In a world on edge, the recent call between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump is sending shockwaves through global politics 🌐⚠️. With tensions rising and diplomacy hanging by a thread, this high-stakes conversation could reshape the geopolitical chessboard ♟️📉. The Duran breaks down what’s at risk for both leaders — and how their words may carry consequences far beyond borders 🛑💬. Is it a step toward peace or a deeper plunge into rivalry? Stay tuned — history is on the line 🕊️.
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Hashtags:
#PutinTrump
#TheDuran
#Geopolitics
#GlobalTensions
#HighStakesDiplomacy
#WorldPolitics
#InternationalRelations
#USRussia
#Putin
#DonaldTrump
#GeopoliticalRisk
#GlobalLeadership
#DiplomaticMoves
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#NuclearTensions
#EastVsWest
#PeaceOrConflict
#ForeignPolicy
#PoliticalAnalysis
#HistoryInTheMaking
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NewsTranscript
00:00All right, Alexander, let's talk about the phone call between US President Trump and
00:05Russian President Vladimir Putin, a two-hour phone call.
00:11We have a statement from Putin.
00:13He spoke to the media.
00:15We have a truth social post from Trump.
00:18We also have a follow-up statement from Ushakov as well, from the Russian side of things.
00:25Your initial thoughts on the conversation between the Russian President and the President
00:30of the United States?
00:32Right.
00:33Well, a two-hour call, first of all, is an extraordinarily long telephone call.
00:39That is the first thing.
00:41I mean, they clearly went over a huge amount, probably more than just Ukraine, but I suspect
00:50most of it was about Ukraine, and I suspect also that much of this call was probably Putin
00:56trying to explain and make Trump understand what the Russian position is, and trying to
01:02make him understand that this is for real.
01:06I think, this is my initial view, that a Trump-Putin summit is now probably coming over the horizon.
01:15I think that's probably now just a few weeks away.
01:18I think there's still a lot, some work to do, but it's probably that's where we're going.
01:24The third thing is that Trump, I think, is beginning to understand that the Russians
01:31are serious when they talk about Istanbul Plus, and is probably gradually coming round
01:41to Istanbul Plus.
01:43Now, what happened was that Putin came along and said, look, this is our objective.
01:49We are prepared to work with the Ukrainians.
01:52We want to get a memorandum of agreement organised.
01:58That might include a ceasefire, but notice he didn't commit to a ceasefire.
02:06But the point is that it looks as if what the Russians and the Americans are going to
02:12try to agree with, perhaps between each other, but certainly, obviously, in the meantime
02:18involving Ukraine, is that they're going to try to set up a timeline for these negotiations,
02:25so that these various things have to be agreed by particular dates.
02:29Now that is going to put pressure on every party, but perhaps most especially on Ukraine.
02:38And if Zelensky is unhappy about this, and throws tantrums, which he's quite likely to
02:44do...
02:45He already is.
02:46Well, he already is.
02:47Exactly.
02:48We'll come to the Ukrainians in a moment, but he may find that he's on the wrong side
02:57of Trump over that one.
02:59So it's a challenging idea, but I think it was something that, and it's an unorthodox
03:07one, I should say.
03:08It's unconventional.
03:09When you do negotiations like this, you don't usually try to set out a timetable to get
03:16every point agreed.
03:18And there are risks for Russia in doing that too, and I think I should make that clear,
03:23because with every approach to the deadline, there's going to be a battle to try to get
03:28somebody or other to make concessions.
03:31If they don't make concessions, and if somebody gets blamed, it could go bad.
03:37But for the moment at least, Putin has, I think, convinced Trump that he's serious about
03:43these negotiations.
03:45He's explained to Trump why this approach is the right one.
03:49And he's got, for the moment at least, Trump on side.
03:54I think that's why I think that a one-to-one meeting between the two is probably needed
04:01to actually get this thing fully understood between them.
04:05Now, the Europeans are very unhappy.
04:07I've been reading in the Financial Times that Trump briefed them about the call, and that
04:16they are collectively stunned that they don't like this at all.
04:20And as for Zelensky, well, he's furious.
04:23And who could be surprised?
04:25Because he's still not getting what he wanted.
04:28He's not getting the full American backing that he wanted.
04:31He's not getting the overall sanctions that he wanted.
