A plan that only benefits Russia...what a ****ing joke.
So, basically, US and Russian gangsters put together what looks a lot like a protection racket, where they’re gonna extort Ukraine into surrendering and split the spoils of war in exchange for “security agreements”.So, you see, the president’s son in law is now involved as he was in Gaza, where the model is the president’s company will be brought in to reconstruct Ukraine.
Austria’s Swarovski Optik — the high-end optics division of the Swarovski brand best known for its jewelry — has continued shipping rifle scopes to Russia throughout the full-scale war in Ukraine, according to a new investigation by iStories. Customs records reviewed by journalists show the company’s products are still entering the country despite Austria’s policy of “permanent neutrality,” which Vienna has cited as the reason for refusing to supply weapons to Kyiv. At the same time, Austria has continued to send dozens of Steyr rifles and pistols to Russia — firearms that have been used on the battlefield in Ukraine, as The Insider previously reported.
Marianna Vyshemirskaya (who also goes by her maiden name, Podgurskaya) first made headlines during the Russian military’s siege of Mariupol, when she was featured in an Associated Press report on the bombing of the Mariupol maternity hospital on March 9, 2022. Photos of her pregnant with blood on her face quickly spread across social media and news outlets. She gave birth to a baby girl the day after the attack.
The hospital strike killed three people and injured 17. Russian propagandists, meanwhile, insisted the attack never occurred, alleging it was staged by Ukraine and that Vyshemirskaya was an actress. Pro-Kremlin Telegram channels published an interview with her as supposed “proof” of Moscow’s version of events. Vyshemirskaya expressed anger that her photos had been taken and used without her consent, but she did not deny the hospital strike, saying only that she didn’t know which side was responsible.
Before Russia’s full-scale invasion, Vyshemirskaya was a beauty influencer with more than 80,000 Instagram followers. Today, her account is private and all posts have been deleted, according to Novaya Gazeta Europe. After evacuating from Mariupol, she launched a Telegram channel — this time focused not on makeup but on the war. There, she chronicled her move to occupied Donetsk and the city’s bombardment, her trips back to Mariupol, as well as Moscow’s reconstruction efforts there. She accused the Ukrainian authorities of abandoning ordinary people and dragging them into a “fratricidal war.” She weighed in on international affairs, promoted Telegram channels run by Russian propagandists, and even sent drones to Russian troops. Ahead of Russia’s 2024 presidential election, she publicly endorsed Vladimir Putin and later congratulated him on his victory. She now appears to live in Moscow.
On November 19, reports surfaced that Russia and the United States were quietly drafting a new plan to end the war in Ukraine. Later that day, several of the plan’s details became public, indicating that the proposal largely repeats demands Vladimir Putin has made of Kyiv since the start of the conflict. The new plan’s parameters were developed primarily by two special presidential envoys: Steve Witkoff from the White House and Kirill Dmitriev from the Kremlin. Meduza reviews who these men are and how they fit into negotiations to end Europe’s bloodiest war in decades.
Ukrainian officials have accused Witkoff of siding with Russia, and Western diplomats describe him as unprofessional. Reports indicate that his team lacks Russia experts, and that during talks with Putin, he dispensed with a stenographer and relied on Kremlin translators. After the Trump–Putin meeting in Alaska, which produced no breakthrough in the negotiations, Witkoff was accused by both American and Russian officials of having misrepresented Putin’s position to Trump.
After these setbacks, Dmitriev met with Witkoff and declared that “Russia and the U.S. and Ukraine are actually quite close to a diplomatic solution” to the conflict. At the time, the remark seemed odd: Putin and Trump had just shifted from pleasantries to arguing over whose weapons of mass destruction are more powerful. Now it appears that Dmitriev was hinting at the peace plan he and Witkoff had devised. The prevailing assumption, bolstered by an apparently accidental tweet from Witkoff, is that Dmitriev leaked the plan’s details to reporters.
