Putin's Message
I want to recommend two videos that provide worthwhile insights into what’s been going on between Trump 2.0 and Putin. The first is a monologue by Danny Davis. The second is the usual Friday afternoon Judge Nap show:
One of the things that jumped out during the DD monologue was two videos presenting the same idea. It’s a view that I’ve presented repeatedly—that the Russian position amounts to, Ukraine has to surrender before we enter negotiations. That’s what the Russian terms amount to. One of the videos featured a former CIA analyst and the other featured a former adviser to Putin. Both of them maintained that at this point Russia is determined to defeat both Ukraine as well as Europe. Putin is not about to get into another ceasefire trap when he’s ahead in the conflict but still has a long way to go. Putin wants a surrender, not a ceasefire.
That seems like a good place to start—with two more related items. First:
Trump's Envoy Was In Moscow As Ukraine Attacked Capital With Drones
Trump’s envoy was in Moscow waiting to meet Putin—waiting for 8 hours according to multiple MSM reports. I’m guessing that Putin’s message was that he’s pretty much done dealing with go betweens and the charade of Trump being the honest broker to a peace deal. Don’t hold your breath for Witkoff’s next trip to Moscow.
The second message came later, with Putin’s public rejection of Trump’s ceasefire ploy. Included in Putin’s statement was a reference to a very vulgar Russian joke which, in the context, was clearly intended to convey: take your ceasefire and shove it.
Perhaps those two items explain Trump’s unusually solemn demeanor—as I took it—during an interview last night. He paused briefly before responding to the question, “What will happen if Putin doesn’t agree to the ceasefire?” and his brief response lacked the usual Trumpian bravado that we’re accustomed to. This markedly contrasted with his more hopeful mood in the immediate aftermath of the ceasefire offer. You can see that brief video of Trump here.
Perhaps Trump is finally realizing the depth of Russian distrust—and determination—that has been building since the end of the Cold War. Putin has understood the Anglo-Zionist goal of subjugating Russia since he first rose to power in 2000. That’s why he has tirelessly tried to present Russia’s case to the West, while also rebuilding Russia’s defensive capabilities. Matters became far graver with the Anglo-Zionist coup in Kiev in 2014, which forced Putin to take drastic action to head of a planned NATO naval base in Ukraine’s Black Sea region. Bernard at MoA recalls the aftermath of the coup—a massacre:
Echoes Of The May 2 2014 Odessa Massacre
On May 4 2014 I wrote about the February coup aftermath in Ukraine:
Two days ago a mob, supported by the fascists Right Sektor, killed over 30 federalist Ukrainians in Odessa by pushing them from their camp into a building and then setting fire to it. Those who escaped the massacre, not the perpetrators, were rounded up by police. Today pro-federalism people besieged the police headquarter in Odessa until the police released those it had earlier arrested.
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The U.S. plan for Ukraine seems to be to bait Russia into an occupation. This would destroy EU-Russia relations, embolden NATO and help the U.S. to keep the EU as a secondary partner under its control. There would be lots of economic upsides for the U.S. in such a situation. Selling more arms and increasing energy market shares are only the starters.There are two reasons to believe that this plan will fail:
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Without Russian intervention and without German support the U.S. campaign against Russia is unlikely to reach its secondary target of isolating Russia. The primary target, Sevastopol harbor in Crimea, was already lost when Russia reunified with the island.What is left to do then for Washington is to create more chaos in Ukraine and to hope that somehow out of total chaos some new chance may arise to stick it to Russia. For lack of real direction that strategy is also unlikely to succeed.
Of course we know that that was a significant step on the road to war. But war was not inevitable—except that the Anglo-Zionists wanted it. Putin, four years later, in 2018, delivered a pointed warning that, if war came, this war would be different. Russia had developed hypersonic missiles that could not be stopped and would act in self defense. Putin stated forthrightly that the West had failed to listen in the past, but that now Russia’s new weaponry would force the West to listen. This came, significantly, at a time when Trump 1.0’s defense establishment was publicly issuing policy papers that made no secret of Anglo-Zionist hostile intentions toward Russia:
a 2018 Rand study that formulated what became US policy against Russia, which has run into a brick wall in Ukraine. The idea of that policy was to use Ukraine as a proxy to “extend” Russia, to bring Russia to its knees by focusing on supposed Russian vulnerabilities. (Brief Update Re The Rand Report)
For further context, it was during Trump 1.0 that the US massively increased both sanctions on Russia as well as shipments of military materiel to Ukraine, while building Ukraine into a true threat to Russia. This was the sine qua non for this war, and the Russians haven’t forgotten.