04:36So he doesn't like this at all.
04:38And he's going to go on pushing back.
04:40The Europeans are very, very unhappy.
04:43Can I say that, obviously, I'm still in Russia, but I keep up with what you've been doing
04:49and what others have been doing.
04:51I saw that you put out an excellent post on X, an excellent message on X, where you made
04:59the point that what the Europeans really want is to keep the United States fully engaged,
05:07not just in Project Ukraine, but in Europe.
05:09They want the war, and they want the confrontation to continue so that the United States can
05:15remain committed in some form to the globalist project.
05:18That is exactly correct.
05:20I agree with every word of your message.
05:24And of course, what has just been discussed between Putin and Trump goes into conflict
05:32with that.
05:33So the Europeans already telling the media that they are very unhappy with this call.
05:38The Ukrainians making no secret of the fact that they are unhappy with this call.
05:43Trump and Putin, for the moment at least, appearing to be in harmony with each other,
05:51but lots of problems and troubles along the way.
05:55I mean, this is only just one further step in what's looking to be a very difficult process.
06:01That's my take.
06:02Yeah.
06:04that the phone call was very well conducted, very friendly.
06:14He said that the two leaders were not hanging up.
06:21That's what he actually said.
06:22He said they were not hanging up.
06:25Trump was saying, you hang up, and Putin was saying, you hang up.
06:28Something like that.
06:29That type of scenario, like two friends actually talking.
06:32Now, whether you want to believe this, that's up to you.
06:35I mean, I'm just telling you what Ushakov said when he was talking to the media.
06:42I believe it because they got along during Trump's first term as well, and Trump made
06:46no secret of that.
06:48He got along with Putin, and Putin has made no secret of the fact that he gets along with
06:51Trump.
06:52They like each other, certainly.
06:55And I think this is perhaps something that isn't understood properly.
06:59I don't know how well Trump knows Putin.
07:03Putin has obviously researched Trump very thoroughly, and clearly likes him.
07:08If Putin didn't like Trump, he would be responding to Trump in a completely different way.
07:13Putin likes Trump.
07:15He sees Trump as genuine and sincere, and understands where he's coming from, and wants
07:22to help him.
07:23So I think that probably played a big role in making the call succeed, because Trump,
07:30of course, responds to that.
07:32One thing to say is, the Russians, you know, I am currently in Russia, and I've seen again
07:38how the Russians organise things.
07:41They will have organised and prepared for this call meticulously.
07:44There will have been lots of discussions at the Kremlin with Ushakov, with probably the
07:52members of the negotiating team.
07:55They will have worked very, very hard to make sure that this call succeeded.
07:59Yeah, well, that takes me to my question, which is, why is Putin making such a great
08:06effort to get along with Trump?
08:09I'm not saying he shouldn't.
08:10It's a question that you see pop up a lot, which is, why is Putin going through all of
08:17these motions, when it's obvious that the United States is not a mediator in this conflict?
08:27That's an excellent question.
08:28They are.
08:29They are part of this conflict.
08:30They are the sponsor.
08:32They are the puppet masters of the proxy of Zelensky.
08:39They control the Europeans.
08:41If they really want to exert influence on Zelensky and the Europeans, they absolutely
08:46could do it.
08:47If they really wanted to end this conflict, if they really wanted to tell Zelensky to
08:53stop and the Europeans to stop, there's no doubt that the United States could do it.
08:58They could do it in 24 hours.
09:01No doubt about it.
09:03So why is Putin going through the motions of this Russia?
09:11And I guess you can call it theater, to a certain extent, this theater of Russia speaking
09:20with the United States as if the United States is a mediator in this process.
09:24Right.
09:25Now, there's a lot of things to say here.
09:27First of all, the question that you have just asked is being asked in Russia.
09:33Now, I'm currently in Russia.
09:36Now, when I say that, when I say what I've just said, Dmitry Medvedev, the former president,
09:45has just made comments.
09:46He's talked about all-out war and the fact that Russia should consider all-out war if
09:52the negotiations fail.
09:55One gets the sense that he is not convinced that devoting all this time to relations with
10:02the United States is ultimately worthwhile.
10:05Now, that's Medvedev, and I'm to some extent interpreting him.
10:09But I'm at a legal forum here.
