The Ukraine ‘peace deal’ is proving a scam
The White House’s breathless – some might say witless – optimism at the beginning of the talks has evaporated.Trump himself seems to be waking up to the realisation that the Kremlin is playing him for a fool.
Two rounds of peace talks in, and the basic rhythms of Putin’s unique negotiating style are becoming clear: Lie. Bomb. Lie. Bomb.
Just a day after a new supposed breakthrough this week in Riyadh on a moratorium on attacks in the Black Sea, Putin’s deadly drones once again swarmed into Kharkiv destroying apartments and stores and injuring 21 people.
After Donald Trump spoke to Vladimir Putin earlier this month, the White House claimed that “a future with an improved bilateral relationship between the United States and Russia has huge upside” and spoke of “enormous economic deals and geopolitical stability when peace has been achieved”.
Days later Kremlin representatives sat down with their US counterparts in Saudi Arabia and agreed a partial ceasefire suspending attacks on energy infrastructure. Putin claimed that he had issued orders to cancel an imminent strike. Later that very night Russian missiles rained down on Kyiv, killing a young family in their beds.
This week the pattern has repeated. Putin’s envoys claimed that a ceasefire on the Black Sea had been thrashed out that would allow free export of Russian grain and fertilisers. Another lie, or at least a distraction, because neither commodity is currently sanctioned or restricted.
What the Kremlin really wants is free passage for its oil tankers and cover for its battered Black Sea Fleet to return to its base at Sevastopol, from which it has been forced to withdraw by Ukrainian missile attacks. And even as the delegations flew home, 86 deadly Iranian-made Shahed drones were rolled out of their containers, assembled, armed and launched at Kharkiv. More than 20 made it through Ukrainian defences, bringing more fire and fury to Kharkiv’s long-suffering civilians even as Putin claimed to be talking peace.
But perhaps Trump and his billionaire oil lawyer envoy Steve Witkoff aren’t the suckers that Putin takes them for. For one, the White House’s breathless – some might say witless – optimism at the beginning of the talks has evaporated. The tone of the readout of this week’s talks in Riyadh was bone-dry: “The United States and Russia will continue working toward achieving a durable and lasting peace.”
Trump himself seems to be waking up to the realisation that the Kremlin is playing him for a fool.
The Ukraine ‘peace deal’ is proving a scam
Two rounds of peace talks in, and the basic rhythms of Putin’s unique negotiating style are becoming clear: Lie. Bomb. Lie. Bomb. Just a day after a new supposed breakthrough this week in Riyadh on a moratorium on attacks in the Black Sea, Putin’s deadly drones once again swarmed into Kharkiv...
