As shocking as it may seem, my favorite wordsmith, Dmitry Peskov, in delivering the pronouncements of “el jefe” Vladimir Putin, has spoken the absolute, logical, indisputable truth with regard to the planned summit in Switzerland to discuss a peace process in Ukraine:

“Without Russia, discussing security issues that concern us is absolutely futile.” [Reuters, May 16, 2024.]

Well . . . duh! Of course it’s futile to make arrangements for someone — in this case, an entire country — without that someone’s input. That would, of course, require their presence at the discussions. And it appears that Russia hasn’t been invited to attend.

As we already know, all attempts at negotiations have failed thus far because, first, Russia absolutely refuses to give back a centimeter of the land it has stolen from Ukraine to date; and second, because Ukraine won’t simply break down and gift its land to Russia. Stalemate.

So some 50 countries are ready and willing to devote the time (and, not incidentally, the money) involved in planning and implementing a summit meeting in Lucerne to try to come up with a reasonable plan that would be acceptable to both parties. Well, I hate to tell you world leaders this, but . . .

There ain’t no such thing!

Not at this point, anyway. Because what Russia is demanding is not reasonable. Vladimir Putin has — without provocation or any semblance of just cause (“Naziism,” indeed!) — marched in and stolen pieces of a sovereign nation and claimed them as his own. And, like a child on a playground, he won’t give back the toys he snatched and he’ll jump up and down and scream until he’s blue in the face and until he gets his own way, so there!

And because there is far more at stake for Russia than “just” Ukrainian territory. Perversely, there is now the need to continue bolstering its war-time economy by extending the war it had not expected to become so protracted and expensive . . . as evidenced by this week’s replacement of the Defense Minister, General Sergei Shoigu, with a civilian economist, Andrey Belousov. Not to mention his planned long-term future advance through other parts of Eastern Europe. Both of which Putin, of course, denies and denies and denies until, again, he is blue in the face.

*. *. *

Now, I laud all of you peace-loving diplomats and politicians for your desire to end this hideous war that never should have begun in the first place. But do you really think that you have a snowball’s chance in hell of convincing Russia to yield an inch on its demands, or Ukraine to simply give away its precious land? I sincerely hope you do, and if you succeed, I’ll be the first — and the happiest — to admit I was wrong. But for now, I have to agree with Mr. Peskov.

Still, one can always hope.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
5/16/24