10:11Now, I want to stress this is a legal forum.
10:13It is not principally about politics, but obviously political matters do come up.
10:19And I was at a panel today and I heard one Russian participant, a very senior Russian
10:27participant, very eloquent, a lawyer, a senior lawyer, a judging fan.
10:33And he said, you know, why are we being so accommodating?
10:36Isn't this being a consistent mistake?
10:40Why have we not pushed back harder, for example, against horrible ideas like the rules-based
10:47international order?
10:48We, that is to say Russia, should have taken a much stronger line about this all along.
10:54Why have we waited so long before we respond and push back against these things?
11:01Now, I'm here, as I said, in a conference.
11:03You hear comments like this being made all the time.
11:07And that is, I think it's fair to say, the Russian view.
11:10I would say that anybody who's under any illusions about this, if they spent time here
11:18and spoke to the kind of people who I have been speaking about, who are not, let me stress
11:23again, political people, they're legal people.
11:26You can definitely see a general stiffening in attitudes towards the West.
11:33So Putin is going out on a limb on this, spending all this time working with the Americans,
11:39trying to get, keep the Americans on side.
11:44He's not made any compromises on Ukraine.
11:49I don't think he ever will, but he still clearly wants to have a long term and good
11:55relationship with the United States.
11:58And as I said, this is not a view that is universally shared and it's absolutely not
12:06shared about the war.
12:07I think that Putin wants to do this for one overriding reason.
12:13I think he believes it is in Russia's national interests to have some kind of civil
12:21relationship with the United States, that it is the way of guaranteeing or at least
12:27protecting Russia's security for at least, say, the next five to 10 years so that Russia
12:36can continue to consolidate during that time and that he sees in Trump a president who
12:45has a genuine desire for good relations with Russia and who can potentially deliver that
12:54to him, to Putin and to Russia.
12:58But can I stress again, this is not a universally shared view here.
13:04If things start to go wrong, if the relationship with the United States actually
13:13deteriorates, I can imagine Putin coming in for quite a lot of criticism, maybe not
13:19public criticism from some of the people I've seen, but certainly criticism.
13:23And Russians are outspoken.
13:25There is a public opinion.
13:27It does manifest itself.
13:29You do hear it.
13:30You do hear it expressed.
13:32So Putin will come in for criticism.
13:35And there already is criticism of him.
13:39I'm sure you've read it.
13:40There was an article in The New York Times, which for once made the effort of trying to
13:47find out what sentiments were in the Russian army.
13:51And the Russian soldiers were saying, yes, we are tired of war.
13:56But no, we are not prepared to settle for half a deal.
14:00We want to see this war end in victory, not in some shabby compromise, which will betray
14:07the sacrifice that our comrades have made and which could result in Russia facing more
14:13confrontations in the future.
14:15So Putin is giving all the time that he is to this dialogue.
14:22It is not uncontroversial.
14:24I have explained his reasons.
14:26Not everybody in Russia agrees with him.
14:31Well, he's going to be pressured to make compromises.
14:34And most likely, he's going to have to make some compromises.
14:38I think that's going to be inevitable once they start to negotiate.
14:43Once the two leaders meet, there's going to be some things that Putin is going to have to
14:49compromise on. I don't know what it's going to be.
14:51And maybe he has some things that he's prepared to compromise on.
14:55Maybe his administration has decided that they'll compromise on certain issues if they
15:02actually get into a negotiation with the president of the United States.
15:08Doesn't that run counter to root causes?
15:12Right. I think he's prepared to make compromises with the Americans, but I don't think it is
15:17about the conflict in Ukraine.
15:19This is, I think, at least what Putin is saying to himself.
15:24He's saying to himself, I am prepared to compromise with the U.S.
15:28on trade issues.
15:30I might be prepared to allow the Americans access to the Russian energy system, for
15:35example. I might be prepared to allow the Americans some access to rare earths, which
15:43might not be controversial with some people in Russia.
15:47It might not please China.
15:50It might create problems of that kind going forward.
15:55So far on Ukraine, he has made no compromises at all.
16:01And I think that in his own mind, he's not prepared at this moment in time.
16:09He's not willing to do that.
