Trump plans direct talks with Putin and Zelensky

[Andy C]

Trump clearly has the stronger hand as Putin knows Trump can drop the hammer (sanctions/tariffs) on Russias economy. Contrary to what some of the press have reported, I think Trump got mostly what he wanted from this meeting. His stated goal was to set the stage for a peace deal, which means another meeting which will be soon, and likely include Zelenski.

We all know Trump likes to talk, and take numerous questions from the press. The fact that he kept his comments short, and took no questions tells me the a deal is within reach, but cant be made public yet until all parties agree.

Nobody really thought a peace deal would come out of this first meeting.

 

[Andy C]

Sure is quiet here.......

At least he didnt give Alaska to Putin……

 

[Andiamo]

No way any peace deal could be a 1-step process.
I love what Putin said about Biden.
CBS has the transcript of their comments.

 

[Work4Peanuts]

Trump clearly has the stronger hand as Putin knows Trump can drop the hammer (sanctions/tariffs) on Russias economy. Contrary to what some of the press have reported, I think Trump got mostly what he wanted from this meeting. His stated goal was to set the stage for a peace deal, which means another meeting which will be soon, and likely include Zelenski.

We all know Trump likes to talk, and take numerous questions from the press. The fact that he kept his comments short, and took no questions tells me the a deal is within reach, but cant be made public yet until all parties agree.

Nobody really thought a peace deal would come out of this first meeting.

Mom said they had good body language coming out of the meeting, and she is very good at reading body language.

 

[KMendel]

Quoted from Andy:

We all know Trump likes to talk, and take numerous questions from the press. The fact that he kept his comments short, and took no questions, tells me that a deal is within reach but can't be made public yet until all parties agree.

At least he didn't give Alaska to Putin.

Second quote is a bit snarky, don't you think, Andy? And, from your own quotes here, we have no idea what Trump proposed to Putin, do we? We have no clue what was discussed in Trump's limo, for instance. He may or may not have offered Alaska to Putin. So, rather than speak prematurely about what was/was not said/done/offered............perhaps we should wait until we know all the facts. They will come out in due time. The fact that he kept his comments short and took no questions could also mean Putin didn't play along with Trump's plans, and so the lunch was canceled and the meeting cut short with Putin making a brisk departure.........with no question-taking from the press . As I said, time will tell.

 

[Andy C]

Quoted from Andy:

We all know Trump likes to talk, and take numerous questions from the press. The fact that he kept his comments short, and took no questions, tells me that a deal is within reach but can't be made public yet until all parties agree.

At least he didn't give Alaska to Putin.

Second quote is a bit snarky, don't you think, Andy? And, from your own quotes here, we have no idea what Trump proposed to Putin, do we? We have no clue what was discussed in Trump's limo, for instance. He may or may not have offered Alaska to Putin. So, rather than speak prematurely about what was/was not said/done/offered............perhaps we should wait until we know all the facts. They will come out in due time. The fact that he kept his comments short and took no questions could also mean Putin didn't play along with Trump's plans, and so the lunch was canceled and the meeting cut short with Putin making a brisk departure.........with no question-taking from the press . As I said, time will tell.

snarky? Yes, Im sorry.

You are correct, we dont yet know what the main sticking point is, but what we do know is we have a President who is working hard to try and end the killing in their war.

Trump knows how to play the long game in order to finalize a deal. If it ends up not working, it wont be because of a lack of effort.

 

[Amethyst]

How could Trump possibly offer Alaska to Putin?

Trump would not try to give away something as beautiful as Alaska.
He wants all of Canada lol, why would he give away something

 

[Andy C]

Trump would not try to give away something as beautiful as Alaska.
He wants all of Canada lol, why would he give away something

Now if were taking about giving away my home state of CA, and my current state of Oregon…have at it…….

 

[Andy C]

Trump will meet with Zelenski on Monday with other European leaders also present.

 

[Ghoti Ichthus]

Trump will meet with Zelenski on Monday with other European leaders also present.