The leaders of France, Germany and the U.K. met during the day on the sidelines of a Group of 20 summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, to discuss ways to support Kyiv, according to a person with knowledge of the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told reporters at the summit that “wars cannot be ended by major powers over the heads of the countries affected,” and insisted Kyiv needed robust guarantees. Merz added that envoys from Germany, France, the U.K. and the EU will join Ukrainian negotiators as they meet a U.S. delegation in Geneva on Sunday to discuss Washington’s proposal. Zelenskyy confirmed the meeting on Saturday, after President Donald Trump set a deadline for Kyiv to respond to the plan by next Thursday. European leaders have long warned against rushing a peace deal, seeing their own future at stake in Ukraine’s fight to beat back Russia, and insist on being consulted in peace efforts.
The 28-point peace plan that the United States and Russia want to impose on Ukraine and Europe is misnamed. It is not a peace plan. It is a proposal that weakens Ukraine and divides America from Europe, preparing the way for a larger war in the future. In the meantime, it benefits unnamed Russian and American investors, at the expense of everyone else.
The plan was negotiated by Steve Witkoff, a real-estate developer with no historical, geographical, or cultural knowledge of Russia or Ukraine, and Kirill Dmitriev, who heads Russia’s sovereign-wealth fund and spends most of his time making business deals. The revelation of their plan this week shocked European leaders, who are now paying almost all of the military costs of the war, as well as the Ukrainians, who were not sure whether to take this latest plan seriously until they were told to agree to it by Thanksgiving or lose all further U.S. support. Even if the plan falls apart, this arrogant and confusing ultimatum, coming only days after the State Department authorized the sale of anti-missile technology to Ukraine, will do permanent damage to America’s reputation as a reliable ally, not only in Europe but around the world.
Not only would this plan cede territory, people, and assets to Russia; it also seems deliberately designed to weaken Ukraine, politically and militarily, so that Russia would find it easier to invade again a year from now, or 10 years from now. According to a version of the text that appeared in the Financial Times yesterday, the plan does state that “Ukraine’s sovereignty would be confirmed.” But it then imposes severe restrictions on Ukrainian sovereignty: Ukraine must “enshrine in its constitution” a promise to never join NATO. Ukraine must shrink the size of its armed forces to 600,000, down from 900,000. Ukraine may not host foreign troops on its soil. Ukraine must hold new elections within 100 days, a demand not made of Russia, a dictatorship that has not held free elections for more than two decades.
From the Atlantic article in the previous post.Why is the Trump White House pushing Ukraine to accept a Russian plan that paves the way for another war? The document offers some hints, declaring that the U.S. would also somehow take charge of the $100 billion in frozen Russian assets, for example, supposedly to invest this money in Ukraine and receive “50% of the profits from this venture.” Europeans, whose banks actually hold most of these assets, would receive nothing. European taxpayers, who currently provide almost all of the military and humanitarian support to Ukraine, are nevertheless expected to contribute $100 billion to Ukraine’s reconstruction.
Other details of the business negotiations carried out by Witkoff and Dmitriev remain secret. Ukrainians and Europeans, who would pay the military and economic price for this plan, deserve to know them. Above all, American citizens should be asking for the details of any business negotiations now under way. This plan has been proposed, in our name, as a part of U.S. foreign policy. But it would not serve our economic or security interests. So whose interests would it serve? Which U.S. companies and which oligarchs would benefit?
Russia has signalled it could reject a modified US peace plan to end the war in Ukraine if it fails to satisfy Moscow’s long-standing demands, even as Kyiv indicated it had agreed a framework with Washington.Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that if the plan “erased . . . key understandings” that Russian President Vladimir Putin thought he had reached with US President Donald Trump at an Alaska summit, the “situation will be fundamentally different”.But he made his comments as the White House hailed what it said was “tremendous progress towards a peace deal by bringing both Ukraine and Russia to the table” over the past week.
Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff told a senior Kremlin official last month that achieving peace in Ukraine would require Russia gaining control of Donetsk and potentially a separate territorial exchange, according to a recording of their conversation obtained by Bloomberg.
In the 14 October phone call with Yuri Ushakov, the top foreign policy aide to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, Witkoff said he believed the land concessions were necessary all while advising Ushakov to congratulate Trump and frame discussions more optimistically.
The envoy also offered tactical guidance on how Putin should raise the subject with Trump, including suggestions about scheduling a Trump-Putin telephone conversation before Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s White House visit later that week. Ushakov appeared to take some of the advice on board. Putin “will congratulate” and will say: “Mr Trump is a real peace man,” he said.
