Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, Vlad . . . your old pal Donnie has outdone himself in the gift department this year.

No gold-plated trinkets for you. After all, you already own the treasures of the Kremlin Armory and St. Petersburg’s Hermitage. What do you need with a fake peace prize when you have palaces overflowing with genuine Faberge eggs and crown jewels?

No, your big gift this year — as already hinted at (none too subtly) by White House envoy Steve Witkoff — is land. Lots and lots of beautiful agricultural land, mineral deposits and industrial property. And it’s only taken four years and a million human casualties to make your wish come true.

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While delegations from Washington and Moscow have held closed-door meetings and phone conferences concerning the fate of Ukraine, bits and pieces of information have found their way into the public domain. We already know of the chummy gathering in Moscow of a pair of American real estate moguls — Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner — with experienced politicians Vladimir Putin and Yuri Ushakov. But, other than the fact that no peace deal was reached, we have been given few details.

However, there was also a conversation between Witkoff and Ushakov in which — according to a transcript of the meeting as reported by Bloomberg* — Witkoff told Ushakov point blank:

“Now, me to you, I know what it’s going to take to get a peace deal done: Donetsk and maybe a land swap somewhere.” [Robert Reich, Substack.com, December 8, 2025.]

* I was unable to read the Bloomberg report itself, as opening the link required a paid subscription. As a matter of principle, I refuse to be coerced into paying for news.

And, after giving away some 20% of Ukrainian territory to Russia, Witkoff had no hesitation in admitting to The Wall Street Journal that there had also been talks with Russia about oil, gas and rare-earth minerals deals, which he characterized as constituting “a bulwark against future conflicts there. Because everybody’s thriving.” [Id.]

Right . . . if one’s definition of “everybody” is limited to Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump, and a handful of their very closest friends.

Then there was last week’s issuance of the new U.S. National Security Strategy (NSS), which in itself is a whole other Pandora’s box of horrors. While depicting Europe as just short of worthless, Trump’s NSS eliminates language from prior administrations that described Russia as a threat, thus providing Putin & Co. with the best little stocking-stuffer gift of all.

As reported to state-owned Russian news agency TASS by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov:

“We considered this a positive step. Overall, these messages are certainly in contrast with approaches of previous administrations.” [Max Saltman, Jennifer Hansler and Billy Stockwell, CNN, December 7, 2025.]

Yeah . . . you’re damned right they’re in contrast!

Whereas former President Biden’s 2022 NSS had said that Russia posed “an immediate threat to the free and open international system, recklessly flouting the basic laws of the international order today, as its brutal war of aggression against Ukraine has shown,” the Trump version foresees the U.S. having a major role in diplomacy to re-establish “conditions of stability within Europe and strategic stability with Russia,” and for “ending the perception, and preventing the reality, of NATO as a perpetually expanding alliance.” [Id.]

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You know that “new world order” that China, Russia and the other members of BRICS have been building to overtake Western political and economic dominance? Well, it appears as though they too have just been handed a lovely holiday gift . . . and by the very country they want most to defeat.

You just can’t make this stuff up.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
12/8/25