A UKRAINE ‘SPLAINER

“And you will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end.  For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.  But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pains.” (Matthew 24:6-8) (NASB)

We live in a time of  wars and rumors of wars.  And curiously we live in a time when wars are desired….by some.  President Trump has begun to make peace overtures to Russia regarding the war in Ukraine.  And there is a strong party opposing any peace in the region.  The ‘Hawks,’ the NEOCONS – mostly but not entirelh Democrats, are accusing Trump of  “betraying Ukraine,”  as if we have a sacred duty to defend that country no matter its’ own perfidy or tyranny.  [The Legacy Media and the Deep State has created a legend of  Ukrainian innosence and styled Volodymer Zelensky as a paragon of virtue and defender of democracy.  He is not!

The history of the current war in Ukraine goes back three decades or so, to about 1990, when the US and the West promised not to expand NATO to the east of the newly reunited German border.  Or you could link it to 1954, when Soviet Premier Nikita Kruschev gifted Crimea – a traditionaly Russian territory – Ukraine.  At the time, Ukraine was a part of the Soviet Union and the move seemed to have little consequence.[i]  So, how does this all play into the peace process?

First, let’s look at what occurred this last week.  There were three events or pronouncements that may be harbingers of great historical significance.

1. Secretary of State Marco Rubio let it be known that America offically recognizes that we are living in a multi-polar world. The US is NOT the world’s lone Superpower.  China and Russia are definitely Great Powers in strategic international politics.  This was just a recogniton of reality.  But it was one that has been routinely denied by official Washington since the fall of the Soviet Union.  That recognition will actually make us stronger because it means the Trump administration will be operating from a real understanding of the world.  We can’t always get what we – (the NEOCONS) – want.  But if we play our cards right – we can get what we need.  And what any empire needs – and America is an empire – is stability.  Empires thrive when there is stability in the world around them.
2. President Trump talked to President Putin of Russia. Despite a major war, had not talked to Putin once.  Trump’s message: The US respects Russia and will take into consideration Russia’s concerns.  Despite accusations to the contrary – by the warmongers in the govrnment – attention to Russia’s legitimate concerns would have prevented hostilites and the deaths and maiming  of possibly, nearly a million Ukrainians.
3. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth told the unvarnished truth. There is no place in NATO for Ukraine.  To Russia, this was a non-starter.  Think about it.  What would we do if Russia or China were putting missiles in Mexico or Central America?  Take it back to the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.  JFK risked nuclear war to get them out of there.  That is the Russian position.  NATO missiles in Ukraine, just minutes away from Moscow and the Russian nuclear arsenal, is an existential issue to the Russians.  They saw it as the mirror image to the Cuban Crisis.  So, let’s trace a little bit of that history.

So, here’s a little history of how we got into this mess and where we are right now.

• 1990 – The US & the West promise not to expand NATO “not one inch to the east” toward Russia. That promise was given directly to the head of the Soviet Union at the time, Mikhail Gorbachev.
• 1991 – The Soviet Union falls.
• 1994 – Clinton approves a NEOCON plan to start gobbling up countries for the NATO Empire.
  • It became a Deep State project foisted upon succeeding presidents.
• Bush Junior oversaw the addition of seven countries to NATO
• 2002 – US unilaterally pulls out of Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. (Each side had assured deterrence.  Now that no longer existed.
• 2007 – Putin at Munich Security Conference: “Stop” putting military bases in these countries.

• 

  2008 – Bush made a move to include Ukraine & Georgia on Russia’s border.

• 2010 – Ukraine democratically elected Viktor Yanukovych as President. Wanted neutrality between West & Russia.  Elected on platform of not joining NATO. He saw the danger.
• February 22, 2014 – The US & West aid in the overthrow of the Ukrainian government. Yanukovych flees.  A pro-Western government is installed.  [That’s when the current war really started.]
• Ukrainians begin bombing Russian-speaking Ukrainian citizens in the eastern provinces (oblasts.)
• Crimea votes by over 90% to leave Ukraine and go back to Russia.
• 2021 – Ukraine masses forces on border of eastern provinces. Russian warns Kiev.
• 2021-2022 – Russia pleads for peace talks and security guarantees with the West – NO NATO!
• Washington ignores Russian overtures for talks.
• Russia launches invasion of Ukraine. War begins.[ii]

