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Escobar: Made in China 2025 – Revisited

Authored by Pepe Escobar,

The Two Sessions, part of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, held last week at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, were a pretty serious deal.

Not only because the sessions set the framework for Beijing to confront serious economic challenges ahead.

But also because of the stellar performance by Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who forcefully imprinted in the collective psyche of the Global Majority how China should be regarded as a premier source of stability in this extremely turbulent geopolitical juncture, standing firm “in the right side of History”.

So let’s start with the key Wang Yi takeaways – which translate as de facto setting the tone for Beijing’s diplomacy throughout 2025.

US-China: Beijing is ready to engage with Trump 2.0 on the basis of mutual respect. Yet “if the US continues to contain China, we will resolutely counteract.” It’s “fully possible” for US and China to become partners. But this should be seen as the paramount concept: “No country should fantasize that it can suppress China and maintain good relations with us at the same time.”

The Global South: That is a “key force for maintaining world peace, driving world development and improving global governance”. These developing nations, accounting for over 40 per cent of global GDP, “hold the key to bringing stability to the world and making it a better place.” Wang Yi emphasized once again how China is “a natural member of the Global South.”

Russia – and Ukraine conflict: Russia and China’s“mature and resilient relationship (…) will not be swayed by any turn of events or be affected by any third party.” Wang Yi defined Beijing’s position on the conflict as “objective and impartial” – and crucially did not call for Europe – or Ukraine – to be included in the upcoming US-Russia negotiations. His major point – which echoes Russia’s analysis: “Security is mutual and equal; the security of one country cannot be built on the insecurity of others.”

Gaza: No Chinese endorsement of the Trump Gaza Riviera Resort and Casino gambit: “Gaza belongs to the Palestinian people”. And “changing its status by forceful means will not bring peace but new chaos”. Beijing supports the Egyptian peace plan. Once again, Wang Yi made it clear that “the crux of the cycle of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict lies in the fact that the two-state solution is only half achieved.”

Europe: Wang Yi praised the “capacity and wisdom” of EU-China to “deepen strategic dialogue and mutual trust.”Beijing, at least in theory, believes that Europe could become a trusted partner. The EU and the European Commission (EC) in Brussels may have other – belligerent – ideas.

South China Sea: Wang Yi went straight to the point on the manipulation of Philippines by “external forces”: “Infringement and provocation will backfire, and those acting as others’ chess pieces are bound to be discarded.” Yet he stressed the South China Sea remains “stable”, because China and ASEAN want it to remain so.

Taiwan: Wang Yi forcefully stated that “Taiwan has…

Greenland’s Pro-Independence Election Winners Brush Back Trump, Who Asserts Annexation By US “Will Happen”

President Trump on Thursday while meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office confidently stated he believes the United States would eventually annex Greenland. He even linked it to NATO security.

“I think it will happen,” Trump told reporters. “And I’m just thinking, I didn’t give it much thought before but I’m sitting with a man that could be very instrumental. You know, Mark, we need that for international security,” Trump said, acknowledging Rutte beside him.
Jens-Frederik Nielsen, expected to be Greenland’s next PM, via Sermitsiaq

“I don’t want to drag NATO in that,” Rutte responded judiciously, but agreed the Arctic Circle region and Greenland in particular are critical for the security of the West, at a time Russia in China have increased their military presence there.

But the center-right Demokraatit party just won Greenland’s parliamentary elections this week, and Greenland’s likely new prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, has surprised many by quickly coming out so strongly against Trump’s rhetoric on Greenland:

“We don’t want to be Americans. No, we don’t want to be Danes. We want to be Greenlanders, and we want our own independence in the future,” Nielsen, 33, told Britain’s Sky News. “And we want to build our own country by ourselves.”

That didn’t stop Trump from suggesting during a Thursday Oval Office meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte that Greenland’s election that it was “very good” for “us” and “the person who did the best is a very good person, as far as we’re concerned.”

Nielsen said while celebrating his party’s surprising margin of victory that Greenland needs to stand together “in a time of great interest from outside.”

Merely just four years ago Demokraatit won less than 10% in the last election, but took nearly 30% in Tuesday’s election. Much of the campaigning and debate leading into it actually somewhat ignored Trump’s eyeing Greenland, instead focusing mostly on issues like healthcare and other purely domestic concerns.

