I mean, it’s a rough outline of a sketch of a plan, but, it also leads to WWIII
Lindsey Graham has a strategy to end Russia’s war in Ukraine
Fresh off President Donald Trump’s Friday summit with Vladimir Putin in Alaska, Sen. Lindsey Graham thinks the next phase of American diplomacy over the war in Ukraine needs to target Moscow’s pocketbook.
“My advice to President Trump and [Secretary of State Marco Rubio] is, you’ve got to convince Putin that if this war doesn’t end justly and honorably with Ukraine making concessions also, we’re going to destroy the Russian economy,” the South Carolina Republican told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo on “Sunday Morning Futures.” “We have the ability to do it.”
Tariffs on countries that purchase Russian energy are a key part of the equation, Graham said. A Senate bill he is sponsoring would allow Trump to impose levies of 500 percent on those countries.
Trump in early August hiked tariffs on India to 50 percent due to the country’s purchasing of Russian oil. Graham claimed that it was those sanctions that drove Putin to acquiesce to the Alaska visit. And going after China — another major consumer of Russian oil — could prove even more pivotal, he said.
What does Russia do if its economy is being driven into tatters? Does Putin acquiesce, or, does he decide to forget about Ukraine and attack NATO nations, including the U.S.? Perhaps with Chinese and Indian backing (India has the second biggest army in the world, behind China)? But, it’s an idea
But Trump was far from threatening in his meeting with Putin last week. He rolled out the red carpet for the Russian leader and the two rode together in the presidential limousine. The meeting ended without a ceasefire or even concrete plans for a trilateral talk involving Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Sigh. This again. Trump is not a politician, he’s a businessman, and thinks about negotiation differently. But, really, no president would go into a discussion like this with threats. That’s not the way it works. What would Trump threaten Putin with, attacking Russia? The NY Times does it too, because the talking points memo went out
Zelensky Brings Backup to the White House as Trump Aligns More Closely With Putin
This time, when President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine arrives in the Oval Office, he will come with backup.
An array of European prime ministers and presidents are flying in for the meeting on Monday to make sure that a viable, defensible Ukraine survives whatever carving up of its territory is about to happen at the negotiating table.
But they are also there to make certain that the trans-Atlantic alliance emerges intact. President Trump’s instant reversal on the critical issue of obtaining a cease-fire before negotiating over land or security guarantees has left many of them shaken, and wondering whether Mr. Trump had once again been swayed by President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.
These people have never negotiated. They have never served as an intermediary. Trump heard Putin’s terms. Now he listens to Ukraine’s.
Putin’s Proposal for Land Deal, Made to Trump, Shifts Pressure to Zelensky
President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia has shifted President Trump’s attention back to President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine by making a proposal for territory that is fraught with security and political risk for Kyiv.
Along with other demands, Mr. Putin proposed that Ukraine hand over the remainder of the Donbas region to Moscow, and in exchange Russia would stop fighting along the rest of the front, Mr. Trump told European leaders in a call after meeting with Mr. Putin in Alaska. Mr. Trump backed the idea of Ukraine’s ceding territory to freeze the war. (snip)
Ukraine’s Constitution bars ceding territory apart from through a nationwide referendum. A recent poll by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology found that 78 percent of Ukrainians were against transferring territory controlled by Ukraine to Russia.
No one really wants to see the Donbas given to Russia, except maybe the Russian aligned people in the region. But, how do they get Russia to leave otherwise? Russia still holds Crimea, after waltzing in during the Obama-Biden years, and nothing forced them out. What are the other options? Continue fighting and see millions more die? See Ukraine destroyed? Perhaps a nuclear weapon used? War has uncertainties.
But, it is talking time. Negotiation.
Read: Lindsay Graham Knows Exactly How To End Ukraine War Or Something »
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