The US And Russia Hold Peace Talks Without Ukraine In Saudi Arabia

Macron organises emergency Europe defence meeting

The third anniversary of the war in Ukraine is upon us and so it seems utter madness from the US as it seems to isolate itself from NATO and Europe

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Trump’s words have left many in shock when he declared that Ukraine started the war and it was their fault, and they had a chance to end the war with a deal but failed to do so, claiming that Zelenskyy was a dictator and was holding an illegitimate position. All of that was untrue, and he was basically parroting Russia propaganda. Even his former Vice-President, Mike Pence took to social media and stated that he was wrong, and that Russian invaded Ukraine.

Zelenskyy responded saying that Tump was in a disinformation space. The only deal the Ukrainians were offered was to agree to never join NATO and to permit Russia to legally occupy the annexed lands, which was basically to surrender. As for Zelenskyy being the legitimate leader, he is as under martial law there can be no elections in Ukraine and he held the position until May 2024, but elections were not possible in Ukraine.

Then we have the ‘minerals deal’ that the US are proposing with Ukraine. At first it was to be payment in exchange for more weapons, then the narrative altered to it being payment for weapons for the 3 years, and now it looks like the US wanting 50% of Ukraine’s minerals claiming it is an economic partnership. Further reports claim that Ukraine was given an hour to sign the deal or it was off the table. Zelenskyy refused and now the US has come back with another deal, but some say it hasn’t altered.

The world is watching the US isolate itself and parrot Russian propaganda, and this led to Macron organising a hasty meeting of European leaders in Paris while the US and Russia held talks in Saudi Arabia. Trump even said Ukraine wasn’t important enough to be at the table. Naturally, many are confused and angry, for no peace talks can take place without Ukraine. Zelenskyy has stated that unless Ukraine is part of the peace talks then they are simply talks that have no validation.

This is a replay of the Munich Agreement, (September 30, 1938), which was a settlement reached by Germany, Great Britain, France, and Italy that permitted German annexation of the Sudetenland in western Czechoslovakia, who had no say in the matter. Historians considered this a grave error and Neville Chamberlain is remembered as the man who claimed to have halted war but who in fact enabled the Second World War by appeasing Hitler and giving him what he wanted without anything in return for a worthless promise that Germany would not invade other European countries

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Other world leaders have slowly defended Zelenskyy, except for Orban of Hungry and Fico of Slovakia, who at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) meeting said he supported Trump’s criticisms of Zelenskyy. Meanwhile, Putin is grinning and getting his ministers to prepare to allow western companies back into Russia.

We all know that Trump when he was last in office didn’t understand the purpose of NATO and why the US was part of it, and who threatened to leave. This alone shows how unfit he was to hold the position of president if he failed to grasp the point of NATO. Now he is weakening the alliance by stating the US will not be part of any peace keeping troops in Ukraine, and during the peace talks, Russia has stated they will not accept any peace keeping troops from any country,“Any appearance by armed forces under some other flag does not change anything. It is of course completely unacceptable,” (Lavrov)

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However, the Trump administration believes that a deal must be made to end the war quickly, but this is not a business deal but one that will define the lives of Ukrainians and Ukraine as a sovereign nation. He also believes that US involvement in the war is not in the interest of America, hence why he chose to negotiate directly with the Russians to try to end the conflict.

Eyes are also the German elections as the far right has made gains in the elections, and another change in government of a key ally that doesn’t support Ukraine is not good news for Zelenskyy.

Day 1087 (15 Feb)

• Zelenskyy suggests that a European army needs to be created at the Munich Security Conference when it looked more than likely that the US would not assist Europe in the event of a war after Vance stated that Europe needed to step up and take care of itself. Vance’s speech did not mention Ukraine, and his attack on Europe left an awkward silence in the audience with very few claps. Europe realised that the US is starting to isolate itself and that they cannot depend on treaties with the US to come to their aid if necessary as it enters a period of uncertainty.

• Zelenskyy has said that Ukraine needs a 1.5 million army if they cannot be in NATO. That's the number of troops that will be necessary to defend the Ukrainian borders and he stated it doesn't matter what country these forces come from.