The center-right Demokraatik party has long advocated for a slower approach to independence, while another opposition party Naleraq, which took 24.5% of the vote to Demokraatik’s 29.9% has called to sever ties with Denmark more quickly.

Trump issues provocative annexation statements on Greenland while NATO’s Rutte sits and reacts nervously…

POTUS on acquiring Greenland: “I think it will happen… We need that for international security.” pic.twitter.com/0j32jk0QL2
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 13, 2025
By and large, Greenland – which is a self-governing region of Denmark – has been moving toward independence since at least 2009. Trump’s transition team began consulting private sector experts as early as November on potential ventures in Greenland. Among the ideas being floated are rare earth mining projects and a new hydroelectric facility – a nod to the island’s renewable energy potential. These internal admin conversations underscore Washington’s escalating interest in the Arctic as a buffer against Chinese influence.

“Trump is absolutely capitalizing on Greenland’s push for independence,” said Jacob Kaarsbo, independent foreign security adviser and former chief analyst at the Danish Defence Intelligence Service. “I can easily see a scenario where Greenland moves away from…

‘I $hit You Not’: Rainforest Decimated To Build Mega Road For UN Climate Change Summit

Authored by Steve Watson via modernity.news,

Tens of thousands of acres of Amazon rainforest is being cleared in order to construct a four lane highway so that global elites can drive to the COP30 Climate Summit after disembarking from their private jets.

Yes, really.

The BBC reports that the huge road is to be built connecting to the Brazilian city of Belém ahead of the UN Conference in November.

I shit you not, a new four-lane highway is being built that cuts through tens of thousands of acres of protected Amazon rainforest for the COP30 climate summit in the Brazilian city of Belém. pic.twitter.com/GTmyeONbsz
— Champagne Joshi (@JoshWalkos) March 12, 2025
The report states that the highway is being green lit in order to alleviate traffic to the city, which is set to host in excess of 50,000 people at the Summit.

The report further notes:

Along the partially built road, lush rainforest towers on either side – a reminder of what was once there. Logs are piled high in the cleared land which stretches more than 13km (8 miles) through the rainforest into Belém.

Diggers and machines carve through the forest floor, paving over wetland to surface the road which will cut through a protected area.

The report explains that highway is one of scores of projects being undertaken to “prepare” and “modernise” the city, with the state government infrastructure secretary saying it will “serve people for COP30 in the best possible way”.

It’s totally insane. Elites are destroying the environment so they can have a conference about climate change.
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) March 12, 2025
But fret not, ‘animal crossings’ will be placed on the highway, so the critters (who now have no homes) can cross it, and solar lighting will be used.

Of course, the very same world ‘leaders’ who lecture everyday people about their carbon footprints and suggest eating lab grown meat instead of the real thing will fly in on private jets and then hop in their SUVs to travel down the new highway, all in the name of saving the planet.

It’s okay, they bought some extra carbon tax credits
— Austin Grantham (@UncleNachoDog) March 12, 2025
As we’ve previously highlighted, this seems to be a running theme with this particular summit, despite the fact that everyone attending it could simply do so virtually, preventing thousands of tons of CO2 emissions that they’re always complaining about.

‘Four hundred private jets have flown into Glasgow. Four hundred.’
Colin Brazier gives his take on Cop26, saying ‘here we are looking at the people who want us to have less, having more.’ pic.twitter.com/lVhF4Mp1I9
— GB News (@GBNEWS) November 2, 2021

HYPOCRISY alert
3 separate private jets for King, Cameron & Sunak to travel to COP 28….. to tell us how to save emissions…
But 2 yrs ago, COP 26 they said two minutes to midnight and doom…
Maybe its a scam pic.twitter.com/E22k41eP3U
— Richard Tice MP (@TiceRichard) November 29, 2023

Over 1000 private jets have landed at #Cop28 to discuss how to reduce YOUR carbon footprint. If they truly…

The AI Integration Crisis: A Special Operator’s View From The Tactical Edge

Authored by Richard Byno via RealClearDefense,

The humid air of the South China Sea clung to my skin as I peered through my binoculars, scanning the horizon. Our team was tracking a vessel suspected of transporting critical technology to a hostile nation. Suddenly, our target’s signature vanished from our screens.

“Target lost,” my analyst called out, his voice tight with frustration.

