Video link to yesterday’s scandalous NewsX panel discussion: Trump’s Top Officials in Europe for Ukraine

The panel discussion was scandalous insofar as my fellow panelists were shockingly low-quality propagandists for the Kiev narrative: clueless and ill-informed. Two of them were Americans whom we can call representative of the think tank cohort.  I offer the link so that you can see why Russians have been dismayed that there is no one to talk to. 

 It is not clear that the rank ignorance about Russia that we saw under Biden is being addressed by Trump and Musk. After 30 years in which American Russian studies prepared area specialists to add and subtract for purposes of getting finance jobs in banks or to study gender identity issues to get a job with some international NGO while downplaying language skills and history, the numbers of American M.A. or even Ph.D. diploma holders with any real knowledge of Russia have thinned out drastically.

So where are Marco Rubio or J.D. Vance going to get a quick lesson on ‘the enemy’? Professor Steve Cohen who provided such private cram sessions to Bernie Sanders and John Mearsheimer, among other leading American personalities in the public eye, died four years ago. I do not see any similarly knowledgeable people who have taken his place as public intellectuals ready to help out with the new administration. Those academics who actually do know something long ago signed on to the free lunch programs of the Pentagon, USAID et.al. They have adapted what they say to what others want to hear. As readers know from my previous writings, the ubiquitous Anatol Lieven is a perfect example of that unhelpful lot.

Translation below into Spanish (Chod Zom)

Enlace de vídeo al escandaloso panel de discusión de NewsX de ayer titulada: Los altos cargos de Trump en Europa para Ucrania

La mesa redonda fue escandalosa, ya que mis compañeros panelistas eran propagandistas, de una calidad muy baja, de la narrativa de Kiev: despistados y mal informados. Dos de ellos eran estadounidenses, representantes de la cohorte de centros de estudios (”think tanks”). Ofrezco el enlace para que puedan ver por qué los rusos están consternados porque no hay nadie con quien hablar.

No está claro si el grado de ignorancia sobre Rusia que vimos bajo Biden está siendo abordado por Trump y Musk. Después de 30 años en los que los estudios rusos estadounidenses preparaban a especialistas en la materia para sumar y restar con el fin de conseguir trabajos financieros en bancos o estudiar cuestiones de identidad de género para conseguir un trabajo en alguna ONG internacional, mientras restaban importancia a los conocimientos lingüísticos y la historia, el número de licenciados o incluso doctores estadounidenses diplomados, con algún conocimiento real de Rusia se ha reducido drásticamente.

Entonces, ¿dónde van a recibir Marco Rubio o J.D. Vance una lección rápida sobre «el enemigo»? El profesor Steve Cohen, que impartió esas sesiones privadas de estudio intensivo a Bernie Sanders y John Mearsheimer, entre otras personalidades destacadas de la vida pública estadounidense, murió hace cuatro años. No veo a nadie con conocimientos similares que haya ocupado su lugar como intelectual público dispuesto a ayudar a la nueva administración. Los académicos que realmente saben algo hace tiempo que se apuntaron a los programas de comida gratis del Pentágono, la USAID y otros. Se han adaptado a decir, lo que otros quieren oir. Como los lectores saben por mis escritos anteriores, el omnipresente Anatol Lieven es un ejemplo perfecto de esa clase de personas inútiles.

Transcript

Transcript submitted by a reader

NewsX – Thomas Porteous: 0:03
Hello and welcome, I’m Thomas Porteous and let’s dive into a discussion on the escalating conflict in Ukraine. Overnight both Ukraine and Russia launched major drone attacks, with Kiev reporting significant damage. Meanwhile, top Trump officials are heading to Europe for high-stakes security talks. Let’s find out a bit more. Ukraine’s war front saw another night of heavy drone attacks.

Russia launched 151 drones with Ukraine’s military, claiming to have shot down 70. Damage was reported across several regions including Kiev. In response, Ukraine launched drone strikes on eight Russian regions and annexed Crimea. Moscow says its air defences intercepted 35 Ukrainian drones. Amid the escalating conflict, top Trump administration officials are heading to Europe for high-stake security talks.

Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio will attend the Munich Security Conference, which will also be attended by Ukrainian President Zelensky. Meanwhile, Pentagon Chief Pete Hegseth will participate in NATO defence minister’s meeting.

