One day Donald Trump is saying he thinks Ukraine has a good chance of recovering all of its Russian-occupied territory.

Then Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky comes to Washington hoping to obtain long-range Tomahawk missiles and returns home empty-handed, but with a promise that Trump will be meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, probably in the next couple of weeks.

Then word leaks out that Putin has told Trump that he still won’t agree to a ceasefire unless he is awarded all of Ukraine’s Donbas region.

Oh, and incidentally, let’s build a tunnel connecting Russia’s far east with . . . wait for it . . . Alaska. At Russia’s expense. Except for some contributions by unidentified “international partners.” Which Trump calls “interesting.”

Furthermore, the Financial Times has reported, citing people “familiar with the matter,” that during the White House meeting Trump had advised Zelensky to accept Russia’s terms for ending the war, including ceding the Donetsk region . . . and warned that Putin would “destroy” Ukraine if Zelensky didn’t agree to Russia’s terms. [RFE/RL, October 21, 2025 CET.]

Thereafter, Trump denied that he had discussed Ukraine’s sacrificing Donetsk. But in a Fox News interview, when asked whether Putin was likely to accept a peace deal without winning the Donbas, Trump said:

“Well, he’s gonna take something.” [Id.]

Then he tried — in his usual clumsy manner — to cover his obvious blunder by saying yesterday:

“I never said they would win it. I said they could win. Anything could happen. You know, war is a very strange thing. A lot of bad things happen. A lot of good things happen.” [Kevin Liptak, CNN, October 20, 2025.]

“A lot of good things happen in war”? What does that even mean? Does he ever listen to himself?

Apparently not, because he also wrote on social media, shortly after the White House meeting, that Russia and Ukraine “should stop where they are . . . Let both claim Victory, let History decide!” [John Sudworth and Maia Davies, BBC, October 20, 2025.]

In the meantime, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has spoken with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in preparation for a summit between the two leaders, possibly in Budapest — a call that Rubio described as “constructive.” [Id.]

And Europe’s Coalition of the Willing — a group of 33 nations united in support of Ukraine — have scheduled a meeting in London on October 24th, to include President Zelensky.

*. *. *

But what a difference a few hours can make. Because, as of this writing (2:15 p.m. EDT), the White House has announced that:

“Secretary Rubio and Foreign Minister Lavrov had a productive call. Therefore, an additional in-person meeting between the Secretary and Foreign Minister is not necessary, and there are no plans for President Trump to meet with President Putin in the immediate future.” [Kristen Holmes, Jennifer Hansler and. Kylie Atwood, CNN, October 21, 2025.]

A “source familiar with the matter” — a journalistic euphemism for someone who wishes to remain anonymous — also told CNN that, following the Rubio-Lavrov call, it was determined by Washington officials that the Russian position had not sufficiently evolved beyond its original demands, but that the two might speak again this week. [Id.]

So at this point I have just one question: As long as Vladimir Putin continues to stall, and Donald Trump keeps seesawing between support for Ukraine and his Danse Macabre with Putin, does anyone really know what the hell is happening?

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
10/21/25