Trump envoy says Russian concern over NATO enlargement is fair

Reuters AOL News ^ | 5/30/2025 | Guy Faulconbridge

[Petrosius]

You just cannot let go of that lie, can you? If anything, Zelensky has shown that he is the puppet of no one. But you need some excuse to justify Russia’s invasion, don’t you?

[BobL]

“You just cannot let go of that lie, can you? If anything, Zelensky has shown that he is the puppet of no one.”

LOL!

[rxh4n1]

“The idea that Russia could re-assimilate Ukraine in a pipe dream; it is not going to happen. “

That’s right. That’s why they’re not going to try to annex the whole Ukraine. The cost is too big. That’s the big lie you guys keep repeating. The Russians are just going to keep what they have now.

[Petrosius]

The re-assimilation of Ukraine is indeed the goal, perhaps not all at once but eventually, Do not take my word for it; read what they write themselves. Russian nationalists do not accept Ukraine as a real country or as a real people. They view it as an invention of an anti-West aimed at the destruction of Russia. You can also look at the demands of Putin. They would leave Ukraine under Russian control, unable to defend itself, suppress sentiments of Ukrainian nationalism, and promote Russian as an integral part of the Ukrainian identity. These all lead to the eventual assimilation of Ukraine.

[BroJoeK]

"Putin's Brain", Alexander Dugin:

Jumper: "Spoksen in mindset of a globalist NATO-Con.
Trump is your decision maker and he is unilaterally moving the world into Great Power Spheres!"

By your warped definitions, Pres. Trump is a "globalist NATO-con."

The truth is that Trump has never spoken about "Great Powers" or "Spheres of Influence".
Those are terms used by pathetic Russian geopolitical theorists like "Putin's Brain", Alexander Dugin, and Putin himself.

Trump has only ever spoken about making deals and agreements that Put America First and advantage American citizens.
How such deals may, or may not, fit into Putin's goals for "spheres of influence" has not been Trump's concern.

Trump has also threatened to bring "fire and fury" down on countries which violate their agreements, regardless of whose "sphere of influence" that country might belong to.

The truth is that Trump does NOT recognize "Spheres of Influence", he only recognizes agreements and deals and whether those are being lived up to or not.
For Trump, China intimidating Taiwan, Russia invading Ukraine, and NATO countries not living up to their defense spending commitments, are all matters of breaking agreements and therefore of utmost concern to Trump.
It has nothing to do with whose "sphere of influence" a country may or may not belong to.

So, Russian geopolitical theorists and American university professors can babble incessantly about "Great Powers" and "Spheres of Influence", but Pres. Trump is neither of those and so never does.

[BroJoeK]

Petrosius: "The idea that Russia could re-assimilate Ukraine in a pipe dream; it is not going to happen."

rxh4n1: "That’s right.
That’s why they’re not going to try to annex the whole Ukraine.
The cost is too big.
That’s the big lie you guys keep repeating.
The Russians are just going to keep what they have now."

If it were true that "Russians are just going to keep what they have now," then they could easily have stopped fighting a year or two years ago, because they've gained almost nothing new since then.

Instead, Russians have fought on for over two years to gain just a tiny fraction of 1% of Ukrainian territories, at a cost approaching nearly a million Russian casualties, tens of thousands of military machines and untold billions of dollars' worth of Russian rubles.

And Russians could stop the war today, but they grind on, day after day, gaining three-or-four square miles at the cost of over a thousand Russian casualties every day, for what?

It's because ending the war in place is not Putin's goal, and he has said he will not end the war until his goals are met.

Dmitry "Mini-me" Medvedev showing map of Russia's goals in Ukraine:

Putin's goals in Ukraine include, but are not limited to:

1. Recognition of his conquests in Crimea, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.

2. Further conquests in Sumy, Kharkiv, Odesa, and Mykolaiv.

3. Reduction of Ukraine's military from 2.1 million men (including reserves) to 50,000.

4. Dismantling of Ukraine's military infrastructure.

5. Prohibition on Ukraine joining NATO.

6. Regime change in Kyiv, replacement of Pres. Zelensky with a Russian puppet ruler.

7. Russian control over Ukraine's key energy & transportation assets, notably it's Black Sea ports.

8. Long term domination and subjugation of Ukraine to Russia's interests -- "Russkiy Mir uber alles", you might say.

Putin with Mini-me Medvedev:

[Petrosius]

In addition:

Suppression of all sentiments of a distinct Ukrainian national identity, i.e., "de-Nazification."

