Apparently, four years of that one-sided bromance weren’t enough. We’re now looking at a renewal of the relationship, wherein one thinks that talking tough makes him smarter . . . and the other one actually is smarter.

Only this time around, there’s more at stake.

This time, there’s a war in Ukraine, begun three years ago — without provocation — by the smarter one. People are dying by the thousands. The sovereignty of a nation is in danger. And the surrounding countries are building their defenses because any one of them might be next in line.

Before he was elected, Donald Trump repeatedly boasted that he would end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours of taking office.

Well, he was elected back in November, and actually plopped himself down in the Oval Office on January 20th. That was 16 days ago . . . and we’re still waiting for the war to end while he’s busy alienating our staunchest allies and worrying about sexual identification in women’s sports.

No one is really surprised, though; the entire world knew that it couldn’t be done — that it was all braggadocio — because Vladimir Putin is neither stupid nor a pushover. And now he has come forward with a clever new argument to support his refusal to negotiate directly with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky: that Zelensky is allegedly not the legitimate president of Ukraine, as his term was supposed to have expired last May.

It’s a specious argument, of course . . . as are most of Putin’s excuses for his inexcusable actions. Ukraine has been in a state of war since Russia’s invasion on February 24, 2022, and as such, is being ruled under martial law in accordance with its constitution. And this constitutional provision further enabled an indefinite postponement of the last scheduled election. Thus, according to Ukrainian law, Volodymyr Zelensky is indeed the legitimate president . . . regardless of any other country’s leader’s opinion to the contrary.

But now, Donald Trump — who has begun talking about a possible timeline of “months” for a peace settlement — has seized on Putin’s lie as a basis for his own. Ignoring the provisions of Ukraine’s constitution, Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, said in an interview with Reuters on February 1st that elections in Ukraine “need to be done,” and could be held following a cease-fire deal — which he said could be achieved within months:

“Most democratic nations have elections in their time of war. I think it is important they do so. I think it is good for democracy. That’s the beauty of a solid democracy, you have more than one person potentially running.” [Todd Prince, RFE/RL, February 5, 2025.]

What Mr. Kellogg seems to overlook is that, also among the many beautiful aspects of a solid democracy, is the fact that it is a law-based form of government . . . not an autocracy, and not subject to the whims of outsiders. Neither Vladimir Putin nor Donald Trump — nor anyone else, for that matter — has the right to circumvent Ukraine’s constitution. And if that constitution provides for the institution of martial law during wartime, and if postponement of elections is permissible in times of martial law, then . . . well, then, it’s a moot point, isn’t it?

But Trump sees no fault with Putin’s reasoning, and is playing directly into the Russian leader’s hands. And if the ploy succeeds, and a new election becomes part of the peace negotiations, who is to say it will be a fair and honest election? Or that a “cease-fire” will be any more than temporary, allowing Russia time to regroup, rearm, and re-invade, with — if Putin has his way — a less formidable president in Ukraine?

Or that Moldova, or Poland, or Hungary, or Slovakia, or Latvia won’t be next?

*. *. *

Make no mistake: In matters of international politics, Vladimir Putin trumps Trump every time. Donald Trump is a shrewd businessman. But in business, he was answerable to no one; he was the boss, and his word was law. In a democratic government, he does not have that ability. Whether he likes it or not, he is subject to constitutional and federal laws that limit his powers . . . as he is slowly finding out from some of our federal courts.

Putin has no such restrictions; he is the sole boss of his “business.” He is also a master of Russian-style “palace intrigue,” and as such, he is merciless. There are other world leaders who fear him, or need his patronage.

Donald Trump is not afraid of Vladimir Putin; he simply doesn’t understand him, and he never will . . . not until it’s too late.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
2/5/25