In that moment, I knew we were outmatched. Our adversary’s vessels, equipped with edge-processed AI systems, could analyze and react to pattern changes in seconds. Meanwhile, our “advanced” AI capabilities required reaching back to a server farm thousands of miles away. By the time we completed our manual cross-referencing of five different intelligence feeds, the target had vanished into the cluttered maritime environment.

This wasn’t just another missed opportunity. It was a stark reminder of what I’ve witnessed repeatedly during my twenty years in special operations: America’s warfighters are falling dangerously behind in the artificial intelligence revolution. While we debate perfect solutions in comfortable conference rooms, our adversaries are rapidly fielding autonomous systems that fundamentally change the battlefield geometry.

The difference between theoretical AI capabilities and battlefield reality is measured in missed opportunities and lost American lives.

Ground Truth: The AI Capability Gap

Let me paint you a picture from my last deployment. The official briefings touted our access to innovative AI systems, but the reality was starkly different. During one critical maritime surveillance operation, our team tracked pattern-of-life changes across five domains – air, surface, subsurface, cyber, and electromagnetic. Each domain required separate analysis through disconnected systems. An integrated AI solution could have fused this data in seconds. Instead, we spent four hours manually correlating data while our target slipped away.

The capability gap is not just theoretical. According to the Department of Defense’s Artificial Intelligence Integration Report, China fielded 78 new AI-enabled military systems in 2022 alone. The U.S.? We managed 12. The GAO’s assessment of military AI capabilities confirms this growing disparity, highlighting critical gaps in our tactical AI deployment.

The OODA Loop Crisis

This capability gap manifests in stark operational realities. During a recent operation in the Indo-Pacific, reminiscent of my time with JSOC-TF, our team was tracking multiple small vessels showing unusual behavior patterns. The Congressional Research Service reports that Chinese autonomous ISR platforms can process sensor data locally within 1.3 seconds. Our systems require transmission to central processors, creating 15-45 second delays. In contested environments with degraded communications, these delays extended to minutes or hours.

In the world of special operations, where the OODA loop (Observe, Orient, Decide, Act) is measured in seconds, these delays are more than an inconvenience – they’re a critical vulnerability. I’ve seen this firsthand during Counterterrorism/Counterinsurgency (CT/COIN) operations and HVT raids in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Breaking Through Bureaucratic Barriers

The Pentagon’s response to these challenges follows a familiar pattern: committees, working groups, and multi-year development cycles. But the battlefield doesn’t wait for perfect solutions. We need a paradigm shift in how we approach AI integration.

Despite efforts to integrate AI, the Department of Defense has faced significant challenges. The Chief…

China, Russia, Iran To Hold Nuclear Talks In Beijing After Tehran Snubbed Trump Offer

At a moment that Iran’s stocks of uranium are coming very close to nuclear weapons-grade, and as the Trump White House has resumed its ‘maximum pressure’ policy on Iran, China is set to host a meeting in Beijing with Russia and Iran.

Friday’s scheduled summit in Beijing will focus on the Iranian “nuclear issue” – according to a Chinese foreign ministry statement, involving both nations’ deputy foreign ministers.

China’s Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu will chair the meeting, the statement described. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baqaei confirmed that topping the agenda will be “developments related to the nuclear issue and the lifting of sanctions.”

The UN atomic watchdog IAEA has recently warned that Tehran “dramatically” accelerating enrichment of uranium to up to 60% purity. The Iranians are within reach of achieving weapons-grade level of roughly 90% – if they desire to pursue it.

“China has said it supports Iran in safeguarding its legitimate rights and calling for an early resumption of the Iranian nuclear talks,” Reuters has reported.

Late last week President Trump said he sent a formal letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader urging the restart of fresh nuclear talks, which the Iranians have scoffed at. The letter is still said to be en route via the UAE ambassador – after Iran initially said it never received such a letter.

Iranian leaders have several times since last week explained that they can’t trust any dialogue or deal with Washington after it pulled out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear deal in 2018 (under the first Trump administration).

Meanwhile, China, Iran and Russia are growing more cooperative on the military front, having held the “Maritime Security Belt 2025” joint naval exercises in the Gulf of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz this week.

“For two days, the crews of the warships conducted both daytime and nighttime live-fire exercises, using heavy machine guns and small arms to engage targets simulating unmanned boats and aerial drones of a mock adversary,” a Russian statement said.

