The silence has been deafening, from both sides.

Yesterday morning (GMT), while still in Scotland, Donald Trump issued what, for him, was a stern warning to Vladimir Putin that Moscow had only “about 10 or 12 days from today” to enter into serious ceasefire negotiations with Ukraine, or suffer the consequences.

But Trump didn’t specify what those consequences would be, other than additional “very severe tariffs.” And he has yet to follow through with a more detailed ultimatum, other than a confirmation of August 8th as the new deadline date. [Rachel Hagan and Jaroslav Lukiv, BBC, July 29, 2025.]

Maybe he’s just jet-lagged, or still exhausted from riding around his new Scottish golf course in Golf Cart One.

Trump’s comments followed his meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday, and represented a major turn-around from his earlier offer to Putin of 50 days to respond. After hearing such an announcement, one would naturally have expected a quick reaction from the Kremlin, perhaps accusing Trump of going back on his word.

But all we’ve heard from Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov thus far was that they had “taken note” of Trump’s comments, and that:

“Putin is waiting. To know what to say next, he needs to understand exactly how Trump plans to behave.” [Ray Furlong and Current Time, RFE/RL, July 29, 2025.]

Smart.

These two — Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin — have been racing headlong at one another for years. But since Trump’s return to the White House in January, they’ve been playing chicken like a couple of teenage hot-rodders from a 1950s movie.

But even in real life, when two idiots drive head-first into each other, the worst that can happen is that two lives and two vehicles will be destroyed.

When the idiots are Trump and Putin, and neither of them is willing to be the first to swerve, the results could be cataclysmic.

Putin is correct in waiting for particulars from Trump; as things stand now (midnight EDT), he has nothing concrete to respond to. But once he has that information, he needs to quit playing games and begin acting like the world leader he claims to be.

This is not a game, and it’s not a Hollywood movie. But these two are treating Ukraine as though it were the grand prize for the winner of a teenagers’ jalopy race . . . and it has to stop.

Someone needs to swerve. Unfortunately, the odds are that once again it will be the wrong one.

But let’s see what the rest of the day brings.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
7/30/25