“We now know that a deal was being made between the Zelensky regime and Russia to negotiate a peace that would result in exactly those terms...”
No, we don’t. And you sure as hell don’t. Even Naftali Bennett — who was involved in the negotiations — did not say that.
“...and that the US and its NATO allies in the EU managed to put the kibosh on it.”
Again, that was recently refuted by Naftali Bennett and his security advisor Eyal Hulata.
They said negotiations ended when the atrocities at Bucha were discovered. Thay also said that both Ukraine and Russia are too entrenched and that neither side is in any mood to make any concessions to the other.
https://www.axios.com/2023/02/22/israel-russia-invasion-ukraine-bennett-mediation-failure
Also, Bennett said that during his mediation, Putin dropped his vow to seek Ukraine’s disarmament and Zelenskyy promised not to join NATO, the latter of which should silence — but won’t — all those kremlin sympathizers here on FR who wax indignant about NATO.
Ok, you want to now take issue with Bennets initial comments that have lead many, including me, to think that the current Administration has interfered with possible negotiations. Ok, fine, but the business insider piece you cite (thank you) notes that Bennet is "walking back" his initial claims. Fair enough, there's no dispositive proof that the original story was correct, just as there's no hard proof that Brandon blew up the Nordstream pipeline. The battle is not always to the strong, nor the race to the swift, but that's for sure the way to bet.
But now you've got me curious about this : all those kremlin sympathizers here on FR who wax indignant about NATO.
Is everyone on FR who is objecting to the march to WWIII a Kremlin sympathizer? I have to admit I haven't seen any FReeper wax indignant about NATO, but its impossible to read every post, so there might be some. And would anyone (like Trump) who wonders what NATO is for now that the Soviet Union is long gone a Kremlin sympathizer? And what, exactly, is our beef with Russia in the context of Ukraine? I feel bad for the Ukrainian people suffering under this needless war, but what's the US interest that justifies risking WWIII?