Security had best be on their tip-toes

 

[Hol]

From X:
Piers Morgan
@piersmorgam
10h

President @realDonaldTrump sounding very optimistic about a deal to end the war, and clearly putting huge effort into it. Bizarre to see so many people seemingly willing him to fail. The world should be supporting his determination to forge peace, not mocking it.

…
Nick Sortor
@nicksortor
2h

JUST IN: President Trump wants to host both Zelensky AND Putin together to hammer out a peace deal as soon as FRIDAY, per Axios47 is wasting NO time trying to end this war.

Peacemaker-in-Chief!

 

[Andy C]

From X:
Piers Morgan
@piersmorgam
10h

President @realDonaldTrump sounding very optimistic about a deal to end the war, and clearly putting huge effort into it. Bizarre to see so many people seemingly willing him to fail. The world should be supporting his determination to forge peace, not mocking it.

…
Nick Sortor
@nicksortor
2h

JUST IN: President Trump wants to host both Zelensky AND Putin together to hammer out a peace deal as soon as FRIDAY, per Axios47 is wasting NO time trying to end this war.

Peacemaker-in-Chief!

Trump is definitely on a mission. Get the deal done quickly!!!!!!

 

[Ghoti Ichthus]

Trump is definitely on a mission. Get the deal done quickly!!!!!!

I couldn't help but think:


3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
1 Thessalonians 5:3, KJV

 

[Margery]

For what it's worth Inside Russia's Konstantin had some thoughts. Putin is economically strapped due to the war, and due to socialist policies and his unfortunate habit of murdering opponents some of whom are businessmen. Just ask Bill Browder who lost his business partner to Putin a while back. He can't afford to have countries like India where he sells oil giving up buying his oil because Trump put a big tariff on India. India responded by dumping Putin's oil contracts.

This trip gave Putin some positive media attention to point to back home. He's actually grateful to a degree. Not enough to quit killing Ukrainians but feeling warmer to Trump.

Another thing is that Konstantin figured the bunker buster big bombs that hit Iran's nuke facilities worried Putin a bit. Which would explain why he had Medvedev "taking Trump's temperature" by talking rudely to Trump about nukes. Putin was assessing the situation. As a good KGB officer would.

Lastly is who Putin brought along.

He was serious enough to bring his foreign minister Sergei Lavrov (higher up on the food chain than Medvedev). Sergei mimicked Trump by wearing the Russian equivalent of a Maga hat- the sweatshirt with the Cyrillic letters that stand for USSR in bold print. This would have been a calculated move, to establish equality and not allow dominance over Russia. Great for pics in Russian media! He was the one with the permanent scowl on his face. Sergei isn't full of charm like his boss. He's Putin's bad cop to Putin's good cop.

Another little note- Putin was working on charm so he made sure to be a bit rude about Biden as he knew that is another way to win Trump's approval.

Bottom line, while nothing got signed, it's further ahead than this time last week. And Russia came prepared to be nice even if they aren't giving up on the Ukraine.

 

[Work4Peanuts]

For what it's worth Inside Russia's Konstantin had some thoughts. Putin is economically strapped due to the war, and due to socialist policies and his unfortunate habit of murdering opponents some of whom are businessmen. Just ask Bill Browder who lost his business partner to Putin a while back. He can't afford to have countries like India where he sells oil giving up buying his oil because Trump put a big tariff on India. India responded by dumping Putin's oil contracts.

This trip gave Putin some positive media attention to point to back home. He's actually grateful to a degree. Not enough to quit killing Ukrainians but feeling warmer to Trump.

Another thing is that Konstantin figured the bunker buster big bombs that hit Iran's nuke facilities worried Putin a bit. Which would explain why he had Medvedev "taking Trump's temperature" by talking rudely to Trump about nukes. Putin was assessing the situation. As a good KGB officer would.

Lastly is who Putin brought along.

