A meeting was held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, yesterday, between representatives of the United States and Russia, concerning steps to be taken toward a peaceful settlement of Russia’s war of attrition against Ukraine. But no one from Ukraine was there.

And when Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky had the audacity to complain about not having been invited to a discussion of the future of his own country, one of the presidents represented in Riyadh had this response:

“Today I heard, ‘Oh well, we weren’t invited.’ Well, you [sic] been there for three years. You should’ve ended it after three years. You should’ve never started it. You could’ve made a deal.” [Stephen Collinson, CNN, February 18, 2025.]

Right — they should never have started the war that was thrust upon them when Russia’s forces invaded their territory on February 24, 2022. They could have made a deal . . . presumably by knuckling under to the aggressor on the first day of the invasion. Yeah, sure.

“Well, isn’t that just like Vladimir Putin!” I believe I heard you say. And it would be quite logical for you to reach that conclusion about the tyrant who actually started it all.

But it wasn’t Putin speaking. It was Donald Trump, the President of the United States, once more echoing Putin’s stance — just as he has done time and time again when he agreed that Ukraine should not be part of NATO; that new presidential elections should be held in Ukraine as soon as possible (thereby implying that Zelensky is not, as Putin alleges, the “legitimate” president); and that Ukraine should cede a sizable portion of its sovereign territory to Russia in order to end the war.

It wasn’t enough for Trump that, in placing his call to Putin last week, he gave the Russian dictator the supreme gift of legitimacy . . . in one swift stroke bringing the pariah back to the table with the grownups; inviting him to Washington; suggesting the past three years of sanctions be eased; even mentioning the possibility of Russia’s being readmitted to the G7, making it once again the G8.

Not to mention, throwing open the doors to Putin’s ambition of future expansion into the rest of Europe. And all without a single concession from the Russian side.

But what else should we have expected from the person who thinks Canada, Greenland and Gaza should just turn themselves over to him?

*. *. *

It’s no wonder I wake up in the morning feeling like Alice, having just discovered the upside-down-ness of the Looking Glass House.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
2/19/25