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All Over But the Shouting (Ukraine peace deal)
Powerlineblog ^ | February 24, 2024 | John Hinderaker

Posted on 02/24/2025 6:57:14 PM PST by lasereye

France’s President Emmanuel Macron is in Washington, and did a joint press conference with President Trump today, on the Russia-Ukraine war. News reports on the press conference fall along predictably partisan lines. This Sky News report is objective, if only because it is so brief:

A half-turn, in a carefully choreographed dance, the US leader asserting optimism, the French one, much more cautious in response.

President Trump repeated his view that the war in Ukraine would soon end.

He signalled a dramatic shift by Russia, suggesting President Putin might accept the deployment of European peacekeepers on the ground in Ukraine.

But Emmanuel Macron cautioned that any peace agreement must respect Ukraine’s sovereignty.

Trump claimed Ukraine’s president would be in Washington soon, to sign a deal granting the US access to rare earth minerals to offset US war aid.

Again, the French president gently stressed the need for security guarantees.

I think that the way this will play out is pretty obvious:

1) The war has been a disaster for both Russia and Ukraine. Both countries badly want it to end. Vladimir Putin needs it to end in a way that doesn’t wind up with him being hung from a lamppost.

2) If the United States had had a functioning president three years ago, the war would not have begun. If we had had a functioning president for the last two years, it would have been brought to an end before now.

3) Russia and Ukraine need President Trump to manage an end to the conflict. Trump will do that successfully, but he won’t be awarded a Nobel Peace Prize.

4) There will be a ceasefire, very soon. That will be followed rapidly by a peace treaty.

5) The terms on which the war will end are clear: Russia will keep a slice of eastern Ukraine pretty much equal to what it now occupies. In return, Russia will promise not to invade again.

6) There will be a peacekeeping force consisting of European troops. They will not be on the front line–God forbid!–but will nevertheless deter future Russian attacks, which Russia has no intention of launching.

7) Ukraine will give the U.S. mineral concessions of a value sufficient to repay some of the cost that our taxpayers have incurred in supporting that country. The details will be negotiated, but the final amounts will be substantial.

Happily, with Donald Trump negotiating on behalf of the United States, we can be sure that American taxpayers will not be taken to the cleaners.

The diplomatic dance will continue, but that is what is going to happen.


TOPICS: Extended News; News/Current Events; Russia; Ukraine
KEYWORDS: russia; trump; ukraine
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I have encountered people on the internet who were saying what a liar Trump is because he didn't end the war on his first day in office as he said he would. It might end up taking a few weeks!

Trump...won’t be awarded a Nobel Peace Prize.

Well let's face it Trump will have done nothing to promote peace compared to Obama. As I recall the Nobel committee said that Obama's big contribution to peace was getting elected. He had done nothing significant when they awarded it to him less than a year after taking office. Nor had he done anything that made the world more peaceful by the time he left office. In fact just the opposite.

The Nobel Peace Prize, along with other formerly prestigious honors like the Pulitzer have become so disconnected from what they are allegedly about that it's better that Trump doesn't get it.

1 posted on 02/24/2025 6:57:14 PM PST by lasereye
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To: lasereye

I just enjoy John’s 180 on Trump.


2 posted on 02/24/2025 7:07:03 PM PST by Fido969
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To: lasereye

Macron: Any Peace Agreement must respect Ukraine’s Sovereignty?? Needs a little ‘splain’n.


3 posted on 02/24/2025 7:07:44 PM PST by Sacajaweau
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To: Fido969

“I just enjoy John’s 180 on Trump.”

Me too


4 posted on 02/24/2025 7:10:04 PM PST by Fai Mao (Democrats need to go to prison.)
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To: lasereye
>Ukraine will give the U.S. mineral concessions

Does it physically still control any of its mineral wealth? I thought it was located in the Russian currently controlled area.