Bloomberg also published an October 29 “phone call between Yuri Ushakov, Vladimir Putin’s most senior foreign-policy adviser, and Kirill Dmitriev, an economic adviser to the Russian president.”
During that call, Dmitriev appeared to suggest that the draft of the recent peace plan came from Russia. “ No, look. I think we’ll just make this paper from our position, and I’ll informally pass it along, making it clear that it’s all informal. And let them do like their own. But, I don’t think they’ll take exactly our version, but at least it’ll be as close to it as possible,” Dmitriev
.....according to a senior Ukrainian source with direct knowledge of the negotiations, there are still significant gaps between what the Trump administration is asking of Ukraine, and what the embattled authorities in Kyiv are prepared to accept. Speaking to CNN from the Ukrainian capital, the source agreed with Trump officials that a “consensus” had indeed been reached on most points set out in the 28-item US peace proposals leaked last week.
But the source said that, far from there being just a few minor points of disagreement, there are still at least three crucial areas where significant differences remain - differences that could make or break efforts to negotiate an end to the conflict.
Firstly, the sensitive issue of whether Ukraine would surrender key territories in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, annexed but not yet conquered by Russia, and including the “fortress belt” of heavily defended towns and cities seen as vital for Ukrainian security.
Secondly, the controversial US proposal for Ukraine to limit the size of its military to 600,000 – a figure envisaged in the 28-point plan – is also still being discussed. The Ukrainian source told CNN that a new, higher number has been spoken about, but that Kyiv still wanted further changes before it would be prepared to agree to such limitations on its military.
Finally, on the issue of Ukraine renouncing its ambition to become a member of NATO, the source told CNN that this demand remains unacceptable. Such a concession would set a “bad precedent”, the source told CNN, and would effectively give Russia a veto over the Western military alliance of “which it is not even a member.”
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The envoy also offered tactical guidance on how Putin should raise the subject with Trump, including suggestions about scheduling a Trump-Putin telephone conversation before Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s White House visit later that week. Ushakov appeared to take some of the advice on board. Putin “will congratulate” and will say: “Mr Trump is a real peace man,” he said.
Last Wednesday already seems like aeons ago. That is when a leaked draft of a 28-point US plan to end the war first emerged. The plan, whose references to Ukraine giving up territory and limiting the size of its military led some to describe it as a "Russian wish list", caused consternation in Kyiv and sent European diplomats scrambling to limit the perceived damage. In some ways, it felt like a re-run of events in August, when anxious European leaders rushed to Washington to bend Trump's ear after the American president rolled out the red carpet to Putin in Alaska.
By the weekend, the Europeans had drafted a counter-proposal, also 28 points long, which replaced the blunt territorial concessions of the US plan with "negotiations on territorial swaps" and stiffened the language on security guarantees, a key concern of Kyiv. But how much influence the Europeans had over Sunday's talks in Geneva remains unclear.
"We are now on a fast track to something," says Daniel Fried, former US assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs. "To a failure or a fast track to a success, I can't say, but it's moving fast."
Ambassador Fried says last week's 28-point US plan was a "hot mess" but that the impetus behind it is real. "To the Trump administration's credit, it's pushing hard for a settlement."
Russian Direct Investment Fund CEO Kirill Dmitriev, a Putin investment envoy, said that Bloomberg's report on an October 29 call between him and Ushakov was "fake".
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, said some media organisations were being used as part of a hybrid information war waged by European countries against Russia - and aimed at undermining ties with Washington.
Americans involved in the Ukrainian war effort are embarrassed and dismayed by Donald Trump’s continuing pressures on Kyiv and think his administration’s latest peace plan is tantamount to backstabbing and another catastrophic failure of US foreign policy. “Complete ******** and a betrayal by Trump,” said an American special forces veteran who has helped train and advise the Ukrainian military since the full-scale Russian invasion began in February 2022. “But are you even surprised?”
As soon as Russian bombs were dropping on Kyiv in the early breaths of the war nearly four years ago, thousands of foreigners – soldiers, veterans, trainers, medics and others – poured into Ukraine to help defend what was largely seen as a collective defense of democracy against naked imperialism. Among those international volunteers were hundreds of Americans, if not thousands, many of whom were and are Republicans who’ve had trouble squaring the animosity Trump has with the country they help. Voices in the GOP have also railed against Trump’s latest demands on Ukraine, with Don Bacon, a Nebraska congressman, describing it as “gross buffoonery” and “pushing a surrender plan on Ukraine” that “looks like Russia wrote it.”
