While the world waits for Vladimir Putin’s promised memorandum of talking points for proposed ceasefire negotiations, and Russia and Ukraine swap hundreds of prisoners of war at the Belarus-Ukraine border, Russia’s missiles and drones continue to devastate Ukraine‘s cities, towns and villages.

In one demolished home in the Zhytomyr region — the area from which my maternal grandparents emigrated to the U.S. in 1905 — three children were killed in the early hours of the morning.
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And near the capital city of Kyiv, multiple private homes — not military targets — were leveled.

And finally, after months of enabling Putin’s endless heel-dragging, Donald Trump spoke out on social media:

“I’ve always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has happened to him. He has gone absolutely CRAZY! He is needlessly killing a lot of people, and I’m not just talking about soldiers. Missiles and drones are being shot into cities in Ukraine, for no reason whatsoever. I’ve always said that he wants ALL of Ukraine, not just a piece of it, and maybe that’s proving to be right, but if he does, it will lead to the downfall of Russia!” [RFE/RL, May 26, 2025.]

Later, preparing to board Air Force One in Morristown, New Jersey for the flight back to Washington, he told reporters:

“I’m not happy with what Putin is doing. He’s killing a lot of people, and I don’t know what the hell happened to Putin. [He’s] sending rockets into cities and killing people, and I don’t like it at all. We’re in the middle of talking and he’s shooting rockets into Kyiv and other cities. I don’t like it at all. I’m surprised. Very surprised. Something happened to this guy — and I don’t like it.” [Id.]

Wait . . . what??!!! Is that old guy in the hat actually Rip Van Winkle, just waking up from a 20-year nap? Where has he been during the last three years and three months while Putin’s weapons have been raining death and destruction on Ukraine?

He’s “not happy”? “Something has happened to this guy”? “I’ve always said . . .”??!!!

Where does Trump get this stuff? In what dark recesses of his mind does he actually harbor the belief that he has always known Putin wants all of Ukraine? Does he really think that these attacks are a manifestation of some recent mental disorder, causing Putin suddenly to have become a tyrannical, war-mongering, homicidal maniac? And does he honestly think he can make us believe it?

Come to think of it, he probably does . . . and that’s the scariest thing of all.

But note what he didn’t say. He said nothing about further sanctions or other retaliatory action; nor did he actually say he (and our European allies) have had enough, or that Putin’s time has run out. His comments were more critical of his friend Vladimir than usual, but considering what is at stake, they really weren’t all that tough.

So is this the beginning of the end of the Trump-Putin bromance? Or will the next 24 hours bring yet another 180-degree turn in the never-ending soap opera that is now our day-to-day world?

Stay tuned, folks.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
5/26/25