The Ukraine-Russia war has taken yet another ugly turn.
Which is not terribly surprising, given the degree to which Russian President Vladimir Putin has routinely blown off any serious efforts or dialogue towards achieving a ceasefire.
Even President Donald Trump recently expressed frustration with Putin, declaring that he had gone completely “crazy” in a recent social media posting.
“I’ve always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has happened to him. He has gone absolutely CRAZY! He is needlessly killing a lot of people, and I’m not just talking about soldiers. Missiles and drones are being shot into Cities in Ukraine, for no reason whatsoever,” Trump angrily remarked.
Putin remained nonplussed by Trump’s outburst, with one of his lackeys going as far as to claim that the American president was merely suffering from “emotional overload.”
A tad insulting, to put it mildly, and is frankly surprising that Trump has not responded as aggressively to one of Putin’s lackeys as he has to other conservatives within his own party.
As least not verbally, anyway.
What Trump did reportedly do was allow for Ukraine to use “long range” military weapons to strike deep into the heart of Russian territory, especially after Putin made it clear that he is interested in continuing his war with relative impunity.
Ukraine achieved remarkable success, and that success clearly irritated Putin, who recently held a terse phone call with Trump.
And during that phone call, Putin apparently put Trump on major notice.
“President Putin did say, and very strongly, that he will have to respond to the recent attack on the airfields,” Trump warned.
Trump offered limited explanation beyond this remark, aside from the fact that he apparently informed Putin that he was not aware of the attack that Ukraine would launch on Russian soil.
A strange remark to make, to be frank, unless it is a remark carefully designed to provoke an improved response in behind-the-scenes negotiations.
And those negotiations cannot start soon enough … which is especially clear when Zelensky has started showing far more faith in Turkey than he is in the United States.
“Peace requires a meeting of leaders. I am ready to meet in the coming days with Putin, as well as presidents Trump and Erdogan,” Zelensky declared in a post on X.
Rather interesting how Erdogan was suddenly added to the dialogue, to put it mildly.
Though Erdogan is a leading NATO ally, he also sparked fury years ago after purchasing a massive missile defense system from Russia.
At the time, Brookings identified the economic exchange between Turkey and Russia as “a historic mistake with paradigm-shifting consequences for its relationship with the United States.”
Moreover, Turkish citizens are also amongst the very few people in the world who can travel to Iran without a visa … for up to three months.
Which leads one to wonder the precise relationship between Turkey and Russia … not to mention Turkey and Iran.
Though one is certainly no longer wondering about whose support Zelensky is seeking, though he remains hopeful about the United States.
“If we see will to continue dialogue and seek de-escalation, we will continue the ceasefire with US guarantees of mediation. If the Russians don’t want a lengthy ceasefire, the leaders’ meeting can be held on any day starting tomorrow. And there will be a 2-3 day ceasefire,” Zelensky added in a separate post.
Unfortuantely, considering that Russia just released another barrage of drone attacks on Ukraine – which killedan innocent infant – it would appear that Russia is not interested in “a lengthy ceasefire.”
And then Zelensky segued into the most damaging commentary of all.
“We will be grateful if President Trump supports such an idea. I am confident President Erdogan will support. He told me during our meeting that he wanted a meeting of four leaders. President Erdogan, President Trump, me, and Putin. We are ready for such a meeting on any day,” Zelensky added.
In other words, Zelensky has more faith in Turkey than he does in the United States.
After all, he is “confident” that Erdogan will support a joint meeting and mediation, but he is uncertain “if” Trump is in support of the meeting.
Is Zelensky suggesting that Erdogan is a more reliable ally for peace than the United States?
After all, Erdogan is widely considered to be a full-blown dictator, especially after he has continuously rewrote the Turkish Constitution to ensure indefinite power for himself – the most recent rewriting efforts commencedall of two weeks ago, if that.
Yet despite those recent actions, Erdogan is apparently still considered more reliable.
If that global perception is shared, which it may well be, then it could have dire, potentially irrevocable consequences, for the United States.
Author: Ofelia Thornton