BREAKING:
After flexing military muscle near Iran. China, Russia, and Iran are now taking their alliance to the next level.
The trio is set to hold high-stakes nuclear talks in Beijing this Friday, with Iran’s nuclear program at the center of global attention. pic.twitter.com/Rkq4fOi6Y3
— Current Report (@Currentreport1) March 12, 2025
But interestingly, Trump has recently floated the idea that Russia could mediate an updated Iran nuclear deal. Moscow appears to have expressed openness, but is unlikely to ever demand that Tehran give up its program.

The Iranians have long been insistent it is only for peaceful nuclear energy purposes, however. The Ayatollah chimed in again on this point Wednesday, issuing the following on X:

If we had wanted to build nuclear weapons, the US wouldn’t have been able to stop us. The fact that we neither possess nor seek nuclear weapons is because we ourselves don’t want to.
— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) March 12, 2025
The Friday trilateral Beijing meeting will in a sense be a gathering of countries which are all sanctioned or are…

As Germany Debates Conscription, ‘Gender Equality’ Means Women Should Be Drafted To Fight (& Die) For Their Country

Via Remix News,

Waves of TikTok club-going Ukrainian women mowed down by first-person drones, arms missing, legs missing, battlefields littered by female corpses as far as the eye can see. In a “gender equal” world, this would be the brutal and terrifying reality on the ground in the Ukraine war. That is unfortunately the reality that men are facing every single day.

Historical grievances from women — less pay for the same work, even lacking the right to vote — pale in comparison to the issue of forced conscription, which dates back to our origins as a tribal species. Men mostly had no choice but to pick up a spear or gun when the call came, or face imprisonment, execution or even torture. On the battlefield, men died violent, horrifying deaths.

In fact, the issue of conscription, and the imbalance between the genders, is becoming increasingly relevant across the world. As women demand the benefits of equality, equal pay for instance, they mostly have no desire to experience the negatives of equality, especially when it comes to combat operations.

The issue is now being debated in the German press as the country grapples with potentially reintroducing conscription under the new CDU and SPD government.

Arguably, progressive and liberal Germany makes gender equality even more of an issue than mostly conservative Ukraine, so if conscription is instated in Germany once again, women should not only be drafted, but they should also be drafted in equal numbers for front-line combat positions.

Private Dajana Bartczewski, left, puts camouflage paint on the face of an unidentified male soldier during an exercise by German Bundeswehr soldiers from the “Generalfeldmarschall-Rommel-Kaserne” barracks in Augustdorf, western Germany, 200 kms (125 miles) northeast of Duesseldorf, Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2001. It was the first time since the beginning of 2001 that female soldiers joined a military exercise in combat units and were permitted to handle weapons. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

One German commentator for Welt, a female writer, Marie-Luise Goldmann, would likely agree with this position, writing:

“One question is central to the discussions about the reintroduction of conscription: Should it also apply to women? In addition to pragmatic reasons, there are also moral ones. After all, sparing women is not fair.

Anyone who talks about the reintroduction of conscription cannot – to paraphrase Max Horkheimer – remain silent about gender equality. After Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg suspended conscription in 2011 after 55 years, German politicians are now once again calling on the government to discuss the abolition of the principle of voluntary service. This is intended to counteract the shortage of personnel in the Bundeswehr in an increasingly uncertain world situation.

But who should conscription apply to? Again only to men or now also to women? A simple majority in the Bundestag is enough to reinstate conscription under Article 12a. To make conscription compulsory for women, however, the Basic Law would have to be changed, which would require a two-thirds majority in the Bundestag and…

Trump Will Likely Have To Cut A Deal With Pakistan If He’s Serious About His Afghan Plans

Authored by Andrew Korybko via substack,

Geographic reasons make this a practical necessity if he wants to restore the US’ military presence at Bagram Airbase and/or return some of the equipment that Biden left there during the withdrawal.

Trump surprised many when he recently declared that he wants to restore the US’ military presence at Afghanistan’s Bagram Airbase and return some of the equipment that Biden left during the withdrawal. 

He justified the first on the basis that it’s just one hour away from where China makes (likely meaning bases) its nuclear weapons and claimed that it now allegedly occupies Bagram.

The second, meanwhile, was justified due to the dangers presented by the Taliban selling this equipment to other groups.

Trump also expressed frustration that the US is allegedly spending billions of dollars each year helping to keep Afghanistan afloat. 

