NO! Not that light!

Right … that’s the one.

Believe it or not, I’m talking to this guy:

Because on Monday he apparently — after more than four years — did see the light. And he seems to have admitted, albeit somewhat obliquely, that his “special military operation” in Ukraine is not going to end the way he hoped and expected it would.

What he reportedly said, in a closed-door meeting, was this:

“We cannot continue. This is leading us to catastrophe.” [World News Europe, May 11, 2026.]

Say WHAT??!!!

According to the same report, the Kremlin has allegedly begun the following urgent preparations for ending the war:

> The General Staff has reportedly been instructed to start developing a mechanism for withdrawing troops from Ukraine.

> Diplomatic channels (through Turkey, China, and intermediaries) have already been activated to launch a negotiation process.

> Witnesses claim Putin looked pale, nervous, and for the first time in many months appeared genuinely broken. [Id.]

Following Saturday’s Victory Day Parade in Moscow, Putin told reporters:

“I think that the matter is coming to an end.” [Al Jazeera Staff, AFP and Reuters, May 10, 2026.]

He also said that he was ready to hold direct talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Moscow or in a neutral country.

Has Putin finally seen the folly of his attempt to steal an entire country? After more than four years of his originally-planned two-week war, perhaps he has at last acknowledged that he has only succeeded in racking up more than a million Russian casualties; that he’s running out of replacements for those troops lost or injured on the battlefield; and that his aggression, rather than beating Ukraine into submission as expected, actually inspired them to become a world-class fighting force and a drone superpower, having already decimated a number of Russia’s oil refineries and shown their capability of reaching as far as Moscow itself. Not to mention positioning Russia as a pariah in most of the rest of the world, and severely devastating his own economy.

It would be nice if this did turn out to be a sudden awakening on his part. But let’s not get carried away just yet.

“There’s more?”

Yes, there is more. Because Putin’s comments must be taken in the context of his other statements. For example, before telling the press that he thinks the war may be coming to an end, he also spoke of Russia’s “just cause [against] an aggressive force armed and supported by the entire NATO bloc. Victory has always been and will be ours.” [Id.]

Only then did he add that the end of the war might be near . . . without explaining precisely what sort of conclusion he envisions.

He also qualified his offer to meet with Zelensky, saying:

“A meeting in a third country is also possible, but only after a peace treaty aimed at a long-term historic perspective is finalised. This should be a final deal, not the negotiations.” [Id.]

That’s just a repeat of what he’s been saying all along. And when asked whether he would be willing to engage in talks with European leaders, he responded:

“For me personally, the former chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany Mr. [Gerhard] Schroder, is preferable.” [Id.]

Well, of course he would be . . . though it wasn’t clear whether he was suggesting that Schroder act as negotiator on behalf of the EU nations, or that he would prefer to have Schroder represent Russia in talks with the others. And perversely, either one is conceivable.

Because Schroder — who served as German Chancellor from 1998 to 2005 between the administrations of Helmut Kohl and Angela Merkel — has long shared interests with Putin’s Russia. He has served as Chairman of the Border at Nord Stream AG — a joint Russian-German pipeline undertaking — as well as Russian oil giant Rosneft, where he remains a member of the Board. There had been consideration of his joining the Board of Russian state-run gas company Gazprom, though that apparently has not materialized.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Schroder was widely criticized for his pro-Russia stance, his work for Russian state-owned companies, and his lobbying on behalf of Russia. In 2022, as a result of those associations, proceedings were instituted by the Public Prosecutor General, accusing Schroder of complicity in Russia’s crimes against humanity.

So yes, it would certainly suit Putin to deal with Schroder. Other than Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who could possibly be better suited to his purposes?

If I sound skeptical — even cynical — it’s because I am. Vladimir Putin may be getting old and tired; but he has not shed his innate character, or his ambition to remain “Tsar for Life.” He is, always has been, and always will be diabolically clever.

My instincts tell me that he may indeed have seen a light . . . but it is most likely to have been a bright idea for ending the war on his chosen terms, with a minimum of compromise on his part. Or it’s simply another stalling tactic. Either way, I wouldn’t advise the Ukrainian military to pack up the ammo just yet.

But that’s only my humble opinion.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
5/13/26