Now, Trump has launched his peace initiative.  The US and Russians are talking and Ukraine is not involved in the direct negotiations.  Neither is Europe.  The Europeans are holding emergency meetings regarding that development focusing on Trump.  Great Britain is talking about sending troops to Ukraine as peacekeepers.  According to NATO Chief Sir Richard Shirreff  of the UK, “Donald Trump has left Britain simply no choice but to plan for military conscription.”  When French President Macron was asked, “Will Ukraine turn into World War 3,” he replied, “That can’t be ruled out.”[iii]  Hal Turner reports “the Europeans are already scheming to sabotage those talks.”  British TV programs are insanely beginning to push the notion that it is a “patriotic duty” to fight Russia in Ukraine.  Turner further says that as of February 17, the Trump administration is discussing what it will do if Europe manages to scuttle the peace process. He says that even withdrawal from NATO is “on the table.”[iv]  Redacted is reporting the same story.  “There are rumors that the U.S. would leave NATO. If that happens, NATO would flounder just like the EU is without the U.S. European leaders are fearmongering that without NATO and the U.S., Russia would keep moving West. That is nonsense and based on ignorance and misunderstanding of the conflict.”[v]

So, Europe is talking about troops in Ukraine and now “EU capitals have agreed a fresh sanctions package against Russia, as Brussels vows to step up pressure on Moscow.”[vi]  But Hungary is moving to block the new sanctions under the leadership of Viktor Orban, “in order not to “complicate” the negotiations between Moscow and Washington.”[vii]  These are negotiations that have to succeed in order to avoid the specter of World War.  Both sides have suffered hundreds of thousands of casualties in this conflict.  And it is becoming increasingly apparent, that Ukraine has no chance of winning this war.  The Russians are steadily gaining ground.  Ukrainian sources are talking of possibly imminent collapse.  President Trump has told Zelensky that he “better move fast” toward negotiating a settlement.  Trump called Zelensky a “modestly successful comedian” who “talked the United States into spending “billions on a “war that couldn’t be won.”[viii]

Russia is refusing to negotiate with Zelensky.  They deem him to be illegitimate.  In a sense they are right.  His term of office ended May 20, 2024.  But the putative president had cancelled elections.  One of the conditions leaked from the peace talks with Russia is that Ukraine would have to hold elections.  [FDR stood for election during World War II and Lincoln waged a campaign in the middle of the Civil War, defeating his opponent, General McClellan in 1864.]

The situation on the ground is such that Ukraine will lose territory.  Almost certainly all the territory that the Russians have taken – and possibly the entirety of the Russian-speaking regions.  And the American President is looking for $500 billion in payback from Ukraine.  Washington has proposed that the US would  “keep major rights over Ukraine’s mineral wealth, oil deposits, ports, and other infrastructures. In exchange for these minerals, it will provide economic and military aid.  Two nations will create shared investment fund that is likely to give the U.S. majority control over the resources. Also, the U.S. would get 50% of all revenues from Ukrainian natural resources, ports, infrastructure, and half of any new resource license value.”[ix]  [Now, it is just being reported that the Trump administration has offered an updated version of the mineral deal.  “One source says there was ‘significant improvement’ in the recent draft.”

The US seems determined to force a peace deal for a war that should never have been fought.  As foreign policy expert Jeffrey Sachs points out: This was a Deep State project aimed at hemming in and eventually destroying Russia.  [At one time, there were actually talks about splitting up Russia into dozens of smaller states.  Former VP under Bush the Younger admitted he “wanted to break up Russia itself, to prevent it from rising again as a significant political power.”[x]]  This is a war the Russians cannot afford to lose.  “It’s a game for the Americans.  It’s life and death for Russia.  It can’t be won by the American side.”[xi]

[i] Ukraine crisis: Does Russia have a case?, BBC, March 5, 2014

[ii] Thanks to Jeffrey Sachs for clarifying the exact timeline on all of this.  Jeffrey Sachs: Tulsi Gabbard’s Confirmation, and the Dangerous

Global Chess Game Trump Is Winning, The Tucker Carlson Show, TCN, February 19, 2025

[iii] UK Says “Military Conscription Necessary” over Ukraine Situation, Hal Turner Radio, February 20, 2025

[iv] US/EU/NATO, Hal Turneer Radio, February 17, 2025

[v] Europe, Redacted, February 20, 2025

[vi] EU agrees new Russia sanctions in the face of US push to end Ukraine war, Financial Times, February 19, 2025

[vii] Hungary threatens to block EU’s new sanctions, Sweden Herald, February 20, 2025

[viii] Trump warns Zelenskyy to quickly negotiate war’s end, AP, February 19, 2025

[ix] US proposal for Ukraine, India Today, February 20, 2025

[x] Ben Norton, Dick Cheney confirmed US goal is to break up Russia as a country, Geopolitical Economy, February 1, 2022

[xi] Jeffrey Sachs: Tulsi Gabbard’s Confirmation, and the Dangerous Global Chess Game Trump Is Winning, The Tucker Carlson Show,

TCN, February 19, 2025