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#7 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-06-04 10:02 PM
... Volodymyr Zelensky has called for a face-to-face meeting between himself and Vladimir Putin in a renewed bid to end the war.
In an open letter to the Russian president, the Ukrainian leader said it would be "wrong to simply wait" until the war in Europe becomes the focus of the US's attention once more, adding peace could only come "through direct engagement between" Ukraine and Russia.
Shrewd move, he is both preempting and "freezing out" more attempts by Putin to put pressure on Ukraine by "negotiating" through third parties and more specifically, his "messenger pigeons" Trump-Witkoff-Kushner et al.
He also knows Putin wouldn't accept it, but he is sending a much stronger message to both Putin and flaky European allies that "times, they are a-changing" and that Russia is in much weaker position to dictate terms of combat and what's acceptable for "peace deal" and ceasefire(s).
From the letter:
"When you led Russia more than 26 years ago, many in Ukraine had a positive attitude towards you. ... That is already in the past.
Now the absolute majority of Ukrainians perceive positively the fact that our long-range drones visited the opening of your forum in St. Petersburg, having overcome a distance of more than 1,000 kilometers. As you well know, this distance is not the limit of our capabilities.
... Almost half of your 26 years of power in Russia you have spent in the war against Ukraine.
Whatever you say about NATO, geopolitics and the Russian language, this war is your personal choice - a war without a real reason. This is how history will remember it.
We often hear that war suits you. Of course, not when it comes to the safety of your residence in Valdai or the parade in Moscow. Your own life is valuable to you.
But now we all see that this finally ceases to suit the Russians...
They do not like our drones and missiles.
They do not like the shortage of gasoline and the constant rise in prices...
They do not like your intention to organize a second wave of mobilization to expand the war...
They do not like the fact that there is no end in sight to your war.
Yes, you can still force the Russians to exist like this.
But your resources are significantly reduced.
You will not have enough money and political power to continue buying the loyalty of the Russians, as you have done for 26 years. We will do everything to ensure that the world takes care of this.
It is not that we in Ukraine are worried about the Russians. ... But I care about the Ukrainians.
... You are the first Russian ruler who was forced to turn to Pyongyang for help.
And today you are completely dependent on China - also for the first time in Russian history.
We have seen intelligence documents that you are now considering war plans for 2027 and 2028. We also know that you hope that ballistics will do for you what everything else has not.
Everyone has heard your representatives, smiling, saying that I can come to Moscow. But after such 26 years, there is nothing for the Ukrainian leader in your capital, as well as the Russian leader in Kyiv, to do.
There are countries that traditionally receive leaders to resolve issues of war and peace. Switzerland, Turkey... - many can and want to host this meeting.
... If you personally do not agree that it is time to end this war, Ukraine will continue to fight for its existence...
But you will also have to fight much more for your existence - not Russia's, but your own. ... These are facts of Russian history that you know well: when Russia gets tired, changes happen."
We can work on such fatigue. ...
Glory to Ukraine!"
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#11 | Posted by madbomber at 2026-06-19 10:28 AM
... it's just baffling to me that modern-day Repubs rate Trump higher than Reagan. Or higher than anyone for that matter.
In Nuremberg (2025) (at 00:55:30), there is an interesting conversation between psychiatrist Douglas Kelley (www.history.com, www.forbes.com) and Herman Goering about what drew him to Hitler, which can shine some light on what drew/draws some to Trump:
[K] Let's talk about Hitler.
[G] It is interesting you have not asked me this directly before.
[K] I'm curious what the attraction was. He was a failed painter, right? Not a very good soldier, yet he's worshipped and revered.
[G] He made us feel German again.
[K] How?
[G] Well, the war had seen Germany crushed. And along comes a man who says... We can reclaim our former glory. Would you not follow a man like this?
[K] Depends what else he wanted to do.
[G] The first time I saw Hitler talk was... 1922. Upstairs of a coffee shop. For maybe 30 people. This was peacetime, but it was a peace without food, jobs, shoes. And he stood up. And he said "French bellies are being filled with German pain." And then... "If you make threats, you need bayonets. Rearm! Down with Versailles!" So that night... I became a National Socialist.
[K] Off of... One speech?
[G] Well, I could tell he would appeal to the old soldiers. If they have the old soldiers, they have the manpower. Even with his antisemitism, it served a practical purpose. It brought towards us men who needed something else to focus their emotions. Something else to blame.
[K] And the camps?
[G] They were to be work camps for our political opponents. Nothing more.
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