LOS ANGELES.–Russian President Vladimir Putin, 72, congratulated 78-year-old former President Donald Trump on winning the U.S. presidency, saying Trump was a brave man after surviving an assassin’s bullet July 13 at a campaign rally in Butler, Pa. “His behavior at the moment of an attempt on his life left an impression on me. He turned out to be brave man,” Putin said of Trump, realizing that the former president was more than just a showman. “He manifested himself in the very correct way, bravely as a man.” Putin said, showing the kind of respect that has led Putin to give Trump a chance to restore U.S.-Russian relations and find a way out of the Ukraine War. “I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate him on his election as president of the United States of America,” Putin said, showing an openness to talk to Trump at some future point, possibly before his inauguration, Jan. 20, 2025.
Trump has been promising to end the Ukraine conflict soon after winning the 2024 race, though some questioned how he’d do it without authorization from the White House that still controls U.S. foreign policy until Biden leaves office. Trump’s discussions with foreign leaders need to make clear he isn’t negotiating on behalf of the U.S. government but finding, like other concerned individuals, as way out of the current conflict. Hundreds-of-thousands of Ukrainians and Russians have lost their lives in the nearly three-year-old conflict. Ukraine’s 46-year-old leader Volodymyr Zelensky has rejected all peace plans, promoted by respected countries, like China, South Africa, Brazil, India, etc., to end the conflict that destroyed Ukraine’s infrastructure, killed thousands of civilians and soldiers, driven millions into exile and bankrupted the Kiev government.
Zelensky’s decision to go to war with the Kremlin has cost him dearly, with Ukraine losing 20-25% of its sovereign territory. Putin offered to end the conflict in March 2022 only weeks after the invasion, if Zelensky accepted the past status quo of Russian control of Crimea and independence of Donetsk and Luhansk in the Donbas region. Zelensky rejected Putin’s offer and went to war with Kremlin with Biden agreeing to fund the war under the phony pretext that Putin was trying to seize more countries in Europe. Putin laid out his position Feb. 8 with former Fox News journalist Tucker Carlson, spending two hours discussing the Ukraine war and future ties to the United States. Putin told Carlson he’s not interested in more European territory, he wants the U.S. to stop funding the Kiev war machine. Yet Biden and Zelensky insist that Putin has his eyes on Poland and the Baltic States.
Biden’s cognitive challenges impaired his ability to engage in high level diplomacy with foreign leaders like Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean President Kim Jong-un. Biden was so disinhibited at times he would openly call Putin and Xi names, like “murderous thug” or “ruthless dictator,” making it impossible for him to engage in normal diplomatic relations. Things got so bad with Xi, Biden said publicly in 2022 he would commit U.S. troops to defend Taiwan if Bejing tried to invade the Republic of China. Biden didn’t realize he violated the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, obligating the U.S. to recognize only one China, and, more importantly, end the 1954 Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty, requiring the U.S. to defend Taiwan. Trump said he would rather keep the peace with China, rather than making idle threats. Biden seems unable to get along with Putin and Xi.
When Trump conducted U.S. foreign policy in his first term, he was demonized by the press for pandering to dictators, one of Kamala’s key talking points in the 2024 campaign. Voters didn’t buy the preposterous argument that if Trump got along with U.S. adversaries it meant he had an inappropriate relationship with foreign leaders. Washington Post 81-year-old journalist turned Democrat political hack Bob Woodward goes on CNN two days after the election to warn the country of Trump’s dealings with Putin. Woodward was attached at the hip with former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton whose fake Steele Dossier said Trump had an inappropriate ties to the Kremlin. Woodward pushes more of the same conspiracy theories about Trump. Voters rejected the same kind of media brainwashing about Trump’s alleged ties to Russia.
Trump’s election has opened the door of an eventual peace deal in Ukraine, something he plans to work out with Putin and Zelensky. Zelensky knows he can’t gaslight Trump like he’s done with Biden for nearly three years, cajoling over $200 billion to pay for the war and running the bankrupt Kiev government. Trump called Zelensky a great salesman for getting so much U.S. cash from Biden under the fake premise that Putin is trying to take over Europe. Zelensky knows that if he refuses to negotiate in good faith, Trump will cut Ukraine’s funding, forcing Ukraine’s European backers to follow suit. Zelensky has a real chance with Trump to back out gracefully from a destructive war that’s cost Ukraine dearly in blood-and-treasure. Trump won’t settle for the same excuses from Zelensky in fulfilling a campaign promise to end the conflict for the good of humanity.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