We are joined by many guests today, one being Gilbert Doctorow, Russian affairs expert live with us from Brussels. We also joined by Professor Alexei Haran, Professor of Comparative Politics at the University of Kiev, Mohlya in Kiev, Ukraine. We’re also joined by Adrian Kamamel, Terrorism Scholar and Fellow at the Arabian Palinsula Institute joining us from New York. And we’re also joined by John Rosamondo, president of Viking Research Associates and geopolitical analyst, joining us from Washington. Thank you very much for joining us, everyone.

John Rosamondo, I wanted to start with you in this discussion. I wanted to start on the military operations to begin with. Russia claims to have destroyed 35 Ukrainian drones and on the same night, Ukraine reports shooting down 70 Russian drones overnight.

What does this increasing frequency and scale of drone tactics signify about the current state of military tactics employed by both sides? Well, let’s put it this way. The drones are the great equalizer in modern warfare. And, you know, the thing about drones is that they’re low cost, they’re easy to produce. A video came out over the weekend of Ukraine building drones in a top secret underground location.

It’s becoming the way of war for the 21st century. And in Ukraine, drones have become the center of the conflict. You don’t have to send airbrush strikes from multi-million dollar fighters anymore. You just send in the drones. And the thing about drones is they’re easy to replace. So this is seeing what warfare will look like going forward.

Olexi Horan, Professor, President Zelensky confirms a new offensive in the Russian Kursk region. And he claims that North Korean troops are supporting Russian forces. How might Ukraine’s offensive operations within Russian territory, such as recent actions in the Kursk region, impact the broader dynamics of the conflict and international perceptions?

Well, it’s important for us, first of all, from psychological and symbolic point of view so Russia appeared to be is not available is not it’s not possible for Russia to defend its own borders so yes it looks like Ukrainian symbolic victory This is very important also from psychological point of view.

Regarding military point of view, well, we actually do not know the aims of Ukrainian military command. More or less, we can speculate on that. So the idea perhaps was, you know, that Russians should withdraw some forces from Donetsk regions. As far as I know, they didn’t do that, but nevertheless, a huge number of Russian troops is concentrated around Kursk area, which means it’s not possible for Russia to attack Ukraine from the north. Such important cities like Kharkiv and Sumy.

By the way, it creates an interesting situation for potential future negotiations, because some people around Putin actually, and Putin himself, he told that Ukraine should recognize, you know, how he formulated it, the fact that territorial situation in Ukraine. Okay, so he means that, okay, Russia occupies these territories and Russia would like to continue this occupation. But what will happen with Kursk, you know? So this is a question that should be put in. Is he going to sacrifice Kursk region for Ukraine in all course?

NewsX: 05:24
Gilbert Doctorow, I want to leave you with that thought. Is Putin– Putin has said that he wants people to stop dying on both sides. And this operation in the Kursk region on Russian land, how do you think this is going to go for Ukrainian soldiers?

Gilbert Doctorow, PhD: 5:42
We know how it’s going for Ukrainian soldiers. It’s more important how it’s going for the widows of the soldiers. 57,000 Ukrainian soldiers have lost their lives or been permanently disabled as a consequence of this Kursk operation. This is a public relations, more morale-lifting exercise, according to your previous panelist. But I don’t know how much morale you can build among those of the 57, 000 who died for nothing.

6:11
And it’s not as though the whole of Kursk region is occupied. It’s something like 500 or 400 square kilometers today, which is a fraction of the size of Kursk. So to think that you’re going to negotiate that against 20 percent of the whole land mass of Ukraine, which is Russia-occupied today, is utterly delusional. To say that there is no progress on the front, that is, the Donbass front, because the Russians are distracted by Kursk, is also an utter lie. Every day there is territory lost by Ukraine, And these are kilometers and kilometers daily.

And these are 1,500 Ukrainian troops who are, who die or are wounded for life in this struggle at the … line of demarcation in Donbass. The Russians are moving on the center of the Donetsk region. There are the obstacles that stood in their way. These strategic points have been either taken fully or partially taken. Pokrovsk is in the sights of Russia. And that is the last significant fortified town and major distribution hub in Donetsk region. Therefore the Russians have in their sights the Dnieper river. So the previous speaker is slightly lost in geography.

NewsX: 7:43
Professor Alexei, I will let you answer it, but please be brief in your response, because I want to move on.

Haran:
So I can take the floor, right?

NewsX:
Yes, you can.

Haran:
Okay, so thank you very much. So First of all, I do not know where you took these figures. Then Ukrainian soldiers are fighting for the freedom of their country. This is very, very clear. And if we are talking about, you know, Russian movement, well, you know that their aim was to, their initial aim was to seize Kiev in three days. Now it will be the fourth year of the war, and they are not able even to occupy Donbass. Yes, the situation there, it’s difficult, but you know, Donbass still is not occupied.