5 posted on 02/24/2025 7:15:24 PM PST by JohnBovenmyer (MAGA urge to purge the dirge of O'Biden's scourge and splurge)
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To: lasereye

Couple of neglected topics. How will Uke army Nazi elements and the SBU be discouraged from the predictable wave of terror bombings they will launch in Russia, knowing they have “peacekeepers” in Ukraine? If Russia retaliates, will the “peacekeepers” launch weapons? Do they have NATO protection?

What does Russia get out of it? Any sanctions relief? Turning on SWIFT? What happens to the Russian gold, currency and property we seized?

Is Ukraine going to recognize Crimea and the Donbass as Russian now?

Will there be any limits on a new western buildup of Uke forces? If not, how is this not a new Minsk II?

And the big Kahuna... NATO status for Ukraine?


6 posted on 02/24/2025 7:17:03 PM PST by DesertRhino (2016 Star Wars, 2020 The Empire Strikes Back, 2025... RETURN OF THE JEDI...)
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To: lasereye

Obama did great things to create unrest and start wars.

He facilitated Iran support for Terrorism all over the world.

He pushed the “Arab Spring” to destabilize North Africa, Egypt and all of Europe.

He gave Russia the go-ahead to take Crimea.

Obama has been one of the worst US warmongers.


7 posted on 02/24/2025 7:28:26 PM PST by marktwain
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To: DesertRhino; All

How will Uke army Nazi elements and the SBU be discouraged from the predictable wave of terror bombings they will launch in Russia, knowing they have “peacekeepers” in Ukraine?


Exactly the same could be said of Russian Communist and Fascist elements in Russia (two sides of the same coin) launching a predictable wave of terror bombings in Ukraine.

Both sides are tired of the war, which benefited no one other than the Chinese Communist Party.


8 posted on 02/24/2025 7:32:46 PM PST by marktwain
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To: DesertRhino

This just my opinion...

> How will Uke army Nazi elements and the SBU be discouraged from the predictable wave of terror bombings they will launch in Russia, knowing they have “peacekeepers” in Ukraine?

Think Night of the Long Knives.

> What does Russia get out of it? Any sanctions relief? Turning on SWIFT? What happens to the Russian gold, currency and property we seized?

Economic ties and sanctions lifted. Seized property will be returned.

> Is Ukraine going to recognize Crimea and the Donbass as Russian now?

Yes.

> Will there be any limits on a new western buildup of Uke forces? If not, how is this not a new Minsk II?

No Western buildup. Putin is right on this subject. The West has consistently gone back on promises made.

> NATO status for Ukraine?

Never. Ukraine is not European.

-SB


9 posted on 02/24/2025 7:32:47 PM PST by Snowybear (Liberalism is a mental disorder)
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To: lasereye

I believe Trump’s statements about ending the war on Day 1 fully occupied the attention of his enemies, as intended. The Deep State was 100% unprepared for Trump to go medieval on the fraud in Treasury, USAID etc. It was days before Deep Staters could even grasp what was happening.
I think the Deep State lined up numerous obstacles to a peace deal and waited to launch while Trump’s real target - the deep state money machine - was being exposed.


10 posted on 02/24/2025 7:51:49 PM PST by ransomnote (IN GOD WE TRUST)
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To: lasereye
The war has been a disaster for both Russia and Ukraine. Both countries badly want it to end. Vladimir Putin needs it to end in a way that doesn’t wind up with him being hung from a lamppost.

That claim is absurd.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgwddmjyvzo

As the President said recently: "I think the Russians want to see the war end, I really do. I think they have the cards a little bit, because they've taken a lot of territory. They have the cards," Trump told the BBC on Air Force One.

11 posted on 02/24/2025 7:58:31 PM PST by Kazan
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To: marktwain

“Obama has been one of the worst US warmongers.”
.
.
∅bamã has bombed more countries than any other President since WWII...!


