About That "Ceasefire"

As we’ve been discussing, the West—by which I mean the US—has been trying to convince Ukraine to pull a switch or pivot. The idea is to do a “ceasefire in place” with Russia while Ukraine switches from offense to defense. Then at some point in the future it will be back to war. Or like Lloyd Austin you could call it a “temporary truce”. The idea is the same. It’s a hoax, and the Ruling Class of the West seems to have a boundless belief in their ability to snooker, well, basically everybody. They can’t grasp that Putin is different than their base voters.

-- GEROMAN -- time will tell - @GeromanAT

"Our source in the OP said that Lloyd Austin suggested Zelensky change his military strategy and move from an offensive war to a defensive one in order to save military aid. The United States is trying to gently convince the Office of the President of the need for a temporary truce, which is necessary for the Biden Administration during the election campaign."

https://t.me/rezident_ua/20554…

5:35 AM · Nov 21, 2023

A temporary truce? Good luck!

Arnaud Bertrand @RnaudBertrand

This is truly stunning:

https://twitter.com/ShadowofEzra/status/1726622797118804153

/video/1…

Richard Haas, president of the Council on Foreign Relations for 10 years until June this year, saying:

"Even if we give everything we need to give to Ukraine it still won't lead to success... Therefore the U.S. needs to have some very direct conversations with Ukraine and talk about reducing their emphasis on liberating land, increasingly put their emphasis on holding onto what they've got... The idea that 1 or 2 or 3 more years of this is going to result in success, I simply don't see it... Anytime in life there's a big gap between what you're trying to do and your ability to do it, you either need to increase your means or lower your goals: here the only realistic option is to lower our goals."

In other words, the war is not only lost, it's unwinnable.

First and foremost, what an immense waste of human life. Not only was this one of the most easily preventable wars of all times, but the West actively worked to prevent any peace deals early on in the war like the one tentatively reached in Istanbul just 1 month or so into the war, convincing Ukraine they'd be better off fighting. 100s of thousands of deaths later and here we are.... Will there be any reckoning? Sadly, I'm pretty sure there won't, just a depressing disaster all around.

The tricky part is that Russia gets a say. What if Ukraine and the US declare a ceasefire, but Russia doesn’t? Woops—saying it’s so doesn’t make it so. And Russia isn’t buying any of that—how do you finesse this ploy if the other guy just keeps saying, No?

-- GEROMAN -- time will tell - @GeromanAT

Russia does not want to stop as long as US is setting conditions for a cease fire.

And Russia knows a pause would help NATO to rearm Kiev - so the war will go on until Kiev is openly surrendering. The time for "deals" are over.

9:18 AM · Nov 21, 2023

And now right on cue Russia is speaking up in an official way:

Russia Says Co-existence Not Possible With Ukraine's Current 'Regime'

That sounds very much like—take your “ceasefire” and shove it. We’re not done yet. And sure enough …

Russia cannot co-exist with the current "regime" in Kyiv but Moscow can resist the might of NATO for as long as it needs to fully demilitarize Ukraine, a senior Russian diplomat said Tuesday.

…

"The current regime [in Kyiv] is absolutely toxic, we do not see any options for co-existence with it at the moment," Russian Ambassador-at-Large Rodion Miroshnik told reporters in Moscow.

His post was created to collect evidence about alleged Ukrainian crimes against civilians.

Miroshnik said Ukraine had carried out crimes against civilians and had breached human rights while NATO had supplied forbidden weapons to Ukraine. ...

Miroshnik said … the West would eventually lose interest and the current authorities in Kyiv would collapse.

"As soon as the danger is liquidated, this can be considered to be the achievement of the SMO's goals," Miroshnik said. "We can resist NATO just as much as we need to fulfill the tasks that the president has formulated."

Russia will be ready for a ceasefire when “the Kiev regime” is “liquidated.” What part of “liquidation” does the West not understand? Russia doesn’t even refer to Ukraine as a country anymore, except in historical contexts—not as a currently existing country. The West can go on talking to itself, formulating schemes and discussing them with each other, but Russia isn’t about to buy any of the snake oil the West is selling. I have to believe that the West is in for a very rude awakening.