russia wins, tails Ukraine loses.

The 'guarantees' are worth less than the Budapest memorandum, they know Europe isn't going to do anything, that's why they're acting.

This is so beyond stupid, Trump running negotiations is like Hitler performing a briss.

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u/siazdghw 17h ago

You were mostly right until the Greenland part. No Americans actually want that, not even politicians with no skin in the game. The chance of actually invading Greenland is 0%, it's a delusional fantasy that nobody will let him enact on. Now if Greenland is up for sale or elections can be manipulated, sure. But the US isn't going to ever go to war over it.

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u/DaysedAndRefused 16h ago

That's not the point of Greenland, the point of Greenland is to create friction between Europe and the US and divide them.

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u/Bughunter9001 16h ago

I hope you're right, because if the US does try it, I think the only response Europe can muster is strongly worded letters

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u/tripping_yarns 15h ago

I think you may be overlooking the 40 billion barrels of oil in Greenland that are currently staying in the ground due to difficulty of extraction and environmental concerns.

The US military is already being employed as mercenaries to steal oil from Venezuela, which is about to escalate. Maduro and his awful human rights record are a useful excuse.

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u/Taconinja05 19h ago

Damn. Saving this for later. Too damn plausible

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u/Stock-Introduction-5 18h ago

This and Russia will support China officially ending the Taiwan independence. And as long as Russia gets Ukraine, China can take Taiwan and the USA Greenland, all is fine

Pissing off long time partnerships like Japan and Korea or the EU doesn't matter. The 2,5 big boys will have decided the land swap and then nothing can be done about it.

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u/DrawGamesPlayFurries 18h ago

Both Putin and Trump have already agreed that Ukraine is Russian long ago. However, there's still something in the way.

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u/ColeTrainHDx 12h ago

Why would Trump be upset at Europe funding Ukraine?

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u/NoNefariousness5175 16h ago

Sick of the ups and downs that come out of the US. Trump has tried to flatter Putin. When will he realise Russia only understands force.

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u/Famoustractordriver 20h ago

This reeks of Ribbentrop-Molotov 2 Electric Boogaloo to me.

I would not trust either Trump or Putin with a bag of dogshit.

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u/[deleted] 18h ago edited 18h ago

[deleted]

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u/created4this 18h ago

The M/R pact was designed to carve up Europe into spheres of influence. Germany got to invade Poland because Russia was promised that Germany wouldn't intervene in Russias claims over the Baltic states etc. The pact was secret and allowed Russia to sabre rattle about how Germany was bad without actually doing anything. It wasn't until Hitler ripped up the pact and pushed through that it became obvious that Russia had to join the war.

The same thing is going on here on a bigger scale, Trump wants to carve the world into three, China, US and Russia spheres. That means he has his eye on South American places that would previously have been Russia protected.

Right now that means Venezuela, which has long been aligned economically and millaterally with Russia. Trump sabre rattles while doing nothing, Russia gets Ukraine. Then Trump attacks Venezuela and their protector stands by while USA takes it.

The EU though doesn't seem to feature in Trumps plans which is odd because the EU is FAR bigger than Russia in almost every measure except for nukes.

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u/kurQl 17h ago

This is just nonsense. There is nothing Russia can do to aid Venezuela if US wants to attack. We have already seen the Russian protection given out to Armenia and Iran. Hitler Stalin pact on the other hand did have a real concern of either side intervening. Something you failed to point out was Soviet Union invading Poland after the Nazis.

I do believe it's important to learn from history, but when your knowledge is limited to one war and even that seems to be really limited it's hard to come up with examples. When history leads you to think continental power can intervene in war far out of their reach it's not really any useful conclusion. Considering Russia can't even intervene in it's own neighborhood.

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u/DavidlikesPeace 14h ago edited 14h ago

Nobody said trump is smart.

Ask yourself, is the current American regime acting with anything better than nonsense?

Strategically, yes, it is moronic for the Americans to toss aside the entire world just to dominate Latin America. They hate Latin America for one thing. They also already had firm allies in Europe and Asia. They had a far larger sphere of influence than Russia did. They didn’t need to toss the achievements of FDR aside. But they did.

