Phillips P. Obrien is a professor of strategic studies at the University of St. Andrew’s in the UK. The title of this article on his blog at Substack is “This is Not Appeasement, It’s Worse.”
He begins:
In the last few days, the US has made concession after concession to Russia before any formal negotiations have even started. Trump has said that Putin should be allowed back into the G7, Defense Secretary Hegseth has said Ukraine should be kept out of NATO and the US forces will not provide any security guarantees for Ukraine. The US has also made it clear that Russia will be allowed to keep most/all of the Ukrainian lands it has seized, while at the same time making no new promises of aid to Ukraine.
In other words—Trump is helping Putin—at exactly the time Putin needs it most. If you have not noticed (will write more about this in the weekend update), the Russian army is really struggling right now. Its advances are slowing and its losses are extremely high. In fact, what Trump seems to be doing is offering a hand of friendship and support to Putin, when the Russian dictator and war criminal most needs it.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Why are you so eager for more Ukrainians to die in an unwinnable war? If the western powers hadn’t scuttled it, there would have been a peace agreement in April of 2022 that would have allowed Ukraine to keep its territory and would have kept hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians alive. But the western empire wanted to bleed and destabilize Russia, so they kept up a proxy war two years and rivers of blood. And the fun part is that Russia is stronger than ever.
LikeLike
If the Ukrainians were willing to submit to Russia, they would have done so long ago.
Afghanistan fell in a day because its military refused to fight.
Ukraine stands today because its people do not want to be owned by Putin. They fight willingly.
LikeLiked by 1 person
BTW, do you seriously **want** U.S. forces to be providing security for Ukraine? Are you willing to sacrifice your children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews and friends for that? Anyone who supports that should be required to enlist themselves and their own loved ones first. If you’re not willing to put your own people on the line, you don’t truly believe that.
LikeLike
The Ukrainians don’t want American troops. They want arms. That’s not too much to do when helping them stave off dictatorship of Putin.
Ukrainians are fighting for their national sovereignty, their freedom, their hope to join the west. Not to be part of Putin’s rebuilt USSR.
They are motivated. We didn’t create their motivation no matter how often you call them fascists.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Dienne,
Please don’t waste your time posting about why we should not oppose Putin’s brutal war to destroy Ukraine. I will say this for you: you are consistent. You said that Putin would never invade. Then you defended the invasion. You said Ukrainians were Nazis, agreeing with Putin. Now you want Ukrainians to surrender.
I won’t post anything from you on this topic.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Dienne, here’s an analysis of the supposed vehicle for April 2022 peace in Ukraine, the Istanbul Communiqué:
https://www.publicinternationallawandpolicygroup.org/lawyering-justice-blog/2024/12/17/the-istanbul-communique-a-blueprint-for-ukraines-capitulation-1
Not to mention Russia’s Bucha Massacre, which was revealed 4/1/22
LikeLike
Bethree,
Dienne posted a response to you, which was so offensive that I deleted it. It was Russian propaganda. She said that the massacre in Bucharest was not perpetrated by Russian troops but by the Azov battalion of the Ukrainian army.
Russia has denied any involvement in the Bucharest Massacre, but the claims were debunked by the BBC: https://search.app/U6nJWU7aU6gVgBK47
Or there is this report from an EU site: https://search.app/bWJ4FhLPHUpQvhFc6
LikeLike
Thanks, Diane!
LikeLike
This is so depressing on so many fronts. I’m only half joking when I say that I’m starting to come around to the idea that we are living in a simulation.
LikeLiked by 1 person
To build on this same theme, Trump sent his Heritage Foundation pool boy, J.D. Vance to Europe to speak to their leaders. His message was that it is not Russia or China that is the problem; it is them, the problem from within! The nerve of this opportunistic twerp. The Heritage Foundation and Trump administration are appeasing authoritarian regimes and trying to undermine democracies that follow the rule of law. The Heritage Foundation is not led by so-called patriots. They are authoritarians aligned with Russia. How can any self-respecting so-called conservative go along with this charade? Trump and Musk are not looking for waste and fraud, they are dismantling the federal government and any vestiges of checks and balances. Musk and his unvetted band of marauders are doing “God knows what” with the data they have collected and our technology. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/vance-ukraine-russia-deal-trump-military-tools-rcna192182
LikeLiked by 2 people
“The Heritage Foundation is not led by so-called patriots.”
Correct. It is led by Christian theofascist nationalists.
What’s the difference between patriot and nationalist?
A patriot takes a real hard look at his/her country, sees the good with the bad and attempts to correct the bad while increasing the good.A nationalist sees his/her country and says “America is great, love it or leave it.” A nationalist does not question his/her country.
Add Christian theofascism to the nationalist and we get a very dangerous situation for all. The Christian theofascist nationalists think that they can succeed at this point in time with the tRump at the helm. It’s up to us real patriots to deny the Christian theofascists that opportunity.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The Suckretary of Impotence Waves the Flag
🏳️ 🏳️ 🏳️ 🏳️ 🏳️ 🏳️ 🏳️ 🏳️ 🏳️ 🏳️ 🏳️ 🏳️ 🏳️
LikeLike
Trump-Musk-Vance have stabbed Ukraine in the back and done nothing I’m aware to deter Russia from gobbling up more Ukrainian territory. It’s a travesty and betrayal of epic proportions. What’s next, sending arms and ammunition to Russia.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Meanwhile, The EU is increasing their support for Ukraine and spending more on building a stronger defense throughout Europe.
EU defense spending projected to boom to €326B – POLITICO
EU military support for Ukraine – Consilium
LikeLiked by 2 people
The Kremlin is occupying the White House. And Congress is ….. silent.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I have read that Congress is not silent. The MAGA faction keeps cheering each Fascist Executive Order, as the federal government and U.S. Constuction are being dismantled.
If the January 6, 2021, Traitor and FELON47’s loyalist MAGA cult achieves what they want without anyone fighting back with bullets and bombs, federal laws will be by executive order which may change daily depending on the dictator’s mood.
If the federal government and U.S. Constitution are gone, the states will fall one by one until the dictator’s executive orders are the only law of the land, and they may change faster than the weather.
He’ll ignore the damage caused by hurricanes, earthquake floods, fire. Too bad. Suffer and starve in silence. There’s be laws that punish anyone that becomes homeless for any reason. The news media will report only what the dictator wants the people to hear. Anyone who defies him will end up dead or in prison.
Texas, Florida and a few other red states have already fallen to the dark side.
LikeLike
I have remained silent other than “liking” practically every comment above (& answering Dienne’s absurd comment). Because, as the inimitable Sam Cooke musically admitted, “Don’t know much about history.” But I know enough to recognize isolationist policy when I see it.
Public isolationist sentiment was somewhat understandable in US in late ‘30s despite 6-7 yrs of very clear writing on the wall. It was just 2 decades after the devastating “war to end all wars.” And before nuclear weapons, and before globalism: two large oceans seemed all the protection we needed from “other people’s problems.” It didn’t buy us much, and came close to losing the whole ball game. There’s no excuse today.
LikeLike