Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is boasting on the front page of The Wall Street Journal that, “Ukraine will not legally recognize the occupation of Crimea. There’s nothing to talk about here.” This statement is very harmful to the Peace Negotiations with Russia in that Crimea was lost years ago under the auspices of President Barack Hussein Obama, and is not even a point of discussion. Nobody is asking Zelenskyy to recognize Crimea as Russian Territory but, if he wants Crimea, why didn’t they fight for it eleven years ago when it was handed over to Russia without a shot being fired?
https://x.com/TrumpDailyPosts/status/1915079714806411650?t=9jyYOiCkaiBSqodO725uMA&s=19
Trump is not wrong. Letting Russia keep the Crimea without Ukraine officially recognizing this as legal would be a good solution. And yes, the Crimea was ceded without much effort to retain it 11 years ago. There is a cluster of reasons and bad mistakes that led to that situation. Obama is a big part of the reason but so are many Ukrainian decisions since 1991. And, of course, the terrible mishandling of the Cold War where Russia was rewarded with money and more nukes for the depredations of the USSR was the initial cause of all the current tragedy.
There is no way out of this mess without recognizing that the Cold War win was pissed away and turned into a huge loss.
Clarissa's Blog 
Trump is VERY wrong in keep asking Ukraine to make serious concessions, but nothing serious from the Russians.
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In all fairness, he is asking Russia to stop bombing, raping, and murdering. To Russia, it is not only a serious but a pretty much impossible concession. We can’t judge Russia from the viewpoint of normal people. Normalcy was left behind over a century ago.
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“he is asking Russia”
Isn’t that the problem? He thinks ‘asking’ is the way to deal with russia? Seriously? Who is advising him, Peppa Pig?
“Normalcy was left behind over a century ago”
I thought that as early/late as the 1700s or so western vistors to russia were inevitably horrified at the brutality of russian existence (not only in terms of living conditions of the poor majority but also interpersonal relations between gentry).
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Every US president absolutely has to find out for himself that Russia appeasement, reset, negotiations, deals, etc are a complete waste of time. Every single one.
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I can see this. However, Donald Trump is taking this to a whole other level. Check out this pathetic message, even by the already low standards:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GpUW_A8WQAAMitq?format=jpg&name=medium
Oof, I cringed a bit reading that.
He’s basically bowing down to Putin and Xi at this point. Maybe he’s scoring some wins domestically, but his foreign and economic policy seem a disaster so far.
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I grew up in the US in a Russian speaking ex-soviet community. I’m a reasonably well adjusted north american adult now (if I do say so), but still struggle with the notion that “asking” someone is a reasonable way to go about achieving anything. Growing up, asking for something just mean asking to be humiliated.
For me personally, I can can recognize that the north american way is better, but this background does hurt me professionally because the amount of effort I have to summon to ask someone for something is a significant obstacle that limits my effectiveness.
For dealing with countries…not sure what insight there is.
-YZ
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Сами все предложат и сами все дадут is my life motto. It has never betrayed me, so I’m with you.
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There is no way out of the current situation without realizing that only Europeans can solve European problems and relying on outsiders like Americans is never going to be a long term solution.
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