He’s doing it again: that little dance, where he twirls you gracefully around the floor for a while, whispering sweet nothings into your ear about a future of endless possibilities, and then . . .

W H A M !!!

He stomps on your toes like a bull elephant galumphing across the African savanna. And you know you’re going to be out of commission for a while longer.

I am, of course, talking about the Fred Astaire of the Kremlin — old Twinkle-Toes Putin himself — who long ago mastered the art of the two-step:

Step One: He pushes as hard as he can to maintain the lead position until his dance partner gets tired of following.

In real-life terms, that has involved bombing the hell out of Ukraine for nearly four years, while insisting that he will only quit when all of his demands have been met.

His partner then counters with a few moves of their own.

In this case, these amount to sanctions, more sanctions, and threats of even greater sanctions.

Step Two: He backs off, loosens his grip on his partner’s hand and waist, and implies that perhaps they should lead for a while.

What that really means, however, is that he’s buying time to continue waging his war of attrition, increasing the attacks until the people of Ukraine can’t take any more, as he lulls his partner into a brief period of complacency.

The partner responds by showing him a few “new” steps . . . or, if that partner is Donald Trump, a list of 28 talking points for negotiations that sound eerily like the same talking points that have been failing for the past four years.

*. *. *

And he’s playing the same old tune again now. Faced with major sanctions against Russia’s two largest oil and gas giants, Vladimir Putin suddenly hinted that he was open to new discussions with the West. And the West — or, rather, the U.S. in the person of Donald Trump — took the bait.

First we learned that a top-level Pentagon delegation, headed by Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, had arrived in Ukraine on Thursday, “on a fact finding mission to meet with Ukrainian officials and discuss efforts to end the war.” [Alayna Treene, Kevin Liptak and Matthew Chance, CNN, November 20, 2025.]

Then it turned out that this is just one part of a White House effort to reopen negotiations with Moscow, and that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff have been “quietly” working on a proposal for about a month. According to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, they have been consulting both sides “to understand what these countries would commit to in order to see a lasting and durable peace.” [Laura Gozzi and James Chater, BBC, November 20, 2025.]

Leavitt added — without providing further details — that: “It’s a good plan for both Russia and Ukraine. We believe that it should be acceptable to both sides. And we’re working very hard to get it done.” [Id.]

Ukrainian President Zelensky wrote on X: “The American side presented points of a plan to end the war — their vision. I outlined our key principles. We agreed that our teams will work on the points to ensure it’s all genuine.” [Id.]

But . . . and remember, with Russia there is almost always a “but” . . . Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that there had been “contacts” with the U.S., but there was “no process that could be called ‘consultations.’” [Id.]

And he warned, for possibly the hundredth time, that there would be no peace deal without addressing the “root causes of the conflict” — Russia’s thinly-veiled reference to its unchanging list of demands that would amount to surrender on the part of Ukraine. [Id.]

*. *. *

And meanwhile, the attacks continue, the most recent being Wednesday’s missile and drone strike on two blocks of apartments in the city of Ternopil, in which at least 26 people were killed — including three children — and another 93 wounded, of whom 18 were also children.

And we’re supposed to believe that Putin wants to discuss a peace plan, when what he is really doing is two-stepping his way to a victory in Ukraine, thereby gaining 20 percent or more of Ukrainian territory, and leaving the once proud, sovereign nation a shrunken, disarmed, toothless tiger, vulnerable to whatever he has planned for the future.

We don’t know what is in the Trump proposal — which, by the way, was prepared and presented without participation by European allies, according to EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas. But rest assured, if it isn’t to Putin’s liking, it will end up in the trash with all of the previous efforts.

So, as another cold, dark winter settles in, we can only pray for a miracle. Maybe Donald Trump has finally come up with a winning formula; or perhaps Vladimir Putin will suddenly grow a conscience.

And maybe pigs will fly.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
11/21/25