16:10If he was going to make compromises on Ukraine or was prepared to do that, I think he
16:17would have signaled that much more clearly in today's conversation than he appears to
16:23have done. So I think he does understand that there will be compromises.
16:28I don't think they will be on the topic of Ukraine.
16:32I think he thinks he can do a global deal with Trump.
16:38But not on Ukraine.
16:39Now, that may be completely unrealistic.
16:42It may face all kinds of problems.
16:46Putin is trying to do something very, very difficult.
16:50I'm not saying he will succeed.
16:53Right. Trump is saying that what he can give to Russia, the carrot that the United States
16:59can give to Russia is business.
17:02If Russia makes compromises on Ukraine, that's what J.D.
17:06Vance said in an interview.
17:08That is what the Trump administration is saying.
17:10We'll do massive trade.
17:12Actually, that's what Trump posted on Truth Social, to be honest.
17:15He said, we'll do massive trade if you make compromises, if we can solve the conflict
17:22in Ukraine. So that's the carrot that the U.S.
17:25is dangling. But maybe Putin being the judo master that he is, maybe what's really going
17:32to happen is that he's going to offer the United States business with Russia and with
17:39the Russian market if the United States drops Project Ukraine.
17:44Yes. So maybe he'll turn it around.
17:46Yes. You see, this is where I think the Americans are getting this completely wrong,
17:50because I think they think that Russia is yearning for trade with the United States.
17:56Now, I've as I said, I've only been in Russia for a relatively short time and I've not
18:01been I've not obviously had an opportunity to get a full sense of the situation here.
18:07But I'm going to make a general observation that the Russia that I'm seeing today is a
18:13much richer place than the Russia I saw seven years ago.
18:17Now, that that is surprising to me.
18:19I hadn't expected to see the difference that I am seeing, but there is a palpable difference.
18:25So it is a richer country.
18:27It seems to be a more confident country.
18:30It is, by the way, a much more outspoken country on many matters.
18:35I think the Americans think that they can offer Russia trade.
18:41What the Russians really want from the U.S.
18:44is not trade, because arguably they don't need it.
18:49What the Russians want is security.
18:52So the Russians want security and it is they who are dangling the idea of trade to the
19:01Americans. It is, if anything, from a Russian point of view, and I'm talking now from a
19:06Russian point of view, the other way round.
19:08So I think this is, again, something which perhaps the Americans don't fully understand
19:15and which they need perhaps to understand.
19:18I am surprised.
19:20I've been surprised at how much more prosperous, affluent Russia is compared to the
19:30Russia I remember from seven years ago.
19:32Just saying.
19:33Yeah. So Zelensky, he has already come out with a statement and said that Ukraine will
19:39continue to pursue entry into NATO.
19:42OK, whatever.
19:44And he also said that Ukraine will, under no circumstances, give up territory or
19:51recognize occupied territory.
19:54Something along those lines was his statement.
19:57So he already came out very quickly and basically told the Trump administration that he
20:03is not going to agree to any of Russia's June 2024 root causes Istanbul plus terms.
20:12So that's Zelensky.
20:14Other MPs in Ukraine pretty much came out with the same statement, and they were shocked
20:21and horrified at the conversation, the details that have been provided about the
20:28conversation between Trump and Putin.
20:32So what Trump got out of this.
20:37Is that he got time and space out of this because he was very, very close with a lot
20:44of pressure from the neocons, people like Lindsey Graham, the Europeans.
20:49They were putting a lot of pressure on Trump and they wanted him to place sanctions on
20:56Russia.
20:57Yes.
20:58Pressure Russia to agree to a 30 day unconditional ceasefire, which they knew Russia would
21:02never agree to.
21:04And once Putin shoots that down, then you have to place sanctions on Russia.
21:09And so with this phone call, it looks like Trump has sidestepped the whole sanctions
21:18issue, which is a good thing for Trump.
21:21It buys some time and space.
21:23It is an extremely good thing for Trump.
21:24Now, can I just say something about this?
21:26Because, you know, all of this brings us back to Putin and the very real gamble that Putin
21:34is taking, which is that, of course, Putin has one enormous ally in this gamble.
21:38Who is Zelensky?
21:40Because Zelensky, ever since Trump came along and became president and started talking
21:48peace, it's absolutely clear that the person who is most unhappy about the whole talk about
21:56peace is Zelensky himself.