Even if he successfully leverages foreign aid in advance of these interconnected military-strategic goals, which might be counterproductive if China replaces lost American support to entrench its influence in Afghanistan, then he’ll still likely have to cut a deal with Pakistan. 

That’s because the most viable way for the US to access Afghanistan is from its traditional partner’s airspace and roads.

The problem though is that a growing number of issues have begun to beset their partnership. These include the US’ preference for India as its top regional partner in recent years, criticism of a military court’s conviction of 25 civilians a few months ago in connection with unrest over Imran Khan’s scandalous jailing, and newfound concerns about the true intentions of its long-range missile program. Pakistan is also disappointed that the US hasn’t taken its side over the Taliban amidst their tensions.

While it’s possible that Pakistan’s de facto military regime might literally sell out their nation’s abovementioned interests to let the US transit across its territory en route to Afghanistan if Trump reaches a deal with the Taliban, which is itself easier said than done, that can’t be taken for granted. They might very well bargain hard on some issues in order to receive more than just pecuniary benefits. This could take the form of demanding more military equipment and an end to alleged US meddling.

The first could be manipulated to create the optics of the US rebalancing its relations with India for the purpose of provoking an overreaction from the latter’s decisionmakers or media, while the second could silence criticism of Imran Khan’s scandalous jailing and relieve pressure on its missile program. Of course, another possibility exists, and it’s that Trump doesn’t negotiate fairly with Pakistan but instead ramps up pressure upon it and then promises to reverse what was just added in exchange for what he wants.

That could be accomplished via more official attention being paid to Imran Khan’s case in parallel with threatening the curtailment of existing military aid and sanctions over its missile program. All that would change if Pakistan capitulated to this newfound comprehensive pressure campaign is that the intensity would simply revert back to what it once was…

Ukraine Has Agreed To Enter Truce Negotiations With Moscow: Rubio

Update(1745ET): Coming out of the Jeddah talks with the Ukrainian delegation, which lasted over eight hours, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has issued a statement hailing that Kiev has agreed to enter negotiations with Russia to end the war.

“Today, we’ve made an offer that the Ukrainians have accepted, which is to enter into a ceasefire and into immediate negotiations to end this conflict in a way that’s enduring and sustainable,” Rubio stated.

The 30-Day ceasefire aspect which was announced earlier appears designed to jump-start direct talks – with the intent that the guns would go silent to allow for talks to begin in earnest. It appears akin to a ‘freeze’ of the front lines of the conflict (something which Putin is likely to reject, seeing in in a possible ploy for Ukraine to rearm and regroup).

Rubio explained before reporters:

The offer is to stop the shooting. The goal here is the only way out – to end this war is to negotiate out of it.  There’s no military solution to this war.  The solution to this war and the way to end it and to achieve the President’s objective of peace is to negotiate. 

But before you can negotiate you have to stop shooting at each other, and that’s what the President has wanted to see, and that’s what – that’s the commitment we got today from the Ukrainian side, their willingness to do that.  Obviously, now that will be delivered to the Russians. 

On communicating the plan to Russia, Rubio said “It’ll be delivered to them directly through multiple channels, meaning not only will they obviously see it – we’ve – it’ll be communicated to them through our diplomatic channels, through conversations, and other methods.  But they’ll obviously be well aware.”

“And our hope is that the Russians will say yes, that they will also agree, so the shooting will stop, the killing will stop, the dying will stop, and the talks can begin about how to end this war permanently in a way that’s acceptable and enduring for both sides,” the US top diplomat added.

* * *

An apparent breakthrough in Jedda talks between the US and Ukraine, as the United States has announced it “will immediately lift the pause on intelligence sharing and resume security assistance to Ukraine.”

The Zelensky government has also “expressed readiness to accept the U.S. proposal to enact an immediate, interim 30-day ceasefire, which can be extended by mutual agreement of the parties, and which is subject to acceptance and concurrent implementation by the Russian Federation,” the statement said.
Via Reuters

“The United States will communicate to Russia that Russian reciprocity is the key to achieving peace,” it added. This comes after a reported over eight hour-long meeting between the US and Ukrainian delegations in the Saudi port city on Tuesday. No doubt, the Ukrainians came hat in hand, ready to please Trump after relations had fallen off a cliff with the Zelensky Oval Office confrontation earlier this month.

