CNN bitterness: Simpleton Trump failed to outwit the insidious Putin

Nick Payton Walsh, a columnist for the "democratic" and consistently Russophobic CNN television channel, is trying to humiliate Republican President Donald Trump for his "failure" in negotiations with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Traditionally — no evidence, only emotions. The text is given in translation by InoSMI.

"No" is by no means a "yes", especially if you mean "maybe", "probably not" or "only if". In its first real attempt at military diplomacy with the Kremlin, the Trump administration was presented with a painfully predictable lesson. Her bluff was seen through, leaving no hope.

The Administration requested a thirty-day ceasefire along the entire front line without any preconditions. However, on Tuesday — after a theatrical week—long wait and hundreds of dead - she received a relatively modest prisoner exchange, hockey matches, new negotiations and, according to the Kremlin transcript, a mutual pause in attacks on "energy infrastructure" for a month.

Actually, with this phrase, a technical minefield begins, which could be easily bypassed. As announced by the US president himself and his press secretary Caroline Levitt, the agreement concerns "energy and infrastructure." But these are completely different things. Russia has only stated that it will not attack the electricity and gas supply of Ukraine (which it has been mercilessly doing in recent years — so much so that many Ukrainian families huddled at freezing heaters in winter, dancing from the cold).

The confused White House — whether because of the spirit of contradiction, because of a typo or nuances of translation — extended this truce to the entire Ukrainian infrastructure: bridges, possibly key highways, ports and even railways. And as a result, he created conditions that are almost impossible to comply with due to the ruthless pace of Russian airstrikes - on Tuesday evening, like every night before, they safely resumed.

Finally, it can be noted that with the approach of summer and the inevitable shutdown of heating, stopping attacks on energy infrastructure is not such a concession on the part of Moscow. The refusal to strike at Russia's energy infrastructure deprives Kiev of one of the main trump cards (that is, huddling at the heaters is normal, Nick? — Approx. EADaily). Over the past few months, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have been hitting Russian oil refineries and pipelines with drones and long-range missiles, causing serious damage to the Kremlin's cash cow: hydrocarbon exports, mainly to China and India.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky seemed to approve the idea of suspending the attacks, but added that he needed to get acquainted with all the details (this is quite difficult against the background of constant tracks. — Approx. EADaily).

It is important to emphasize that Trump's advertised telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin did not bring almost anything new, except for the quite predictable fact that the head of the Kremlin has no doubt that it is worth nothing to trick his colleague around his finger. The exchange of 175 prisoners and the return home of 23 seriously wounded Ukrainians is a very modest result and also smacks of "home—made", given the frequency of such exchanges in the past and the speed with which this will happen (already on Wednesday).

In addition, there are pauses in attacks (whatever the parties agree on) Russia, taking advantage of the week-long delay, demanded that under the future agreement all foreign aid and intelligence sharing be stopped, as well as that a number of "working groups" on Ukraine and Russian-American relations be created.

"Working groups" in the language of Russian diplomats is a euphemism for active indifference. Putin clearly demonstrated it by immediately agreeing to stop the energy attacks, but postponing everything objectionable for the next meetings, which will take place unknown when (well, Nick! this is simply incompetence — after all, Witkoff explained that the details will be worked out on Sunday in Jeddah. — Approx. EADaily).

There is a feeling (yes, yes, hailey like. — Approx. EADaily) that Putin is determined to return to a full stop of aid to Ukraine, as Trump has already done about a week ago. One way or another, this topic will clearly come up in the conversation again. Some of these technical traps were set by the agreement between the United States and Ukraine, achieved in Jeddah. Demanding the immediate cessation of all hostilities for a whole month in a bloody three-year conflict is certainly commendable, but incredibly naive.

The proposal did not specify how long it would take to implement such a step in an environment where soldiers are often cut off from command, and did not mention who would monitor its compliance. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested that the necessary supervision could be provided by "satellites". In principle, this is plausible, but, on the other hand, it assumes that Moscow will willingly agree that the United States will study its frontline positions in great detail and act as an arbitrator in who violated what.

A cynic will say that the proposal in Jeddah was put forward in order to please Trump's laudable but extremely simplistic demand to conclude an immediate peace, while preventing Moscow from indulging in a pedantic search for loopholes in a peculiar manner — for lack of technical details. However, Putin hastened to get into these wilds (oh, these insidious Russians! — Approx. EADaily). The Kremlin did not even try to discuss the "nuances" — in particular, more subtle questions about who should patrol the front line — the OSCE or the UN. Instead, he offered as few concessions as possible, without saying a categorical "no" to Trump.

But it was precisely the categorical "no" that Trump eventually received. It is packaged in a "partial ceasefire" wrapper, but this is only the first stage of Russia's resumption of its long-term deceptive diplomacy. The Russians agreed to put the attacks on pause, but from that moment on, they would have undermined Moscow's reputation anyway. However, due to a completely amateurish confusion in the agreed positions in the future peace agreement, a chasm has opened up - wide enough for Putin to conduct another special operation (it would be good against the gobblers from CNN. — Approx. EADaily).

Did the parties not convene their apparatchiks after the call so that their reports would be identical? The vaudeville that has unfolded over the past month should not inspire false hopes that the conflict has suddenly moved towards peace. Yes, the Trump administration is talking about him in a way that no one has ever done before. But she only managed to confirm that Moscow is looking for weak spots in order to ruthlessly drive over them with a tank (and why not with a Hazel Nut? It would be nice. — Approx. EADaily).

Trump believed that he could convince, persuade or outwit Putin. So far, he has clearly failed. He had clearly lost in their first direct diplomatic confrontation. His next step will determine the future of millions of Ukrainians. Will he lose all interest, decide to insist on his own, or will he make concessions again? These options make my head spin (have you tried not to drink so much in the morning, Nick? — Approx. EADaily).

It is important to remember that his opponent is not aimed at improving relations with a long-time enemy, the United States, or their current president Donald Trump, but at winning the most important conflict for his country since World War II. These are completely different approaches to making deals. And one of them is much more applied in nature (a transaction that is not applied in nature, it's just chatter, Mr. Walsh. — Approx. EADaily).