• Zelenskyy blocked the minerals agreement with the US, citing that it did not protect Ukraine’s interests and that it needed to include security guarantees, and the investments must be legally sound. From US comments from Waltz (National Security Advisor of the United States) and Trump they seem vague and wishy washy, and all one sided. Trump says Ukraine must pay back all the money for the weapons provided, and Waltz suggests that the deal could include some weapons for Ukraine. From what I can see, the US wants 50% of mining minerals in Ukraine as compensation for the weapons sent to Ukraine for the past 3 years. That was never part of the original deal as most of the funds came from various US government grants that were available.

  I did not allow the ministers to sign the agreement because, in my opinion, it's not ready to protect us or our interests. (Zelenskyy)

• Rubio accuses Zelensky of trying to hustle the Americans by refusing to sign the mineral deal, stating that the US needs to be paid back some of the $200 billion in taxpayers money that was given to Ukraine. He also said that Ukraine needs to be grateful and that what happens in Ukraine doesn't impact the lives of Americans, and he also took offence at Zelenskyy accusing the Trump of disinformation even though it was true that what he said was false. This doesn't paint a very good picture of the current US government and is very much like the US government in the 1930s that were saying that the war in Europe didn't affect them. These days wars are global and it and it does affect everyone whether it's in business or even every day items such as the price of oil and grain going up.

• The US is keen to obtain 50% of Ukrainian raw minerals and there is a possibility of deploy in American troops there to guard them if there is a deal with Russia to end of the war.

• Zelenskyy has said that Russia must withdraw to at least the pre-2022 frontline in any deal to end the war. That does not mean he does not want the borders back but it's been realistic for now about Crimea.

• Reports claim that Europe has been developing a quiet plan on how to send peacekeeping troops to Ukraine. It is inevitable situation even though many countries have said that they won't participate if it is a NATO mission then they are obliged to but it remained to be seen considering the US has already stated it will not be part to any peacekeeping troops.

Day 1088 (16 Feb)

• In Mykolaiv, four underage boys were preparing a terrorist attack on the orders of Russians. The boys were aged 14 to 17 and had been recruited by Russians through telegram and had been given instructions on how to make improvised explosive devices. They were ordered to hide them in a backpack and hand it over to a 42 year-old resident in the neighbouring village.

• The US set of condition for Zelenskyy to meet with Vance in Munich, stating that Ukraine was signed the subsoil mineral agreement. So let's be refused but the meeting was held but this suggests that the US is using bullying and threatening tactics to force Ukraine to do what it wants.

• The recent recruitment drive in Ukraine to attract 18 to 24-year-olds to join. The military has resulted in over 10,000 applications due to the introduction of special contracts that are highly lucrative.

Day 1089 (17 Feb)

• European leaders hold an emergency defence summit in Paris, organised by Macron on the back of the recent change of the position by the current US government who seek a reset of NATO, and where the VP and Secretary of Defense have criticised European values and their defences.

  

• Starmer has said that the UK would provide peacekeeping troops but it would require a US backstop to deter Russia from attacking Ukraine again. Nobody quite understands what this US backstop means and I doubt Starmer even knows what he's talking about, nor has it been discussed with the US who have already stated that they will not provide any peacekeeping troops to Ukraine.

• The US and Russia hold peace talks in Saudi Arabia. Ukraine was not invited to the talks, with Trump stating their presence was not necessary. This will go down in history as the most bizarre comment ever, because without Ukraine there can be no actual peace talks. Later, it was reported that Saudi Arabia wanted Ukraine represented at the talks but both the US and Russia insisted they wanted to hold the meetings without Ukraine.

  

• The problem with the US delegation is that it is made up of inexperienced negotiators with no military experience therefore, they are not equipped to handle such high-level negotiations that affects the security of the world. Rubio did concede that at some point the EU would have to be present at the table because they have imposed sanctions against Russia but dismissed the absence of Ukraine saying that nobody is being sidelined, but they actually are.

Day 1090 (18 Feb)

• The US and Russia meet to discuss business ties (Lavrov and Rubio) and start a new wave of US-Russian cooperation and would appoint ambassadors to each other's countries as soon as possible.

• Lavrov states that peacekeeping troops in Ukraine under any flag would not be acceptable. He also said that the expansion of NATO and Ukraine joining it would be a direct threat to Russia. No one is a threat to Russia unless Russia invades or attacks them. He also states that there can be no territorial concessions either so basically Russia has not changed its position since 2022. It will not hand back the territories it has illegally annexed. It will not permit peacekeeping troops during ceasefire or after the war and will not permit Ukraine to join NATO.