Imposition of official bilingualism.

Promotion of Russian history and culture as integral parts of the Ukrainian identity.

The unstated "root cause" is an independent Ukraine. Russian nationalists do not accept Ukraine as a independent country and as a separate people. It is their goal to eventually reabsorb Ukraine back into Mother Russia.

[Jumper]

Check your your fishwrap of record.

[rxh4n1]

“Long term domination and subjugation of Ukraine to Russia’s interests — “Russkiy Mir uber alles”, you might say.”

We have no proof of all this. I say they’re not really trying. Oh well, if the Russians are going to do it, no one will stop them. Sucks for Ukraine, but unless we get in the war, they’re going to lose.

[BroJoeK]

The Soviet myth --
Panfilov's Twenty-Eight Guardsmen defend Moscow, 1941:

Petrosius: "In addition: Suppression of all sentiments of a distinct Ukrainian national identity, i.e., "de-Nazification." "

Thanks!
I realized later that I'd left it off.
Russian caterwauling about "denazification" mystifies most Americans, myself included, since outside of Russian propaganda there are no serious "Nazis" in Ukraine's government, and no more in Ukraine's population than in any other country like Russia or the US.

But when you look into what Russians mean by "denazification", it becomes clear:

1. Reduction of Ukraine's military to a token force.

2. Replacement of Ukraine's popularly elected government with a puppet regime installed by Moscow.

3. Making Russian an official Ukrainian language.

4. Granting special rights for Russian speakers.

5. Reinstalling Soviet era statues to Stalin & other USSR heroes.

6. Most important: eliminating Ukrainian nationalism from academic and historical contexts while restoring such narratives as the Soviet Union's "Great Patriotic War".

Bottom line: "denazification" in Russian minds means turning patriotic Ukrainians into servile Russian vassals.

Ukraine's reality --
Stalin's Holodomor of Ukraine, 1932-1933:

Petrosius: "The unstated "root cause" is an independent Ukraine.
Russian nationalists do not accept Ukraine as a independent country and as a separate people.
It is their goal to eventually reabsorb Ukraine back into Mother Russia."

Exactly.

In Kyiv -- replacing Russia's symbol of domination over Ukraine with Ukrainian independence:

[BroJoeK]

quoting BJK: "Long term domination and subjugation of Ukraine to Russia’s interests — 'Russkiy Mir uber alles', you might say."

rxh4n1: "We have no proof of all this."

Yes, we do have endless quotes from Russian government officials and from Russia's official propagandists, suggesting that "Russkiy Mir" is a reality to them, and its limits are only to be set by the military & political powers opposing them.

Why should we not take those seriously?

rxh4n1: "I say they’re not really trying.
Oh well, if the Russians are going to do it, no one will stop them.
Sucks for Ukraine, but unless we get in the war, they’re going to lose."

All of that depends on your definitions of terms like "trying", "stop them" and "lose".

In reality, Ukrainians stopped Russia's invasion of their country in 2022 and took back about half the new territories Russians had occupied.
Since 2022, Russians have taken no significant new Ukrainian lands and today occupy about 18% of Ukraine's 233,062 total square miles.
Today, at the cost of over 1,000 Russian casualties per day, Russians try to launch dozens of assaults on Ukrainian lines and gain an average of three-or-four square miles per day.

Yes, US military aid to Ukraine has been significant -- over $100 billion -- but so has aid from other NATO & Western countries, arguably now exceeding US aid to the point where an end of US aid will not mean the end of Ukraine.

There are no signs today that after three years of stalemate, Russians will be able to defeat Ukraine anytime soon.

Bottom line: Ukraine's ability to resist & hold-off Russian aggression is now legendary, and will stand in history forever, regardless of the ultimate outcome.
I think the outcome will be favorable for Ukraine, and highly unfavorable for Ex-Soviet KGB agent Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin.

[rxh4n1]

“I think the outcome will be favorable for Ukraine, “

Well good for Ukraine. Going by your claims they don’t need us anymore.

[BroJoeK]

rxh4n1: "Well good for Ukraine.
Going by your claims they don’t need us anymore."

My understanding is that there is now around $100 billion in US aid to Ukraine authorized by Congress, but not yet delivered, and that since the March 2025 White House imbroglio with Zelensky, very little, if any of it has been delivered to Ukraine.
The $100 billion "in the pipeline" is roughly 2/3 military hardware, with the balance being humanitarian, financial & training support.

In the meantime, the Euros have stepped up their aid deliveries and removed all restrictions on how far into Russian Ukrainian drones & missiles can strike.

It appears to me that the $100 billion in undelivered US aid is now being held "in reserve", in case peace talks fail, and that even if Ukraine receives no new US aid, Euro-aid will help Ukrainians maintain their resistance indefinitely.

[rxh4n1]

$100 billion. We ought to keep that home and start taking care of ourselves. We’ve poured enough money into that bottomless pit. Let’s spend it on our own people for a change.

[BroJoeK]

Fully equipped Patriot missile battery
-- including radar, control, launchers & missiles (6X4X3),
spares, maintenance & training --
runs up to $2.5 billion each.
Ukraine will get 10 of hundreds built so far.

rxh4n1: "$100 billion.
We ought to keep that home and start taking care of ourselves.
We’ve poured enough money into that bottomless pit.
Let’s spend it on our own people for a change."

That ~$100 billion is what's left undelivered of $183 billion total authorized by Congress, for Ukraine, since 2022 -- the total is $203 billion if we include a new $20 billion secured loan to Ukraine.

Where, exactly, that equipment is in the pipeline, is not at all clear, so I'm guessing it's been delayed as leverage, pending the outcome of Russia-Ukraine peace talks.
If the talks fail, the aid might be released to support Ukraine's war efforts.
If peace talks succeed, then some of it can be used for other purposes.

However, roughly half of the US military hardware supplied to Ukraine comes out of old & obsolete stockpiles, which are then replaced with updated, newly manufactured equipment for our own use.
The other half of US equipment going to Ukraine is newly manufactured -- as specified by Ukraine -- meaning it may, or may not, match well with current US military doctrine and so be suitable for use by our own guys.

Bottom line: even though much of the authorized aid has not yet been delivered, most of it will not prove useful to Americans if the aid were permanently canceled by the Trump administration.

[rxh4n1]

So what? It’s still $100 billion wasted. We could have sold that stuff to other countries for cash. Ukraine is never going to pay us back. I remember you all were bragging the last couple years that Ukraine would use the seized Russian assets to pay us back. Then Zelensky said they didn’t have to and weren’t.

[BroJoeK]

rxh4n1: "So what?
It’s still $100 billion wasted.
We could have sold that stuff to other countries for cash.
Ukraine is never going to pay us back.
I remember you all were bragging the last couple years that Ukraine would use the seized Russian assets to pay us back.
Then Zelensky said they didn’t have to and weren’t."

Consider the following:

1. Countries interested in stockpiles of obsolete US equipment can buy them whenever they wish, but very few do.

2. Sadly, the Biden administration squandered not $billions, but $trillions, on untold lunacies and corruptions.
   Of all that money mindlessly p*ssed away, US aid to Ukraine was among the better investments.

3. Also, sadly, Biden sent everything to Ukraine as grants, not loans to be repaid.
   So, Pres. Trump's rare earth & other minerals deal is intended to recover some of that money, long term.

4. As for Putin's $300 billion in frozen assets, yes, those are being used, even now, to pay for European & US loans to Ukraine, up to $50 billion in total.

5. Whether any, or how much, of Russia's $300 billion in frozen assets will ever be returned to Russia is a matter for negotiations.
   I don't think it ever will return and, instead, will be used to finance reconstruction of Ukraine, including rare earth mineral extraction operations used to pay-off past & future US aid to Ukraine.