Trying to keep track of the ups-and-downs of Donald Trump’s Russia-Ukraine “policy” seems to have set off my positional vertigo this week. But I’ll try to fight through the nausea and bring myself up to speed. Let’s see now . . .

Sunday: Matthew Whitaker, the U.S. Ambassador to NATO, told that gem of journalistic integrity, Fox’s “Sunday Morning Futures,” that Trump had taken issue with Russia’s attacks on Ukraine’s cities:

“It is one thing to attack militaries — and we have thousands of people every week dying on the battlefield — but Vladimir Putin is attacking major cities like Odessa and Kyiv, and I think that is crossing the line. And I think President Trump has told Vladimir Putin that, you know, attacking citizens is just not something that you can do legitimately.” [Joe Walsh, CBS News, July 9, 2025.]

[Ed. Note: And what was that little dust-up with the Marines in Los Angeles? A rehearsal of Hamlet? It certainly looked like an attack on citizens.]

Monday: After confirming during the previous week that shipments of weapons to Ukraine had been halted, Trump said on Monday that he would indeed be sending more defensive weapons:

“We’re going to send some more weapons. We have to. They have to be able to defend themselves.” Saying that the shipments would consist of “defensive weapons, primarily,” he added that Ukraine is “getting hit very hard [and] so many people are dying in that mess.” [Id.]

[Ed. Note: People died in Texas too, because of the lack of funding of NOAA and FEMA. Or has he already forgotten that?]

Tuesday: Meanwhile, in Moscow, Vladimir Putin is not happy with this turn of events. He sent his ever-faithful spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, to tell reporters that “these actions probably do not align with attempts to promote a peaceful resolution” to the war in Ukraine. [Id.]

And later that day, in Washington, Trump told a meeting of his Cabinet that he didn’t know who had ordered the original pause in weapons shipments:

“Putin is not treating human beings right. He’s killing too many people. So we’re sending some defensive weapons to Ukraine, and I’ve approved that.” [Id.]

[Ed. Note: Oh, right . . . that order must have been given while he was on the golf course.]

And to emphasize his determination to teach Putin a lesson, Trump added:

“We get a lot of bullshit thrown at us by Putin. He’s very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless.” [Al Jazeera, July 8, 2025.]

[Ed. Note: The Al Jazeera article very graciously bleeped the word “b******t.” I’m afraid Trump isn’t as polite as they are.]

But when asked by reporters about the proposed Senate bill authorizing further sanctions on Russia, all he would say was, “I’m looking at it very strongly.” And as to his future plans with regard to Russia, he ingenuously replied:

“I wouldn’t be telling you. Don’t we want to have a little surprise?” [Id.]

Oh, sure . . . we all look forward to his little surprises, don’t we?

Wednesday: Back in Moscow, Dmitry Peskov had more to offer on his boss’ behalf:

“We are pretty calm about this. Trump’s way of talking is generally quite harsh … we plan to continue our dialogue with Washington to mend our broken bilateral relations … we hope that Trump and his team will continue their efforts to get the peace process back to the realm of diplomacy.” [Steve Rosenberg, BBC, July 9, 2025.]

Well, that’s mighty understanding of Mr. Putin. The Russian press, however, was a bit less diplomatic. Komsomolskaya Pravda quoted a political pundit who accused Trump of “an absence of geopolitical achievements,” while Moskovsky Komsomolets focused on Trump’s “mercurial temperament, his propensity for sudden moods and chaotic changes of direction.” [Id.]

Thursday: Ukraine was hit with a wave of more than 700 strikes — the largest since June. Kyiv was the principal target, where the dive-bombing wail of the drones has been compared to the sound of Germany’s World War II Stuka aircraft — a newly-added feature designed solely to instill terror in the Ukrainian people. [Paul Adams, BBC, July 10, 2025.]

So much for Moscow’s plan “to continue our dialogue with Washington to mend our broken bilateral relations . . . [and] get the peace process back to the realm of diplomacy.”

Friday: Thus far, all is quiet on the U.S.-Russia front (though undoubtedly not so peaceful on the war front in Ukraine). Donald Trump is finally — a week late and many dollars short — in Texas, surveying the damage done last week by Mother Nature’s wrath and exacerbated by his own unconscionable budget cuts.

Assuming that he’ll be spending this weekend on one of his golf courses as usual, Trump should have plenty of time to dream up yet another surprise for the world.

Maybe he could send Putin a little conciliatory gift, just to confuse him. A Tesla would be nice . . . and I hear there’s one at the White House he’s not using.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
7/11/25