Outside the Beltway

Outside the Beltway

Source: The White House

“Russia wants to see Ukraine succeed.”

Sure, Donald. Whatever you say.

Steven L. Taylor
11
Source: The White House

Catching up on some items from the last couple of days, here’s a gem from POTUS.

Because it is known that the best way to demonstrate one’s desire for a neighboring state to succeed is to invade it, kill tens of thousands, and do billions in damage.

And, sure, Russia would love to make Ukraine dependent on them for energy. How generous!

I am clearly no fan of Trump and find him intellectually wanting, to be kind. But sometimes his game-show level acumen for international relations really shines through.

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11 responses to ““Russia wants to see Ukraine succeed.””

  1. Kathy Avatar
    Kathy

    He probably learned international relations from the anodyne answers given in beauty pageants.

    5
  2. Joe Avatar
    Joe

    This reminds me of the oft asked question: Trump may not be a stooge for Putin, but how would he behave differently if he was?

    8
  3. CSK Avatar
    CSK

    Oh, bullshit.

    2
  4. JohnSF Avatar
    JohnSF

    As Jonathan Pie said:

    “He says this with Zelenskyy standing a few feet away. The fact Zelenskyy didn’t walk over and slap him in the face should automatically put him in the running for a Nobel Peace Prize.”

    “Supplying energy, electricity and other things at very low prices.”
    Other things including death, at wholesale rates.

    I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: I really don’t think there has ever been a leader of a major modern democracy as incontrovertibly stupid as Trump.
    Even compared to most daft dictators and idiot inbred absolute monarchs, he’s at among the trailing end of the curve.

    9
  5. gVOR10 Avatar
    gVOR10

    Seems to me Zelenskyy hasn’t countered the ploy Putin has used with great success, but maybe he has, under the table. Has Zelenskyy tried Trump Tower Odessa? That’s the only kind of negotiating that Trump understands

    2
  6. JohnSF Avatar
    JohnSF

    @gVOR10:
    This always tends to happen when Ukraine and the US are in bilateral mode: Trump and his courtiers fantasise that a sensible settlement is achievable, and is being frustrated by the infuriating and inexplicable stubborness of Ukraine in refusing to turn belly-up.

    Plus the ingrained “negotiating” mindset of Trump, Witkoff, Kushner etc: that the easiest way to get a “deal” is to pressure the “weaker party” to concede to the basic terms of the stronger.
    Therefore coercion is to be applied to the “weaker” party to capitulate , not on the “stronger” to adjust its terms.

    4
  7. Steven L. Taylor Avatar
    Steven L. Taylor

    @JohnSF: Indeed. Plus a deal is a success to them because deal. Nevermind the qualitative success thereof.

    4
  8. Joe Avatar
    Joe

    I have seen no commentary analyzing what kind of technology Russia would gain if it conquered Ukraine, despite the fact that I see many tripping over themselves in awe at Ukraine’s cutting edge drone technologies.

    Think of the impact of those skills becoming Russian skills, especially after what we have seen in Ukraine’s attacks on the Russian navy. Apply those skills to Trump class warships and watch what happens. I think we want to keep Ukraine a free and stable U.S. ally for the same reason we wanted European rocket and nuclear engineers in the 1930s and 40s.

    4
  9. JohnSF Avatar
    JohnSF

    @Joe:
    People seem, for some reason, to ignore the reality that Ukraine is a rather considerable industrial state in its own right, was a core region of the Soviet defence industry, and is known for having a lot of very adept software and hardware engineers.
    Ukrainians are amusingly notorious in Europe for their ability to kludge up any crap pile of junk to actually work.

    Not to mention their ability to wreck the Russian field army of 2022, which was supposed, by some. to be on a par to the US.

    If the US doesn’t want Ukraine as an ally, it’s damn sure any sensible Europeans do.

    7
  10. dazedandconfused Avatar
    dazedandconfused

    @Joe: Highly likely the idea Putin successfully planted in his mark.

    I suspect the information here is how sophisticated the Russians can be in the art of managing their agents. So good, some of them never even know they are agents.

    Le Carre’s novels reflected a degree of reality. Having to survive and thrive in Russia produces clever survivors. In combination with decades of scientific, dedicated effort to the art produced remarkable results, and that artistry wasn’t tossed in the dust bin with the Soviets. Unsophisticated mindless orcs? Sometimes, sometimes not.

    2
  11. JohnSF Avatar
    JohnSF

    @dazedandconfused:
    Indeed.
    The art of “reflexive control”.
    “The best agent is one who does not realise he is an agent.”
    See also the uses of “implausible deniability” in bogging down responses.

    It’s partly for these reasons that the UK Labour Party was so iron-fisted in excluding “fellow travellers” in the 1940’s.
    And such a pity that various groups have been rather naive since.

    1

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