Like a fair number of others, I believe that Trump badly wants to put this war on Russia behind, but history is what it is. The ill considered terms as well as the presentation of the ceasefire ploy—probably formulated largely with domestic critics in mind—were almost sure to raise Russian hackles and remind them of past betrayals and of the consistent Western condescension toward Russians. If it were only that the Russians realized that Trump isn’t really their friend, that would be a small thing. The Russians aren’t looking for a friend at this point. What was worse is that Trump has, in Russian eyes, shown that he can’t be trusted—no matter his, arguably, good intentions. Most likely they realize Trump is having to respond to domestic Anglo-Zionist pressures. That, of course, is a problem for Americans, and isn’t a Russian problem. The Russians will continue as is. They won’t break off relations, but they’ll probably be demanding hard concessions going forward, if anything is to be accomplished.
On a somewhat related note—as you’ll see—the NYPost has a story out that claims that control of the Zhou autopen was held by an insider at the White House whom all feared to cross:
Key Biden Aide Suspected of Exceeding Authority by Using Autopen to Sign Official Documents
Gateway Pundit ^ | March 14, 2025 | Cristina LailaAccording to The New York Post’s Steve Nelson, a key Biden aide may have exceeded their authority by unilaterally determining what documents to robo-sign.
The New York Post knows the name of the key Biden aide, but they did not disclose their identity in Friday’s bombshell report.
An insider told The New York Post that he feared this key Biden aide: “I feared no one as much as I feared that [staffer]. To me, [the staffer] basically was the president,” the person said. “No one ever questioned [the staffer]. Period.”
Let’s see. I’d say that “staffer” was the Chief of Staffer—who else in a presidential administration could plausibly exercise that kind of control? Zhou had two of those. The first was Ron Klain, the second was the bagel shop impresario Jeff Zients.
How does that relate to the above ceasefire related stuff? Just this. On the Judge Nap show Ray McGovern retold an anecdote that he has presented in the past:
The president of the United States, Biden, on the 30th of December promised Putin, ‘Look, we agree, no offensive strike missiles will be put into Ukraine.’ That was on the phone. Sullivan and Blinken weren't there. Two weeks later Lavrov meets Blinken in Geneva. ‘Tony, Tony, what about Biden's undertaking not to put offensive strike missiles in Ukraine?’ Blinken: ‘Forget about it. We weren't with him at the time. We have the right to put those offensive strike missiles in Ukraine—and we will if the Ukrainians ask us. We might be able to talk about limiting the number of them.’
Now Trump is doubling down on stupid:
Megatron @Megatron_ron
9h
BREAKING:
After Putin rejected the US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire, Trump introduced new sanctions against Russia
Trump Tightens Sanctions on Russia, Imposes Additional Restrictions on Oil, Gas, and Banking Sectors — CBS News
It is reported that the US President did not renew the Treasury Department's license, which allowed foreign companies to make payments for Russian energy resources through sanctioned Russian banks.
Restricting access to American banking systems makes it difficult for other countries to buy Russian oil, thereby limiting global supplies.
The media claims that this will serve as one of the levers of pressure to convince Russia to agree to a ceasefire.
As if the Russians—and many other nations—haven’t been preparing for this move. My take? Putin’s conditions just got tougher.
"The Russians aren’t looking for a friend at this point. What was worse is that Trump has, in Russian eyes, shown that he can’t be trusted—no matter his, arguably, good intentions..."
That whole paragraph is a great synopsis of where the Russian-American relationship is at now. What the Russians are looking for is the same thing they have been looking for since the 1990s: someone in the West with whom they can negotiate in good faith. The sad legacy of Western betrayals of Russia means that even if Trump can eventually prove his trustworthiness, the Russians will still question what happens after he is gone. So they need more than words; they need verifiable and enforceable guarantees.
Trump is relying on his business acumen and prior experience in private sector dealmaking as the basis for his interactions with all political leaders around the globe. In his mind, this affords the best chance of success, and he is not going to change tactics, no matter how reality plays out. Russia understands this and is deftly countering Trump's bravado, threats, and attempted intimidation via a persistent recitation of the war's root causes, its existential nature, and the endgame that must accrue before a real long term peace can be obtained. As such, Trump will flail and Russia will stay the course. And in the end, the West will be shown to be irrelevant to the outcome.