21:59Putin comes along.
22:02He says to Trump, look, I'm for peace, too.
22:05I want peace.
22:07You want peace.
22:08I want peace.
22:09The US needs peace.
22:11Russia needs peace.
22:12We are not opposed to peace.
22:14We're not even opposed to a ceasefire.
22:16We have all these conditions that we must satisfy for there to be a ceasefire.
22:21But, you know, we're not saying that we will never, ever agree to a ceasefire.
22:27We have to see these conditions fulfilled.
22:29But one day, hopefully, we will see a ceasefire.
22:32Zelensky is completely different.
22:35He comes across as this person who has this colossal sense of entitlement.
22:42He believes that he should have Crimea back, the four regions back, NATO entry, EU entry.
22:49He's now negotiating a war crimes tribunal with the Europeans.
22:54He wants to put the Russians on trial.
22:56He wants to put Putin on trial.
22:58He is not prepared to make any compromises at all.
23:02And he's saying so.
23:04And he's saying it repeatedly.
23:06And he's saying it in the most insulting language.
23:12And, of course, that works to Putin's advantage because Putin could say to Trump,
23:16look, I'm being as reasonable as I can.
23:20I'm going out of my way to be helpful to you.
23:24I am not the problem.
23:26Zelensky is the problem.
23:28And though I'm sure that Putin is not saying this, the implication also is all of those
23:34European leaders, Macron, Merz, Starmer, Tusk, all of them, Ursula, they're the problem too.
23:45Because instead of helping you, their great ally and protector, they continue to block
23:52the back Zelensky, who is this major obstacle to peace.
23:56So, as I said, Putin has in Zelensky a genuine ally at the moment.
24:02Now, there is absolutely no doubt whatsoever that the big winner from this call is Donald
24:11Trump, not Vladimir Putin.
24:14Vladimir Putin has had to agree to a timetable and all of this to move the process forward.
24:20I doubt that if it was entirely left to him, he would have agreed to that.
24:25He's made no concessions at all, as we've discussed.
24:30But he's now tied himself down to the idea of a timetable.
24:34Trump did not want to impose sanctions on Russia.
24:39The Europeans and the neocons, people within his own administration like Kellogg and probably
24:48Rubio, Lindsey Graham in the Senate, were all maneuvering to box him in so that he imposed
24:56these massive sanctions, punitive sanctions on Russia.
25:01Now, if that were to happen, a number of things would have followed.
25:07Firstly, the Russians would have written out the sanctions.
25:11I mean, I think that's a critically important thing to say.
25:15There are still people who simply won't accept that.
25:17But I have absolutely no doubt that that is the case.
25:20That's the first thing.
25:22The second is that with sanctions like that legislated by Congress, they are almost impossible
25:31to remove.
25:32So a rapprochement between Russia and the United States would have become impossible.
25:40The prospect of it would have gone forever.
25:43Going back to what you said in your X message, the Europeans would have got what they wanted
25:52they'd have got a permanent confrontation between Russia and the United States.
25:57The United States would have been permanently locked into Europe.
26:01It would have been permanently locked into supporting the globalist project, even though
26:05it's a project that Trump himself personally detests.
26:10So this agreement avoids that, avoids that.
26:17And that's good for Trump.
26:19But there is something else to say, which is that, of course, if there had been sanctions,
26:27if there had been a complete rupture in relations between Russia and the United States, the
26:36peace talks in Istanbul would have collapsed.
26:40The Ukrainians would have seen no reason to continue with them.
26:44The Russians would then have moved on with the war.
26:49The war would continue to a victorious conclusion from the Russian point of view.
26:56Kiev would have fallen.
26:58Trump would have been left with a Saigon moment.
27:02And as you said previously, in other programs we've done, all of these people, Lindsey
27:09Graham, Kellogg, all of them, the people who advocate for this hardline policy would
27:16have turned round on Trump and blamed him.
27:19So he would have potentially destroyed his presidency, destroyed the possibility of
27:24rapprochement with Russia, locked the United States into indefinite support for Europe,
27:34keeping American troops indefinitely in Europe.
27:38And through actually pretty deft maneuvering over the last 10 days, Putin provided the
27:50off-ramp, but Trump had the skill and intelligence to use it.