• The US delegation was told by the Russians that it does not attack civilian targets and has never allegedly endangered the Ukrainian energy supply system. Evidence however indicates that those are both lies as Russia has targeted Ukraine's energy infrastructure and civilian targets such as hospitals and schools have resulted in the destruction of buildings and civilian deaths.

• Both the US and Russia believe that presidential elections in Ukraine should be part of the peace process. Trump has stated that Zelensky cannot be re-elected and that he is an illegitimate leader, which is what Putin has said.. The problem with an election in Ukraine that present is that it would not be possible with people missing people, being evacuated and many Ukrainians living as refugees abroad. Also, it opens up the problem of Russian interference where an election could be rigged by Russian actors inside of Ukraine. Proposals included a ceasefire to allow for elections before signing a final agreement. The plan it seems is to install a Russian puppet as president in Ukraine and to sign a bad peace deal.

• Rubio, said he was convinced that Russia was willing to begin in engaging in serious discussions to end the conflict.

• Trump stated that Ukraine should never have started the war which has sparked criticism from world leaders. Russia invaded Ukraine through Belarus and even Belarus admits this.

• Zelenskyy was in Turkey for a meeting after deciding not to visit Saudi Arabia and said:

  We want everything to be fair so that nobody decides anything behind our back. You cannot make decisions without Ukraine on how to end the war in Ukraine.

  He further criticise the talks, comparing them to the Russian ultimatum at the beginning of the invasion. He also stated that Ukraine seeks security guarantees from the US, European countries and Turkey and that if Turkey can provide Ukraine with the necessary security guarantees they would like turkey to be involved in this process and reiterated ‘Ukraine will never compromise on its territorial integrity or sovereignty as it cannot act against the constitution’.

Day 1091 (19 Feb)

• Trump calls Zelenskyy a dictator and ‘illegitimate’ because no elections have been held in Ukraine. Zelenskyy replies that Trump is listening to disinformation. Even Trump supporters such as Piers Morgan and Nigel Farage have struggled to agree with him on this, stating that Zelenskyy is a legitimate leader and is not a dictator rather than saying Trump was wrong

  

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• Trump continues his criticisms of Zelenskyy saying that ‘he'd better move fast or he's not going to have a country left’, and after calling him a dictator he said Zelenskyy, ‘has done a terrible job and that his country is shattered and millions have unnecessarily died,’ whilst claiming that the US is successfully negotiating an end to the war with Russia.

• Zelensky says that Trump is living in a disinformation space, and said he would like to see the Trump team have more truths.

  He also said that since Ukraine will not be represented at the Saudi talks Ukraine does not recognise these talks or recognise any agreements about Ukraine that were made without Ukrainian representation.

  Ukraine ,Europe in a broad sense and this includes the EU Turkey and the UK should be involved in conversations and the development of the necessary security guarantees with America.

  We want everything to be fair and so that nobody decides anything behind our back. We were not invited to that Russian American meeting in Saudi Arabia, it was a surprise to us the same as to many other people. We learned about it from the media.

  No matter how difficult it is for us, Ukraine will not legally recognise the parts occupied by Russia the east is ours, crime is ours and all the other towns and villages that are important for us.

  We know that the US and several European partners do not support our NATO membership. I think it's a big desire on Russia's part and it coincides with this result.

• The US envoy Keith Kellogg has met with the Ukrainian president head of office Andriy Yermak in Kyiv as he arrives for the first time to hold discussions and as he said he is there to listen. Unlike Trump, Kellock has said that Ukraine needs to be involved in all talks about ending the war.

• Russia is offering the US a deal on the natural resources and access to the Arctic as part of a new phase of cooperation between the countries.

• Ukraine and Moldova sign a memorandum of cooperation on EU ascension. This is to help strengthen their combined efforts towards EU membership, integration and ascension.

Day 1092 (20 Feb)

• Russia has claimed to have taken back 64% of Kursk territories that had been seized by Ukraine.

• The US has refused to cosponsor the UN resolution labelling Moscow as an aggressor in a G7 statement

  

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• The US has stated that Zelenskyy should not make critical comments about Trump claiming they were unacceptable insults, even though it was Trump who called Zelensky a dictator. This is a good indication of how poor the current US government is when they resort to playground tantrums, threats and bullying.

