Russia wants to end the war in Ukraine “as soon as possible,” preferably through peaceful means, and is ready to continue negotiations — provided that Kyiv and its Western allies are willing to engage, Vladimir Putin said.
Speaking during a roundtable with top editors of major international news agencies late on June 18, Putin added that he is ready to meet with Volodymyr Zelensky and “Russia does not care who represents Ukraine in negotiations, but insists that any final agreement must bear the signature of legitimate authorities.”
The Kremlin has long sought to portray Zelensky as “illegitimate” in an attempt to discredit Kyiv. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Feb. 18 that Putin, who has ruled Russia for over 20 years, is ready for talks with Zelensky, but “legal aspects related to his legitimacy” must be considered.
Ukraine’s allies had generally ignored this propaganda narrative until Donald Trump appeared to echo the Kremlin’s lines claiming that Zelensky was a “modestly successful comedian” turned “dictator” who “refused to have elections.”
He doesn’t want to end the war, he wants to stop advancing and keep what he’s already taken. That’s gonna a big fucking NO from Ukraine.
Goddammit is frustrating seeing these so-called ‘world leaders’ acting like fucking toddlers.
All our leaders are complete turds… I don’t know what that says about our systems or the idiotic people living in them… But here we are
Make sure there’s a sharp stick in the room
Putin need to be pushed outa window.
So all Zelenskyy has to do is surrender to the aggressor. Nice and simple.
Or maybe, instead, the Ukrainians should not only keep dismantling Russian military assets, but also their fossil-fuel refineries and pipelines.
Ukraine has so many more drone bombs be a shame to waste them let’s do a few more months of attacks first
Feels kinda like a game of crusader kings iii where you’ve gained some territory but worry that your opponent’s allies might send a large army at any time, plus your vassals are rumbling about revolt, so you want to get that war finished asap but don’t have enough of an advantage to force them to accept your terms.
Except it’s OK when it’s crusader kings because that’s just a fucking video game and people aren’t really dying on both sides for your ego or power hungry imperial bullshit.
War never changes.
Do you remember that episode of The Simpsons where Homer has his arm stuck in a drink vending machine and it becomes clear that he would have been free if only he’d let go of the soda can inside it? And everyone laughs at him?
Here we see “Homer” Putin with his army stuck in a war holding onto a Ukraine. He even has the same haircut. D’oh!
That’s a bang on analogy.
Art of the deal strikes again, Fuck off puts. They should demand Putin be exiled to China or some shit. Assad has to stay there or be handed over to ICC
Russia could simply stop attacking at any time, yes? Or at least they could have, not sure if Ukraine would back off at this point given how long this has dragged on.
Oh, but that isn’t what they actually want.
If Russia withdraw out of Ukraine, and stop attacking, the war will end immediately. Russia have always had the option of stopping the war, they just choose not to.
Stopping is no longer an option unless Putin wants to crash the Russian economy.
Beg more.
Putin can immediately end it with just one word: retreat.
🖕
My Russian is rusty, but here’s a rough translation: “We invaded Ukraine and have had our asses kicked thoroughly and dramatically, but we would still like to win and take a bunch of their territory.”
I might have missed a conjugation or two.
Putin is betting heavily that Trump will help. However, Trump is probably too stupid and undisciplined to stick to the playbook.
but we would still like to win and take a bunch of their territory
Putin had to. If the war ends with nothing to show for it, it’s his turn to poison himself out of a window.
“I’ll stop (for now) if you just let me win.”