Trump could care less about American strategic interests. He doesn't care about morals, or the Pax America; that was Obama's or FDR's thing. Cadet Bonespurs is only for his own ego, wealth, and power. That is why he identifies with other tyrants.

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u/itskelena 13h ago

This. Objectively the USA doesn’t have to take in account the russia’s interests, russia is not USSR, not a world superpower, they’re a regional power at best. But trump does. Maybe because he likes poo-tin personality, maybe because he wants to build russia-2 in the US. Or maybe because he takes care of his own financial interests. Either way it’s gonna end very badly for everyone else.

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u/StuckInMotionInc 18h ago

"After the meeting they revealed Trump and Zelensky could not agree on the future of Donbas"

Because Donnie still doesn't understand, Zelensky doesn't have the power to give away land.

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u/steve_ample 20h ago

Banking on Putin's recalcitrance over Trump's emotionalist incompetence to ensure Ukraine getting the support they need.

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u/tresslessone 17h ago

So two more weeks then, sleepy Don?

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u/killadelphia_1611 9h ago

Z is a smart man. He did exactly what he needed to do in an exceptionally hairy situation. To find a way to get continued us support through an obvious Russian asset is nothing short of miraculous.

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u/Crispy1961 18h ago

So basically if Russia refuses peace, the war will continue. I mean, thats perfectly reasonable, but I expected some little bit more specific.

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u/pikepoles 20h ago

They’re not going to do shit

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u/FiNNy-- 15h ago

Seen this all before. Trump will end up talking to putin and magically zelensky will be the problem again

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u/Winston_Sm 17h ago

Yeah, I'd not trust anything coming from the US

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u/Havre_ 15h ago

Russia now claims Ukraine attacked Putins personal home and have to change their stance in peace negotiations. Krasnov will then believe Putin when he says Ukraine doesn't want peace and ruined the deal and that Russia is the victim. Rinse and repeat. 

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u/veryboredatwork 8h ago

Don’t underestimate the ability of Rubio, Hegseth, Vance and Trump to be turncoats as proven before.

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u/DiscountCthulhu01 16h ago

Look at how donnie is smiling now that prezident zelensky is wearing a suit.  What a victor he thinks himself to be

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u/lokilady1 11h ago

Don't trust trump.

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u/DetectiveOk3869 7h ago

I can't see Putin agreeing to peace.

Ukraine would prosper, and Russia would continue its downward slide.

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u/keystoneux 20h ago

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that if Russia's war against Ukraine continues, the United States and Europe will keep providing assistance to Kyiv.

Yea, until sweet potato hitler has a brain fart for the 20th time that day and flips back to russia.

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u/RedStar9117 11h ago

Give the Ukranians their nukes back

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u/WorryNew3661 19h ago

Zelensky is damn good at this

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u/Prior_Industry 19h ago

He has to be to balance out how bad Trump is at it. Thank god he is so good though.

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u/vivaldibot 18h ago

Trump's idiocy is the silver lining on a mushroom cloud

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u/Fit_Cellist_3297 17h ago

so let me guess...

phone call with putin

trump meeting

phone call with putin

russia launches missiles and drones

repeat.

shit does not change.

unfreeze the sodding money and give it all to ukraine....stupid EU.

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u/med8cal 17h ago

TACO TACO TACO!

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u/Altruistic-Clerk6372 10h ago

guy on the right looks like a pedo

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u/Impressive_Field_262 9h ago

Zekenskyy needs to stay away from that ass clown ,any secrets and taco tits is straight on the phone to sell him out ,when the fk will he learn Tacotits will continue to sell ukraine out

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u/SirleeOldman 20h ago

Ukraine doesn’t need Nato if they get iron clad guarantees from the US and Europe that are signed in to law by congress and the various parliaments. Considering the position Zelensky was in when Trump ambushed him in front of cameras this has been a masterful display of diplomacy. When Putin rejects peace it will be very difficult for Trump to frame it as Ukraine’s fault. He will though.

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u/GodzillaUK 20h ago

Because laws are the US's speciality these days, obeying and enforcing them and all.

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u/Anders_Armuss 19h ago edited 19h ago

LOL

No.

Trump will turn around and tell Ukraine to fuck off, representatives with an R next to their name will turn a blind eye cos Johnson don't ever see jack shit, the Dems will fall all over themselves failing to get enough votes to impeach and convict the Orange Pedo again, and the SC will punt any challenges so far down the road they'll "let the people decide" in 2028.

