Less than three hours ago, I said that there was no way a “swapping of territories” was “to the betterment of” Ukraine, as proposed by Donald Trump upon announcing his scheduled meeting with Vladimir Putin in Alaska on August 15th.

And moments ago, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Ukraine “will not give their land to occupiers.” [Neha Gogol, BBC, August 9, 2025.]

I’m not psychic. And it’s not rocket science. There was no way Zelensky was going to allow Putin and Trump to sit down without him and carve up his country.

But the two dictators believe they have the right to do exactly that. Because that’s what dictators do.

And lest you still doubt that they’re in sync with regard to Ukraine, Putin’s foreign policy advisor, Yuri Ushakov, has already issued an invitation to Trump to come to Moscow for their next summit.

It seems as though securing the future of Ukraine has taken a back seat to mending relations between Putin and Trump. But is that really surprising?

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
8/9/25