27:55Through pretty deft maneuvering, Trump has avoided it.
27:59And he's come out of this conversation with Putin in a stronger position than he was when
28:05he went in.
28:07Yeah, I agree with that.
28:10Putin has made no concessions, but he did agree to a timeline.
28:13Yes.
28:14And it's important to point that out.
28:17And there are many risks for Putin and Russia agreeing to this timeline.
28:25So I mean, I just say going forward, what Putin will need to do if he is to avoid being
28:33blamed for the collapse of the talks.
28:35And there are some people in Russia who wouldn't be bothered, by the way, if Russia were to
28:40blame for the collapse of the talks.
28:42They'd say, well, why are we wasting our time with these talks anyway?
28:46Well, I don't think that's what people are worried about in Russia.
28:50I think people are worried about concessions.
28:53Exactly.
28:54But from Putin's point of view, if he wants to maintain the momentum, you're absolutely
29:00right, by the way, if Putin wants to maintain the momentum towards some kind of rapprochement
29:05with the United States, he will need to continue to maneuver in a way that ensures that the
29:12blame for any failure to fulfill the timeline rests with Zelensky.
29:20And Zelensky seems determined to help Putin to achieve that.
29:25It's still a risk.
29:26There is still a gamble there.
29:29Putin is taking risks, more risks than many people in Russia like, but he's the president
29:36of Russia.
29:37That is his decision.
29:39And for the moment, he is in control and is able to make these decisions.
29:44And he's just made them.
29:45Well, that's what's going to bother a lot of people is that Putin is taking risks in
29:51order to normalize relations with the United States and to accommodate Trump.
29:58And a lot of people are viewing this as Putin accommodating the side that escalated and
30:09fueled this conflict going back to 2014 and even before then.
30:13That's why you always get the question, why is he doing this?
30:16Why is Putin going along and pretending as if the United States is the mediator in all
30:22of this?
30:23It is theater.
30:24And Putin is playing a part in this theater.
30:27He's participating in this theater.
30:30There's no doubt about that.
30:32I mean, so far, he's played his role with immense skill, but there are lots of people
30:42in Russia and I cannot emphasize this too strongly.
30:46As I said, I am here, I'm getting a sense of the sentiment here.
30:50There are lots of people in Russia who say, yes, you're performing this play very well.
30:58But why are you bothering with the play at all?
31:02What is the sense of this?
31:04I mean, ultimately, we can't trust the Americans.
31:08So why are we wasting our time with them?
31:11I mean, you're going to open yourself up to pressure to make concessions in the future.
31:17Yes, you don't intend to make those concessions, but why are you opening yourself up to the
31:24pressure of being asked to make those concessions at all?
31:30Isn't that an inherently risky position to take?
31:33So that criticism exists.
31:36There is no doubt about it.
31:38I am sure it is being made in the Kremlin as well.
31:43That is why, by the way, when the negotiating team was chosen to go to Istanbul, the military
31:53clearly insisted on having their own top people, many of their own top people included in the
32:00negotiating team, and why they also insisted in this extraordinary meeting that happened
32:06in the Kremlin, that all of them, the entire military, all the commanders of the groups
32:11of forces should be present and should participate in the discussion.
32:17So you can see that there is tension and nervousness about this in Russia.
32:23And this telephone conversation is not going to allay that.
32:26They'll go away and they'll say, he's our president.
32:31We continue to support him, which they do, by the way.
32:35He gives the impression that he knows what he is doing, but that doesn't mean we don't
32:44have our doubts.
32:45Yeah.
32:46The big risk that he's taken as he's going down this path and he's playing along with
32:53this theatre is that he's going up against the neocons, he's going up against the Europeans,
33:00and more importantly, he's going up against the entire collective West mainstream media.
33:05And we saw how they twisted and just flat out lied about the statement, the speech that
33:13he made last week, last Saturday evening, when he called for the negotiations between
33:18Russia and Ukraine, and they completely twisted that around and they turned it into Zelensky
33:23being the peacemaker and Zelensky saying that he will meet Putin in Istanbul.
33:29And it was Putin that didn't show up and they completely turned it around.
33:34And once again, they made Putin to look like the bad guy, to look like the leader that
33:41refused to meet with Zelensky.