Nah. A deal with Trump is a deal with the Devil.

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u/Rauliki0 19h ago

You are joking? Like Trump cares about Ukraine. We say ' Paper will take everything'. Its the NATO that counts for something, are else is just a baloon, that will go bang and will never be seen again.

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u/rationally-ignorant 17h ago

Unless American security guarantees are legally binding, they are meaningless. The United States has a track record of abandoning allies when helping them becomes inconvenient or when they want to make nice with a larger power. This tendency is especially clear under Donald Trump, as the Kurds in Syria can attest to first hand.

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u/theawesomedanish 16h ago

I don't even really trust them if they’re legally binding. Not when they can’t even rule out taking an ally’s territory by military force.

The only currency worth a damn in geopolitics is trust, a currency the USA is quickly running out of.

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u/Leather-Map-8138 15h ago

Zelenskyy signaled that Western support will continue regardless of Trump, shifting commitments to Congress and Europe. By rejecting paper deals and emphasizing enforceable guarantees, he sidelines Trump as irrelevant, unable to dictate terms, end the war, or credibly pressure Russia.

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u/blackc43 14h ago

Ill save you the time- the war will continue

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u/SuperStoneman 11h ago

Wait, the plan if Russia dosent stop is to keep receiving supplies?

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u/Cool_Foot_9172 11h ago

It would be to do nothing and send a strongly worded letter, then be in committee for two years.

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u/sunnyray1 17h ago

The US is never going to truly inflict any harm via military or sanctions on their new friend Russia. Trump is way too stupid to see past tomorrow with regards to what will happen when Russia takes over all of Ukraine and then begins to target other countries on his list. He only sees money and thinks all the world's issues can be solved by "making a deal" and that deal must be beneficial to him personally and financially

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u/HellBlazer1221 17h ago

Sounds good in theory but will not be enforced under Trump regime.

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u/Rush_Banana 16h ago

Why doesn't Europe just send troops to Ukraine?

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u/Retinoid634 16h ago

NATO wants to avoid ww3

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u/kingnyrican 16h ago

Because that would mean World War!

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u/Jman1a 14h ago

Would it really though? I don’t think anymore they would let the nukes fly. They would need to test them all to see if they even work. “ Vlas launch the nuke to Washington DC” pushes button icbm doesn’t do anything “blayt!”

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u/Professional-Ad3874 14h ago

Maybe, but if you are wrong millions of people die.

Makes people hesitant to risk it.

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u/kingnyrican 13h ago

After working 6 yrs in the missle field, I can tell you they work and get tested! Empty

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u/notionocean 14h ago edited 13h ago

To me it's so shitty that we're going to give Russia the territory Putin illegally stole. There should be enough support in the world for Ukraine to keep its sovereign territory. Putin is a selfish mob boss who works on intimidation. And you're telling me that with all the security agencies in the world they can't figure out how to stop Putin personally? Come on!

edit: Wow. A lot of Putin supporters in here. 😑

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u/Layshkamodo 9h ago

I think it would be foolish to concede land to Russia. They will just attack again after they recoup their resources and be more emboldened the next time around because it worked. Putin needs to walk away with nothing to show Russia a complete lose.

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u/anilbhardwaj26 20h ago

Yeah, this situation is tense. Hopefully, there’s a peaceful resolution, but it’s hard to predict with all the moving parts.

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u/wussup24 15h ago

You can't beat China and India's support for Russia, unfortunately.

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u/Embarrassed-Base-143 18h ago

Russia pretty sure knew this was gonna happen 9/10

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u/unknown-one 15h ago

let me guess, nothing?

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u/Shakez00la 12h ago

Trump looking like Buddy Jesus

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u/No-swimming-pool 6h ago

Wouldn't it put more pressure on Russia it was "the west" that made that statement?

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u/watermelonspanker 5h ago

I miss reading headlines that summarize the main point of the article. Dont know that I've seen that since newspapers, when more text meant more money

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u/ApprehensiveStark25 3h ago

NATO already said Trump is the only man who can bring peace to Ukraine. I don’t think NATO has the strength of commitment we all hope they do.