• Waltz is urging Ukraine to sign the mineral deal as Ukraine has huge deposits of minerals, including lithium, titanium, coal, gas, oil and uranium. This is also what Russia wants which is why they have invaded Ukraine so, it looks as if it is now a battle between either being controlled by Russia or the US for the natural resources of Ukraine.

• The US claims that the deal offered an ‘incredible at historic opportunity and the best security guarantee Ukraine could hope for’. Somehow I doubt that as the best security guarantee Ukraine could hope for is NATO membership. Zelenskyy refused the offer saying, ‘I cannot sell our state’.

• Trump claims that Russia holds the cards in the negotiations as Russia as taken a lot of territory. At least he admits Russia has taken territory.

• Zelenskyy met with Kellogg, but there was no press conference at the request of the US side, only photos ere permitted with no questions or answers.

• Kellogg called Zelenskyy a courageous leader and said there had been positive discussions.

Day 1093 (21 Feb)

• Putin tells his ministers to prepare for western companies to return to Russia after talks with the US on 18 February. This is an indication that the US will ignore sanctions and that Russia will no longer be isolated as the US pursues business ties with Russia. However, will companies want to return to Russia as the backlash would mean other markets boycotting them? A company cannot rely on Russian trade alone, and we have seen Canadians boycotting US products since Trump has claimed he seeks to make Canada the 51st state of the US.

• Canada has opposed Russia returning to the G7 after Trump said that it was a mistake removing Russia from the G7 in 2014. Canada is currently the chair for the G7 and has said Canada is not ready for a change in the membership of the G7 at the Kyiv Security Forum.

• The UK and Norway are discussing an Arctic defence packed over the Russian threat where there is a need to increase European security.

• In Switzerland, the US and Russia held unofficial talks on Ukraine. According to reports both sides have been quietly meeting in recent months for informal discussions on Ukraine.

• Trump said in a recent interview to Fox on Zelenskyy not being invited to talks in Saudi Arabia. He also backed Putin's claim that Ukraine's president is an illegitimate dictator, and said that Russia holds more cards, and Ukraine holds no cards in the peace negotiations.

  "I don't think he's very important to be at meetings to be honest with you. He wasn't invited to a meeting, I mean it wasn't a priority because he did such a bad negotiating so far.”

Day 1094 (22 Feb)

• Trump says at CPAC of Ukraine and the resources deal:

  ‘We're going to get our money back. I want them to give us something for all the money that we put up. We're asking for rare earth and oil, anything we can get’.

• Ukrainian and US officials continue to negotiate on the minerals deal dispute. Even if the US offers security guarantees how could they be enforced given that the Trump administration seems to chop and change its mind in the same day over issues?

  

  I think they want it. They feel good about it and it's a significant and it's a big deal but they want it and it keeps us in that country and the happier about it.(Trumps’ claims on the mineral deal negotiations.)

• The Bulgarian parliament has voted that they would not deploy any troops to Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire that necessitated peace keeping troops.

• Fico of Slovakia spoke at CPAC, and backed Trump's criticism of Zelenskyy.

Day 1095 (23 Feb)

• The revised draft of the minerals deal offers no security guarantees for Ukraine, and is the same as the one Zelenskyy rejected, yet Waltz expects Zelenskyy to sign the deal, claiming it is an economic partnership. Some have suggested Ukraine give them the minerals in the occupied areas so then they can kick Russia out of Ukraine.

• Ukraine says that the US is looking to obtain an interest in 50% of Ukraine's natural resources to a joint investment fund to pay back for support.

• Trump has said there is a new phase of Cine negotiations between the US and Russia and that further talks would take place in Saudi Arabia on 25th February 2025.

  

• Zelenskyy holds a press conference at the Kyiv forum and says he is willing to give up his presidency for peace and that would mean NATO membership. He also says that negotiations continue for the mineral deal with the US, but they do not owe $500 billion and that they cannot pay back the $100 billion in weapons provided

  

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• Macron and Starmer are to visit the US for talks on Ukraine with Trump on 24 February 2025. Trump has said that neither of them have done anything to end the war, but Starmer has only been prime minister for seven months, while Macron has called Putin at least twice but to no avail on trying to negotiate a peace deal.

• Trump changes his mind and says that Russia attacked Ukraine:

  Russia attacked, but they shouldn't have let him attack (Trump, still blaming Ukraine for allowing Russia to invade Ukraine).