“Follows Russia’s talking points almost to the letter,” said the same source, who called Witkoff a “Russian sycophant”. He continued: “I’m worried they really are getting forced into this one. But too much blood has been spilled. I don’t think Zelenskyy can take anything close to that deal if it means giving up territory and giving up its own sovereignty to make decisions like joining Nato or the size of the military.”
Steve Andre, a Michigan-native who served in the Ukrainian military as a press officer and is now in Kyiv re-enlisting, thinks it’s an example of the US’s decaying global interests, something he has seen first-hand for years in Ukraine. “The administration doesn’t want to take the time and figure out what is actually happening here in the country,” he said. “I’m disappointed in the American people. If they had even an eighth of the bravery and willpower of the Ukrainians, America might still be a great place.”
This sounds more like a business meeting than a peace negotiation.Donald Trump has said his plan to end the war in Ukraine has been “fine-tuned” and he’s sending envoy Steve Witkoff to meet Vladimir Putin, and Army Secretary Dan Driscoll to meet Ukrainian officials. Yet despite White House optimism there was little sign of progress on core sticking points as diplomatic efforts continued. Trump said his son-in-law Jared Kushner might join the Witkoff-Putin meeting. “Steve Witkoff is going over maybe with Jared. I’m not sure about Jared going, but he’s involved in the process, smart guy, and they’re going to be meeting with President Putin, I believe next week in Moscow,” Trump told journalists aboard Air Force One. Trump also backed away from his earlier Thursday deadline for Ukraine to agree to a US-backed peace plan, saying: “The deadline for me is when it’s over.”
So, uh, why would Zelenskyy sign on to that plan? Would his parliament have to have a no confidence vote to get him out?I’m not sure if it’s been mentioned here, but, as part of the “peace plan”, Putin and Trump are demanding that Ukraine hold elections within 100 days, which is almost certainly being done to get rid of the Zelensky government and install a more malleable one. Then, Putin/ Trump would get whatever they want.
Right, Kushner’s appearance is the tell here.So, uh, why would Zelenskyy sign on to that plan? Would his parliament have to have a no confidence vote to get him out?I’m not sure if it’s been mentioned here, but, as part of the “peace plan”, Putin and Trump are demanding that Ukraine hold elections within 100 days, which is almost certainly being done to get rid of the Zelensky government and install a more malleable one. Then, Putin/ Trump would get whatever they want.
And mfing Jared negotiating this with Putin? GTFO. These grifters are going to sell out American and NATO interests for a real estate deal.
Zelensky was supposed to be up for re-election in March/ April of 2024, but it’s been on hold because of martial law. Zelensky critics have been using this to claim that he’s not the legitimate head of state. If you follow the MAGA folks, you’d know that they’ve been harping on this for a while now. Basically, what makes Zelensky a good wartime leader for Ukraine (i.e., his resolve, courage, charisma, etc.) is also what makes him a thorn in the side of MAGA. So they want him out.So, uh, why would Zelenskyy sign on to that plan? Would his parliament have to have a no confidence vote to get him out?I’m not sure if it’s been mentioned here, but, as part of the “peace plan”, Putin and Trump are demanding that Ukraine hold elections within 100 days, which is almost certainly being done to get rid of the Zelensky government and install a more malleable one. Then, Putin/ Trump would get whatever they want.
And mfing Jared negotiating this with Putin? GTFO. These grifters are going to sell out American and NATO interests for a real estate deal.
Why does MAGA want rapproachment with Russia? Are there ideological underpinnings or is this just what the MAGA leaders want?, MAGA wants rapprochement with Russia and the funds that are being used in Ukraine to be invested in their “America first” agenda.
I think they are just foreign policy isolationists, I don’t think it’s that deep for most of them.Why does MAGA want rapproachment with Russia? Are there ideological underpinnings or is this just what the MAGA leaders want?, MAGA wants rapprochement with Russia and the funds that are being used in Ukraine to be invested in their “America first” agenda.