Shortly before the announced US-Ukraine…

UK Government Preparing For More Riots This Summer

Authored by Paul Joseph Watson via Modernity.news,

The UK government is already preparing for the potential of more riots this summer by making available hundreds of extra prison cells.

Following last year’s riots in response to the Southport attack, the government made an example out of those involved, including by imprisoning people who had merely posted offensive comments on social media as well as “inaccurate information” about the attack.

Given that prisons were already overcrowded, measures were activated that saw some existing prisoners, including ones locked up for violent crimes, released after serving just 40% of their sentence to make room for thought criminals.

Despite there being no actual intelligence concerning more riots in the upcoming months, the government appears to be expecting them anyway.

“Hundreds of extra makeshift cells and newly refurbished cells will be in use by the end of this year,” reports the Guardian.

According to the justice minister, James Timpson, prison capacity needs to be available without the need to enact emergency measures like early release.

“We need to be prepared for the capacity that would be needed if we had the riots, the civil disobedience, [we saw] in the summer. We’re clear there are no more emergency measures to do. We just need to make sure we use all of the operational levers we have,” he said.

As we previously highlighted, Professor David Betz, a top academic who has advised both the US and UK governments, warned recently that the UK is “explosively configured” for mass civil unrest.

Betz said that the government is undergoing a “destruction of legitimacy” as a result of increasing anger at their inability to defend the border from a deluge of illegal immigrants, in addition to their inability to protect children from grooming gangs.

“If you want to create domestic turmoil in a society, then what the British government has been doing is almost textbook exactly what you would do,” said the professor.

Betz said that the situation is now “too far gone” and that a national eruption which will outstrip last summer’s riots is likely to happen within 5 years.

*  *  *

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Tyler Durden
Tue, 03/11/2025 – 07:20…

Can Vladimir Putin Be Negotiated With?

Via The Libertarian Institute

As President Donald Trump attempts to engage with Russia to end the conflict in Ukraine, supporters of the proxy war in Washington, Europe, and Ukraine claim that President Vladimir Putin is an evil dictator who cannot be trusted. The implication is that talking with the Kremlin is equivalent to surrender for Kiev because Putin wants all of Ukraine, and will use any pause in fighting to gear up for the next invasion.

However, history disproves that assertion. For Moscow, the war was never about seizing Ukrainian territory or attempting to reconstitute the USSR, but pushing back on NATO expansion after the bloc threatened to add Kiev as a member.

Before the invasion and in the early months of the war, Putin made serious offers to both Washington and Kiev to allow eastern and southern Ukraine to remain under Kiev’s control if the country agreed not to join NATO.

The Joe Biden administration outright refused to negotiate on those terms, even if they were acceptable to Kiev. Preventing those talks from occurring first provoked the Russian invasion, then prevented it from ending within a few months.

As Scott Horton explains in the following excerpt from his latest book, Provoked: How Washington Started the New Cold War with Russia and the Catastrophe in Ukraine, there were talks in Istanbul, Turkey that nearly ended with conflict within two months.

A Ukrainian negotiator explained the dialogue was “completely successful” and could have allowed the war to come to an end by April 2022. But Western leaders like then-United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson did not want peace, and pressed Kiev to fight.

You can own a signed copy of Provoked by making a contribution to The Libertarian Institute’s fundraiser.

* * *

US, UK Prevent Peace

Early indications that Russia and Ukraine could achieve a quick negotiated solution soon gave way to the reality that the Biden administration was instead determined to drag out the war to “weaken Russia.”

One day after Russian forces invaded Ukraine, State Department spokesman Ned Price was asked about the proposed terms to begin negotiations. Though an innocent third person might have assumed that achieving a ceasefire and early end to the fighting would be the highest priority, Price made it clear this was not the case with the American administration. “Those are not the conditions for real diplomacy,” he said.

As Secretary Blinken confirmed in October 2022, the only time he had spoken to Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov since February 15, 2022, nine days before the invasion, was over the release of the basketball player Brittney Griner, who had been convicted of bringing a THC vape pen into the country. Otherwise, the policy was “Do not engage.”

Two days after the war began, Zelensky said he wanted to negotiate. “We are not afraid to talk to Russia. We are not afraid to say everything about security guarantees for our state. We are not afraid to talk about neutral status. We are not in NATO now.” But he said the main question was “what security guarantees will we have? And…