If nothing else His Trumpness has taken most everyone's attention off Putin. Donald's invasion of Venezuela, his territorial imperative of Greenland and his general disdain for a peaceful world order has led just about every world leader to voice his or her condemnation, except Putin of course. Russia had already abandoned Venezuela, said Felix Riefer, a German political scientist, as it saw no viable way to protect its interests on the other side of the globe with its ongoing struggle to gain territory in Ukraine.
However, Trump's territorial ambitions pretty much close the door on a peace deal, meaning Russia will have to continue fighting for the square meters of land they pick up here and there. Analysts have determined that it would take 90 years for Russia to reclaim Ukraine at its current pace. Unless Count Vlad finds the fountain of youth among the rubble in Mariupol, he will be long dead at that point and mercifully so will Donald Trump.
I suppose things can speed up if His Trumpness decides to drop Europe in favor of Russia, providing logistical and military support. This is something that has become a very real possibility in the wake of the White House's assertion that it has eminent domain to Greenland. At that point, the NATO alliance will be null and void and European countries would be left to fend for themselves. Denmark has already issued a strong rebuke and its military intelligence service now lists the Trump administration as a security risk.
Here in Europe, we all hope clearer heads will prevail. We are slightly heartened that the Senate has spoken out harshly in regard to Trump's imperial ambitions. Republican Congressman Don Bacon called it "appalling" and "nonsense." Republican Senate Leader John Thune said it is "not something anybody is contemplating seriously." Yet, there was Pee Wee Himmler, aka Stephen Miller, telling Jake Tapper that Greenland should "obviously" be part of the US.
Putin is obviously enjoying all this because it takes so much pressure off him. The US is now seen as the pariah of the world, just a few short days after it seemed Trump and Zelenskyy were on the verge of signing a Peace Deal just after Christmas that would have wormed a few concessions out of Count Vlad. In the end the talks fell through largely because the Trump administration continues to hedge on security guarantees if Ukraine were to give up its claim to the five oblasts that Russia currently occupies. Yes, that includes Crimea.
This is the perfect distraction for Russia. It not only serves to deflect Europe's attention away from Ukraine but allows Russia to present itself as a voice of stability in the United Nations, where it has allies throughout Africa and South America. Although I'm not sure these allies feel safe given the way Moscow literally turned its back on Venezuela when push came to shove if there was any shove at all.
I've long wondered why Steve Witkoff has spent an inordinate of time in Moscow and come back with virtually nothing in the way of concessions in regard to Ukraine. We all knew Putin's position before Trump came to office. Since then he has found a sympathetic ear in the US State Department, which has offered little resistance to his demands. In fact, they have been trying to force them down Ukraine's throats for the last ten months hoping to end this war on Donald's watch. However, it has become more and more clear these talks were never about peace but rather defining spheres of influence so that the two countries wouldn't interfere with each other's territorial ambitions. Witkoff has simply served as a conduit between the Kremlin and the White House.
The same goes for Jared Kushner and all the other billionaires that make up Donald's inner circle. They are eyeing development opportunities around the globe. There is a lot of cheap real estate to be had. Ukraine is pretty much a "no-go" zone at the moment but Venezuela, Colombia and Cuba offer great potential. Of course they would like to do this peacefully, if you can call an armada with over 15,000 military personnel stationed off your coastlines peaceful. I suppose it echoes Teddy Roosevelt's proverb, "walk softly and carry a big stick," although they are clopping around like they have military boots on.
Even Maria Corina Machado is willing to give her Nobel Peace Prize to Donald Trump if he can pull off this political and economic coup in her home country, much to the chagrin of the Nobel Institute. It makes you wonder why Oslo awarded the prize to her in the first place given that it was a group of Florida Republican Congresspersons, led by Marco Rubio, who nominated her. Surely, they saw the writing on the wall especially after their disastrous selection of Aung San Suu Kyi. During her tenure as State Counsellor of Myanmar, she approved the massacre of Rohingyas in her country.
Putin thrives on chaos. For that matter so did the Soviet Union before him. In fact, he pretty much took his playbook from the former socialist republic and has actively used it during his 25 years in power. He knows he can't challenge NATO and the EU head on, so he works to destabilize it by promoting alternative parties in Europe. He has succeeded in Hungary and Slovakia and has even gained a strong foothold in Germany with the AfD party that swept virtually all the former East German voting districts in last year's parliamentary elections.
The weird part is that the Trump administration actively supports all the same political parties as his National Security Strategy made clear. This literally puts the US and Russia on the same footing in regard to Europe. Ironic since the US and Soviet Union banded together to save Europe in WWII and here they are now working together to dismantle it. You tell me Washington and Moscow are not on the same page!
Vlad basically has Donald running interference while he plots another way to break down Ukraine's resolve and eventually that of the Eastern European countries that once fell under the Soviet sphere of influence. If the two can split Europe in half, it will make Vlad's job a whole lot easier. As such, European leaders are deeply troubled by this seismic shift in international relations, especially after spending so much effort last year trying to win Donald's favor. Here is German President Steinmeier's assessment of the situation, noting that Trump's current actions would reduce the world to a "den of robbers."
The only thing that really troubles Vlad is the unrest in Iran. He long had the Islamic republic in his back pocket and here it is now on the verge of collapse. Donald had threatened to send in forces if the government killed any of the protestors. Well, Donald, more than 200 protestors have been reported killed in the latest crackdown. Are you prepared to challenge Vlad?
I don't think so. Trump may want the current Iranian government to fall but he isn't willing to invest troops on the ground, which is what it would take to oust the militant Islamic regime. No, he and Vlad will most likely work out some kind of deal through their intermediaries to quell the unrest.
This is the world we now live on. It looks painfully similar to the Cold War world we once lived in before the Iron Curtain came down in 1991, in no small measure to the open defiance of Lithuania. On January 13, Lithuanians will celebrate the day they stood up to the Soviet Union and Gorbachev was forced to roll back his tanks from Vilnius or face international condemnation. If a country of 3 million persons can do that then the world can stand up to Putin and Trump and demand an end to this puerile display of "Great Power Politics" and reaffirm the multipolar world we live in.
The Senate has to stand up to Trump and curb his perverse territorial imperative. If not, his powers will be unchecked and only chaos will ensue. At that point we are all in danger. It is time to bring these tyrants to heel!
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