Y’all,please accept my apologies for running so far behind today. Now, isn’t this an interesting question? I’m pretty sure my man Zelenskyy will, but I’m *very* uncertain about Putin. I think not showing would make him look bad for a number of reasons. The first one is cowardice. Heh. The next one would be he’s “too busy” (busy with what, hmmmmm?). The third one would be that he doesn’t want to end the war, especially not with what may be Zelenskyy’s demand – give them back ALL of their d*mn land, which is the least of the things they deserve. Zelenskyy doesn’t need to back down, and I don’t think he will. To start the quotes from CNN:
There was speculation this week that Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky might meet Russia’s President Vladimir Putin in Turkey on Thursday – if the Russian leader decides to show up for a summit that he himself suggested.
The possibility of the two men meeting face-to-face has caused major excitement, but it might not be happening after the Kremlin’s list of delegates made no mention of Putin.
CNN has reached out to the Kremlin to clarify whether Putin is not going to the highly anticipated talks, after Russian officials spent days preparing justifications and excuses for Putin’s absence.
Ha, yea, excuses. That’s pretty much what I would have figured all along. He’s not going to show. Maybe he considers such things to be “beneath him”. Still, it looks like cowardice to me, no matter what excuse they give. Okay, I’m going to skip ahead a bit in the article here so this isn’t one of the super long pieces I’ve been writing lately.
The last known direct talks between Kyiv and Moscow took place in Turkey and Belarus in the spring of 2022 – when it became clear that Putin’s initial plan to take over the whole of Ukraine and install a new puppet government in Kyiv within a few days had gone catastrophically wrong.
This left Russia scrambling, trying to achieve its goals through negotiations.
The Institute for the Study of War, a US-based conflict monitor, said the agreement that was proposed by Moscow called for Ukraine to surrender its sovereignty and would have made Ukraine completely powerless in the face of any future attacks.
Once Ukrainian forces began liberating parts of northern Ukraine, finding clear evidence of massacres and other atrocities as they advanced, the talks started to collapse.
The Russian abuses uncovered in one town in particular – Bucha, just north of Kyiv – horrified the world and hardened the resolve of the Ukrainian people.
Yup. Putin wants Ukraine and isn’t going to get it. Is his absence because he’s finally admitted to himself that it’s not that easy? I don’t know, but, I can hope just a tiny bit. He needs to *really look* at this whole thing and what it’s cost him, and in terms of people, not just guns and machinery. He’s scraping the dregs of the society of Russian people and accepting help from outside countries. It hasn’t made a difference. He’s barely any further in from where he started, not counting the 2 places he grabbed in 2014 (which really belong to Ukraine and not him). I went and looked up Bucha. I have no d*mn words.
“This is pure spectacle, it’s theatrics. Because high-level meetings, especially in such a difficult situation, are absolutely not organized in this way,” the deputy head of Russia’s Federation Council Konstantin Kosachev told Russian state TV station Russia 24 on Monday.
He said negotiators “at an expert-technical level” would attend.
Heh. Expert *technical* level. Not diplomatic level. Technical level.
Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, and his foreign envoy, Steve Witkoff, both plan to be in Istanbul for the talks, a senior Trump administration official said on Tuesday, a statement confirmed by another source familiar with the plans.
The US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, is also in Turkey, attending an informal meeting of NATO foreign ministers.
As of Tuesday, the plan was for the US officials to observe the Turkish-facilitated talks between the Ukrainians and Russians.
Rubio, Kellogg, and Witkoff (bah, BAD choice, SignalGate) all took part in some of the previous rounds of talks in Saudi Arabia, in which they acted as intermediaries, meeting separately with the Russian delegation and then, a few days later, with the Ukrainians.
This time, the fact that the two delegations might meet face to face is significant, even if their goal is more about satisfying Trump than reaching an actual deal.
Zelenskyy has the guts to go. I’m willing to bet he will! The rumors flying around tomorrow could be fun! But, let’s wait and see what happens. Thanks for sticking with me!
*****And now, please read ******
Zoomers, we are always in need of donations. It’s been an especially rough month, and my own health has not been great these past few weeks, which just adds to the frustration. Anything you can spare will be immensely appreciated. And thank you to all who have donated generously already. Ursula
Zelensky needs to watch his beverages.
The Russians are known for adding “special ingredients”
Oh, d*mn, that’s right! And I feel a tiny bit vindicated in that he showed up, and Putin did not. Putin is a wimp.
All dictators are cowards…including ours.
As always, Scott, you give me such interesting comments to think about. And I don’t think I’d realized the truth in your statement until you put it out here. Yikes!!!