12 posted on 02/24/2025 8:13:20 PM PST by Does so ("The guilty flee when no man pursueth"....🇺🇦...Dem☭¢rat... ∅ ™ ¿ ¡ ☞≣ ½¼)
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To: lasereye
future Russian attacks, which Russia has no intention of launching
Until it does.
13 posted on 02/24/2025 8:15:07 PM PST by jdege
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To: lasereye

I thought that Ukraine was winning the war?
The news always wrote about Ukraine victories....


14 posted on 02/24/2025 9:34:03 PM PST by minnesota_bound (Need more money to buy everything now)
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To: DesertRhino
And the big Kahuna... NATO status for Ukraine?

Not no but hell no. We almost went to thermonuclear war with Russia when they put nuclear ballistic missiles in Cuba. Russia feels the same way.

Russia faces a bigger threat than NATO, it is China. China covets the resources of Siberia Russia. Oddly in the past have been brief skirmishes on the border over disputed territory. It was not a major skirmish.

We must end the war in the Ukraine and then draw Russia into mutually beneficial relationships. There are many to be made. With our economic power and that of Europe we hold the winning hand. China is the only other power to be concerned about.

When the Soviet Union collapsed we did not draw Russia in to mutually beneficial relationships. We ignored them and thus the present insanity.

Bush senior and Bush junior were idiots or worse as was Clinton. This is on them. Biden was senile and controlled by Obama. He was a useful idiot. Obama was basically a socialist but I do not know if he was controlled by others or it was just him?

15 posted on 02/24/2025 10:34:58 PM PST by cpdiii (cane cutter, deckhand, oilfield roughneck, drilling fluid tech, geologist, pilot, pharmacist ,MAGA)
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To: lasereye

“ In return, Russia will promise not to invade again.”

They promised not to invade before they invaded.

L


16 posted on 02/24/2025 10:38:39 PM PST by Lurker ( Peaceful coexistence with the Left is not possible. Stop pretending that it is.)
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To: DesertRhino
And the big Kahuna... NATO status for Ukraine?

Not no but hell no. We almost went to thermonuclear war with Russia when they put nuclear ballistic missiles in Cuba. Russia feels the same way.

Russia faces a bigger threat than NATO, it is China. China covets the resources of Siberia Russia. Oddly in the past have been brief skirmishes on the border over disputed territory. It was not a major skirmish.

We must end the war in the Ukraine and then draw Russia into mutually beneficial relationships. There are many to be made. With our economic power and that of Europe we hold the winning hand. China is the only other power to be concerned about.

When the Soviet Union collapsed we did not draw Russia in to mutually beneficial relationships. We ignored them and thus the present insanity.

Bush senior and Bush junior were idiots or worse as was Clinton. This is on them. Biden was senile and controlled by Obama. He was a useful idiot. Obama was basically a socialist but I do not know if he was controlled by others or it was just him?

17 posted on 02/24/2025 10:40:52 PM PST by cpdiii (cane cutter, deckhand, oilfield roughneck, drilling fluid tech, geologist, pilot, pharmacist ,MAGA)
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To: lasereye
HEY! That's a classic Van Halen Lyric raght thar!

It's always here and now, my friend, it ain't once upon a time,

it's all over, but the shouting, I come, I take what's mine

We're searching for the latest thing, a break in this routine,

talkin' some new kicks ones like you ain't never seen

This is home, mmm, this is Mean Street,

it's our home, only one I know

See, a gun is real easy in this desperate part of town,

turns you from hunted into hunter (yeah), you go an' hunt somebody down,

wait a minute, ah, somebody said fair warning,

Lord, Lord, strike that poor boy down...
18 posted on 02/24/2025 11:03:34 PM PST by know.your.why
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To: marktwain

Obola also helped to destroy Libya, resulting in lawless warlords and human traffickers taking over, and shipping millions of illegals to wreck Europe.


19 posted on 02/24/2025 11:13:40 PM PST by rfp1234 (E Porcibus Unum)
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To: DesertRhino

NATO status for Ukraine?
***********
Nope


20 posted on 02/25/2025 4:32:06 AM PST by yldstrk (Nothing like the truth)
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