Oh, yeah . . . same place, same mouth.

What Moscow’s very own reality TV star — Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov — had to say on Russian state media yesterday was that the “European party of war” was at fault for blocking U.S. and Russian efforts to end the war in Ukraine, adding:

“We are ready to resolve the problem by political and diplomatic means. But so far we do not see reciprocity from Kyiv in this. So we shall continue the special military operation.” [Guy Faulconbridge, Reuters, August 31, 2025.]

It’s nothing new. In fact, we’ve heard it so often, it’s in danger of becoming a meme. But Peskov’s reiteration yesterday of the Kremlin’s ludicrous allegation is significant because of its juxtaposition to two other events: Vladimir Putin’s participation in the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) now underway in China, and the expiration today of Trump’s two-week grace period in which Putin was supposed to have agreed to a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

And separately — or not, depending on whether you believe in coincidence — there was a report today that the plane carrying European Commission (EC) president Ursula von der Leyen suffered a disruption (jamming) of its navigation system as it was preparing to land at Bulgaria’s Plovdiv Airport on Sunday.

The Financial Times reported, on the basis of information from unnamed sources, that the plane was forced to land with the pilots using paper maps. [Maia Davies and Will Vernon, BBC News, September 1, 2025.]

An EC spokesperson said that they “have received information from the Bulgarian authorities that they suspect that this was due to blatant interference by Russia.” [Id.]

The EC added that “threats and intimidation are a regular component of Russia’s hostile actions,” and that the incident would reinforce its determination to “ramp up our defence capabilities and support for Ukraine.” [Id.]

And what did Dmitry Peskov have to say about the accusation? He simply told the Financial Times: “Your information is incorrect.” [Al Jazeera, September 1, 2025.]

Our Dima is becoming a man of fewer and fewer words.

*. *. *

Whether or not these two incidents are connected, the Kremlin’s farcical accusations against the EU/EC and the European nations comprising the “Coalition of the Willing” in defense of Ukraine, viewed together with the thousands of communications-jamming incidents in the region since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, clearly negate Vladimir Putin’s pronouncements of his country’s desire to bring an end to his so-called “special military operation.”

As if we needed further proof.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
9/1/25