Today’s quote is from a statement made just yesterday by a gentleman who clearly knows what he’s talking about.

As U.S., Ukrainian and European leaders and diplomats scurry around the globe from meeting to meeting, attempting to make sense of Donald Trump’s 28-point peace proposal to be presented to Kyiv and Moscow in hopes of ending the war in Ukraine, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte offered comments to the media following one such meeting in Geneva.

Speaking of the meeting itself, and the prospects for the success of the proposed peace plan, Rutte said, “Well, obviously some of the elements have to be really thought through,” and that “clearly as a base it served its purpose yesterday to get the two parties to really dialogue.”

And then — proving that he is indeed the right person in the right job at the right time — he added this:

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“I know one thing about the Russians in general and Putin specifically. Whenever you make an agreement, you have to make sure it is in his interest to keep it.

So that’s why it is so important that whenever a peace deal is reached on Ukraine, that he will never try again. And he will never try again when he knows that the consequences for him will be devastating if he tries to invade Ukraine again after a long term cease-fire or preferably a peace deal.”

– Mark Rutte, as reported by RFE/RL, November 24, 2025

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Unlike the United States, European nations have suffered multiple wars on their own territories. They understand — because they live daily with — the danger of yet another invasion by some fascist, communist, or other tyrannical regime. And they understand the man — Vladimir Putin — as Donald Trump never has and likely never will.

It is Europe that is most vulnerable to Putin’s dreams of reinstating Imperial Russia in his lifetime. And it is Europe’s leaders to whom we should be listening most closely.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
11/25/25