The Putin-Trump meeting dropped some important veils.
It revealed that Washington views Russia as a peer power, and that Europe is little more than a useful American tool.
© The Cradle
Alaska was not only about Ukraine.
Alaska was mostly about the world's top two nuclear powers attempting to rebuild trust and apply the brakes on an out-of-control train in a mad high-speed rail dash towards nuclear confrontation.There were no assurances, given the volatile character of US President Donald Trump, who conceived the high-visibility meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. But
a new paradigm may be in the works nonetheless. Russia has essentially been de facto recognized by the US as a peer power. That implies, at the very least, the return of high-level diplomacy where it is most needed.
Meanwhile, Europe is dispatching a line-up of impotent leaders to Washington to kowtow in front of the Emperor. The EU's destiny is sealed: into the dustbin of geopolitical irrelevance.What has been jointly decided by Trump, personally, and Putin, even before Moscow proposed charged-with-meaning Alaska as the summit venue, remains secret. There will be no leaks about the full content.
Yet it's quite significant that Trump himself
rated Alaska as a 10 out of 10.
The key takeaways, relayed by sources in Moscow with direct access to the Russian delegation, all the way to the 3-3 format (it was initially designed to be a 5-5, but other key members, such as Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, did provide their input), emphasize that:
"It was firmly put [by Putin] to stop all direct US weapon deliveries to Ukraine as a vital step towards the solution. Americans accepted the fact that it is necessary to dramatically decrease lethal shipments."
After that happens, the ball swings to Europe's court. The sources specify, in detail:
"Out of the $80 billion Ukrainian budget, Ukraine itself provides less than around $20 billion. The National Bank of Ukraine says that they collect $62 billion in taxes alone, which is a hoax; with a population around 20 million, much more than one million of irreversible battlefield losses, a decimated industry and less than 70 percent of pre-Maidan territory under control that is simply impossible."
So Europe - as in the NATO/EU combo - has a serious dilemma: 'Either support Ukraine financially, or militarily. But not both at the same time. Otherwise, the EU itself will collapse even faster.'Now compare all of the above with arguably the key passage in one of Trump's Truth Social posts: "It was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up."
Add to it the essential sauce provided by former Russian president Dmitri Medvedev:
"The President of Russia personally and in detail presented to the US President our conditions for ending the conflict in Ukraine (...) Most importantly: both sides directly placed responsibility for achieving future results in negotiations on ending hostilities on Kiev and Europe."
Talk about superpower convergence. The devil, of course, will be in the details.
Comment: The Xitterati have a lot to say about Ms. McCord.
It seems she is being protected in a serious way. Guess you can expect that when you know where ALL the bodies are buried: