“… In the midst of all this supposed peacemaking, Vladimir Putin gave no indications that he wants anything but more war. On March 27, he made a televised
visit to the nuclear-powered submarine
Arkhangelsk, during which he not only reiterated his claims about Volodymyr Zelensky being an “illegitimate” president because of the canceled elections in Ukraine (as constitutionally mandated in wartime) but also asserted that
all of the Ukrainian government lacks legitimacy and that the real power in Ukraine is now in the hands of armed neo-Nazi groups.
The solution, he said, was to place Ukraine under the “temporary administration” of the United Nations and the United States (and maybe even the Europeans), hold “democratic elections,” and establish “a competent government that enjoys public trust” and can be a legitimate negotiating partner.
… For good measure, Putin also saber-rattled about the Russian navy’s nuclear prowess and insisted that Russia was clearly winning in Ukraine: “Our troops have the strategic initiative along the entire contact line. I just recently said, ‘We’ll grind them down’; there are reasons to believe we’ll finish them off.”
… The Trump administration temporarily lifted sanctions on high-level Putin adviser Kirill Dmitriev so that he could come to Washington
for talks last week. The talks, however, reportedly focused primarily on avenues of Russian-American cooperation while leaving Ukraine on the back burner.
And right after Dmitriev’s visit, Russia
escalated its attacks on Ukrainian residential neighborhoods. In Kryvyi Rih, a missile
supposedly targeting military personnel hit a playground, killing nine children and eleven adults. According to Ukrainian journalist
Ihor Yakovenko, Russian strikes on Ukrainian cities are up 52 percent since the start of the negotiations.
Trump’s
reaction to the latest attacks? “We’re talking to Russia. We’d like them to stop. I don’t like the bombing.”
And: “I’m not happy about what's going on with the bombing because they’re bombing like crazy right now. . . . I don’t know what’s happening there.”
In a scathing
commentary, Russian-Ukrainian radio host and YouTuber Matvey Ganapolsky dismissed these words as “pathetic babbling” after all the threats of “scary sanctions” if Russia undermined the peace talks. He also flatly concluded, “There will be no peace.” …”
news.sky.com