He was serious enough to bring his foreign minister Sergei Lavrov (higher up on the food chain than Medvedev). Sergei mimicked Trump by wearing the Russian equivalent of a Maga hat- the sweatshirt with the Cyrillic letters that stand for USSR in bold print. This would have been a calculated move, to establish equality and not allow dominance over Russia. Great for pics in Russian media! He was the one with the permanent scowl on his face. Sergei isn't full of charm like his boss. He's Putin's bad cop to Putin's good cop.

Another little note- Putin was working on charm so he made sure to be a bit rude about Biden as he knew that is another way to win Trump's approval.

Bottom line, while nothing got signed, it's further ahead than this time last week. And Russia came prepared to be nice even if they aren't giving up on the Ukraine.

Thank you. If it involves Russia, I always look forward to your comments. Trump has been hitting Putin in the pocketbook, and has threatened to hit harder. Putin knows he isn't playing. I loved the power move with the jets overhead as they were walking the red carpet together. Not the latest tech, but a little reminder of Iran, maybe. Putin isn't the only one who understands head games.

 

[Andiamo]

Trump would not try to give away something as beautiful as Alaska.

Or strategically crucial. Trump would never consider this.

 

[Margery]

What I think happened is Putin made some demands to Ukraine via Trump at this visit, and today the meeting with Zelensky will be the one to watch because there are some lines Zelensky can't give away that he's put too much hardware into to protect over in the Donbas region. It's in an area that Russia hasn't been able to take.

Putin's asking for that area. That is Z's line of defence. So really Putin is asking for all of Ukraine as usual.

And Z won't be inclined to give it away just because Trump says Putin will stand by his word this time.

Ukraine already did that in the Budapest Memorandum of 94 when they gave up all their nukes. THE STATES along with Great Britain signed with Russia to guarantee that Ukraine would never be invaded by Russia if they gave up the nukes.

Clinton has publicly regretted doing that. Not sure if Britain even remembers but they've been better than most in trying to help Ukraine! That btw is why Putin rattles his sword in Britain's general direction (misquoting Monte Python there) every once in a while.

And we can all see how good that guarantee is from Russia's side of things!

 

[Work4Peanuts]

What I think happened is Putin made some demands to Ukraine via Trump at this visit, and today the meeting with Zelensky will be the one to watch because there are some lines Zelensky can't give away that he's put too much hardware into to protect over in the Donbas region. It's in an area that Russia hasn't been able to take.

Putin's asking for that area. That is Z's line of defence. So really Putin is asking for all of Ukraine as usual.

And Z won't be inclined to give it away just because Trump says Putin will stand by his word this time.

Ukraine already did that in the Budapest Memorandum of 94 when they gave up all their nukes. THE STATES along with Great Britain signed with Russia to guarantee that Ukraine would never be invaded by Russia if they gave up the nukes.

Clinton has publicly regretted doing that. Not sure if Britain even remembers but they've been better than most in trying to help Ukraine! That btw is why Putin rattles his sword in Britain's general direction (misquoting Monte Python there) every once in a while.

And we can all see how good that guarantee is from Russia's side of things!

I've been saying (around the house) all they need to do if they establish peace is to give some nukes back to Ukraine (I know that's not going to happen)

 

[Ghoti Ichthus]

I've been saying (around the house) all they need to do if they establish peace is to give some nukes back to Ukraine (I know that's not going to happen)

Even if the nukes would have prevented the modern invasions, since Ukraine didn't have them and the invasions happened, given what Gog/USSR has done to Ukraine since 2014, and the past history (Holodomor, etc.), I suspect President Zelenskyy might be more apt than even some islamic countries to use them. Especially if he could manage getting it/them far enough north to cause low probability of environmental harm to Ukraine.

Glad he doesn't have them now (AFAIK, anyway).

 

[Margery]

I saw a clip of Macron on NBC being very supportive of Trump and his efforts for peace. I laughed- it was on YouTube, and it popped up on my feed. The NBC reporter interviewing him was trying so hard to drag some dirt out of him against Trump and she failed utterly!

It was fun to watch. I liked Macron in that moment for sticking up for Trump!