33:44And they turned Zelensky into the heroic figure who showed up in Istanbul and was ready to
33:49meet Putin on Russia's initiative.
33:50I remember the Financial Times actually wrote an article and said this was the initiative
33:54of Russia to have a meeting between the two leaders.
33:57And Putin said no such thing, but he's going up against this.
34:01And there's no doubt that Trump reads this.
34:04There's no doubt that his administration reads these articles, and there's no doubt
34:08that his administration, they advise Trump based on what they're reading on the Financial
34:13Times, CNN, and the New York Times.
34:18Well, bear in mind, I just want to add, some of these articles are probably being written
34:25by people within Trump's own administration.
34:27Yeah, exactly.
34:28I mean, bear that in mind too.
34:30So, I mean, this pressure is there, it's coming from all sorts of directions.
34:35And Putin will require all his formidable, it must be said, strength of will and his
34:44diplomatic skills to resist this.
34:47And if I have to say, I think he will.
34:50I think if he was intending to make concessions, fundamental concessions, by now he would have
34:56given some indication that he was going to do so.
34:59But that doubt, that fear continues to be there.
35:05I agree.
35:05In his statement to the media after he spoke with Trump, Putin said root causes again.
35:10Root causes.
35:10He said root causes.
35:12Yes.
35:12So, I agree with you.
35:14He's not going to make concessions on Ukraine.
35:17Yes.
35:17But you can see how the Europeans and how Kellogg, they're working together, no doubt
35:25about it.
35:25You can see how they've adjusted the narrative of their plan.
35:30Yes.
35:30It's very subtle, but it's very clever.
35:33They're not calling it a freeze plan anymore.
35:35They're not calling it a ceasefire plan.
35:37It's now a 22-point plan.
35:38Yes.
35:39You can see that there's been a shift in narrative.
35:41Yes.
35:42And they've understood that the Russians don't want to hear ceasefire.
35:47They don't want to hear freeze.
35:49So, now let's shift it up.
35:50Let's change it up.
35:52And let's call it a 22-point plan.
35:54Let's also present it to Trump in that manner.
35:57It's a 22-point plan, Mr. President.
35:59You see, we put a lot of thought into it.
36:01Yes.
36:01It's not just a simple ceasefire plan.
36:02It's not a third day unconditional ceasefire plan.
36:05It's a 22-point plan.
36:06Yes.
36:06Doesn't that sound nice, Mr. President?
36:08Yes.
36:08Shouldn't Russia agree to this 22-point plan?
36:10Yes.
36:10We put a lot of thought and effort into it.
36:12Yes.
36:13Your thoughts on that.
36:14But just to wrap up the video, what happens when they meet?
36:18What happens when Putin does explain things to Trump?
36:23When he tells Trump the reality of the situation,
36:27Trump is going to be left with a choice.
36:30The U.S. President is going to have to decide.
36:32Do I walk away from Project Ukraine?
36:35Do I tell Zelensky and the Europeans to accept Istanbul?
36:38Plus, they're not going to accept it.
36:41Do I force them?
36:43Or do I just throw in the towel and say, you know what?
36:46Who am I to go up against the globalists and the military industrial complex and my buddy,
36:53Lindsey Graham?
36:54Let's just go with the sanctions.
36:56Let's wrap up the video on your thoughts there.
36:57Before we finish with Lindsey Graham, you said that Kellogg is working hand in glove
37:01with the Europeans, which he undoubtedly is.
37:03I mean, there's no doubt about this any longer.
37:05Do you think Rubio is too?
37:08But Lindsey Graham is also.
37:09Yeah.
37:10Lindsey Graham.
37:10Do you think Rubio as well is?
37:12All of them.
37:13All of them.
37:15They're all calling each other.
37:17They're phoning each other.
37:18They're doing all kinds of debates with each other.
37:21They understand that they can't get around Trump because he's too politically strong
37:29in the United States to be simply ignored in the way that he was in his first term.
37:34But they're all manoeuvring all the time, constantly to try to
37:41turn Trump towards the position that they want.
37:45So Lindsey Graham is talking to the Europeans.
37:48There was an article, I think it was in the Financial Times, that confirmed it.
37:53And Kellogg obviously is.
37:56And Rubio is.
37:57I mean, Rubio has calls with David Lammy, the British foreign secretary.
38:03And this is going on constantly and all the time.
38:08And you're absolutely right about the 22-point plan.
38:12I mean, the one that now they put together, it's no longer a freeze, as you said.
38:16It's no longer just a 30-day ceasefire.
38:19It's a 22-point plan.
38:21Now, however, and this brings us back to Putin.
38:25Presumably, this 22-point plan was sent to Putin.
38:32And he apparently rejected it outright.
38:36And he refused to host Witkoff when Witkoff was apparently being sent to Moscow to talk about this.
38:46So it looks as if Putin is already signalling very clearly
38:50that he's not going to accept this 22-point plan.
38:54So if Trump wants to go ahead with the 22-point plan, he has to know by now,
39:04he must know by now, that he will be acting against Putin's wishes
39:09and that this will lead him into a confrontation with Putin.
39:14Now, the big question is, what ultimately is Trump going to do?
39:23He apparently feels that he can't just sack Kellogg and ignore Rubio
39:32and tell the Europeans to get lost.
39:36He's playing with them all the time, despite the strength of his political position.
39:42And of course, this opens this whole problem up to this constant intrigue
39:47that we've been seeing play out ever since January.
39:51Now, I have to say this, there will come a point in time when he does have to make a decision.
39:57Does he go along with what Putin is telling him,
40:00that the Russians are trying to find a way out,
40:04that it's the Ukrainians who are the obstacle,
40:06that the Europeans are supporting the Ukrainians, which they obviously are,
40:09and that this is the reason why this thing is getting stuck in the way that it was?
40:15Or does he capitulate to the neocons and the Europeans and the Ukrainians
40:21and go for the all-out sanctions against Russia?
40:26I think that Trump doesn't want to make that decision.
40:29And I think he's bought himself a few more months or weeks of time before he has to make it.
40:38But this can't go on indefinitely.
40:41At some point, if Putin remains firm, which I expect he will,
40:47the decision will be forced on him.
40:49He'll have to choose one way or the other.
40:53So, I don't know what he's going to do.
40:56What I will say is this, he clearly doesn't want to go with the neocons.
41:03I mean, his instinct, probably his instinct more than his knowledge,
41:07because one senses that with Trump, he doesn't go into the details of things very minutely.
41:12One of the reasons why I think Putin might want to meet with Trump
41:16is because this will be Putin's opportunity to go through the details with Trump.
41:21But anyway, I think Trump's instinct tells him,
41:27going with Lindsey Graham, imposing these massive bone-crushing sanctions
41:33against Russia is going to be a disastrous mistake.
41:37If we go there, we will not break the Russians.
41:40We will create all kinds of problems for ourselves with China,
41:44with India, with all kinds of other countries.
41:47And on top of that, we are going to lose in Ukraine.
41:50And that I, Donald Trump, will be the person who gets blamed for it.
41:54He probably isn't articulating it to himself in the kind of structured way that I have done.
42:02But I think that is his instinct.
42:05But Trump, when he follows his instincts, tends to get things right.
42:12When he listens to advice or tries to think the matter through too much,
42:21he sometimes can go seriously wrong.
42:24He's one of those rare people who's better following his instincts
42:29than trying to calculate his way through a problem.
42:32All right, well, the decision's coming quickly.
42:34Yeah.
42:35It's fast approaching.
42:36It's fast approaching.
42:37I mean, he's probably, I'm going to make a guess.
42:40He's probably, he may think he's bought himself months.
42:43I reckon three weeks at most.
42:46Yeah.
42:47And Russia will continue to fulfill the objectives of the special military operation one way or
42:53another, whether it's through diplomacy or whether it's militarily.
42:57And they've said as much.
42:58Well, exactly.
42:59I mean, this is, by the way, a very Russian thing.
43:01I mean, this is a point to always make about Russians.
43:04The Russians don't see diplomacy as an alternative to war in the way that perhaps
43:12the tradition has been in the West.
43:14They understand.
43:16Remember our first program, almost our first program about when the war began, that the
43:22Clausewitzians, they see diplomacy and war as two instruments that are used alternatively
43:32and simultaneously in order to achieve the state's objectives.
43:37So that is, in effect, what they're doing.
43:40All right.
43:40We will end the video there.
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