So if you say that I do not know geography, I just wonder where you’re taking from your arguments, because I think you do not understand, you do not want to understand that we are dying for our freedom, and in this case you just repeat Russian propaganda whether intentionally, non-intentionally but basically you are repeating Russian propaganda, full stop.

NewsX:
Adrian, I just want to bring in, sorry Gilbert Doctorow, I just want to bring in Adrian Kamamel quickly and talk about the new reports of North Korean forces and what they reveal about Russia’s global partnerships and willingness to bring in external support in the current state of the Ukraine war. And then I will let you respond, Gilbert Doctorow.

Kamamel:
Yeah it’s very clear and this has been the problem for a while since the collapse of the Soviet Union that Russia’s had a manpower problem when it comes to the battle space and now they are experiencing that problem to a great degree. Ukraine, you know, we have to look at their invasions in Ukraine prior to this.

We have to look at how this attacks their air force, but the Syrian intervention before that. And now you have them flooding the field. And this is a second call-up of North Korean troops. So they definitely have a fire problem, and it’s growing more acute. And this is something that the Trump administration needs to take advantage of.

The belief is that Putin will spill as much blood and will hear narratives about the widows of Ukrainians who are fighting for nothing. But first they lost their most industrialized region, and then Putin wanted to take the capital of them in three days. So they are fighting for something. They’re fighting for something that the Western allies, and I think that’s why Hegseth is talking to NATO, is we need to work with our allies to forge some sort of collective deterrence which has been lost for quite some time, whereas you have Moscow, Beijing, Tehran, Karakass, Islamabad all working together. I want to move on to politics and diplomacy.

NewsX:
Unfortunately, we’ve run out of time for that section. I want to talk about Trump’s demand for access to Ukraine’s rare earth minerals in return for USAID. World leaders have responded to this, including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who has called it selfish and self-serving. John Rosamundo, Is it appropriate for nations to seek economic or strategic advances for aid such as rare minerals in exchange for military aid?

Rosamundo:
I think absolutely. It’s kind of like we look at the state of the American government. We are $35 trillion in debt, and the United States cannot sustain the sort of, you know, Marshall Plan kind of economics of the past. So President Trump is simply saying to Ukraine, in exchange for us providing you with materials to stay in the fight, you need to provide us with economic resources so that it’s something that is given in return because we just can’t afford to give things gratis anymore. It’s not 1989 and the United States is not in the same economic and geopolitical state that it was at the end of the Cold War. This is a new day and we have to face up with reality.

NewsX:
Professor Haran, I want to move on to you for this next one. What do you think of Donald Trump’s statements or demands here? And could this set a wider precedent for an aid for resources agreements in future conflicts?

Haran:
Well first of all this idea you know to supply us with Ukrainian resources actually it was promoted by President Zelensky I believe it was two months ago and definitely it was you know a step in order to to reach mr. Trump who’s approach is business like you know approach So what Trump is saying right now means that both sides can negotiate on that.

How it will happen, what would be the framework, we now don’t know, because some of Ukrainian resources are actually now under Russian occupation, or they cannot be exploited because of the Russian war against Ukraine. But having said all that, I need to stress that actually, you know, it’s a unique case in world history. When other country, I mean, Ukraine, gave up nuclear arsenal, the third largest in the world, and we received territorial guarantees from Russia, from the U.S. And the UK. And then, you know, all of it was violated by Russia.

So definitely in Ukraine we assumed that the free world should support us, you know, without talking about economic gains or something like that. Because again, it’s the thing which you cannot, you know, which you couldn’t predict that may happen in the world and in the center of Europe. But you know, if there is some economics involved, involve economic interests, okay, let’s consider it. Again, we do not know what would be the result of these negotiations.

NewsX: 14:14
Gilbert Doctorow, I want to move on to you on that, the same topic. Is it acceptable for a country to tie economic interests to military assistance?

Doctorow: 14:24
If its aim is propaganda, yes; if its aim is business, no. This is all empty talk There is nothing in Ukraine to talk about in these rare-earth deposits. 16 trillion dollars, that is just hot air to divert attention from the reality and situation in Ukraine, which is dire. My friend doesn’t like to pick up the “New York Times” or the “Financial Times”. He would find out every day about the Russian advances and the Ukrainian losses. I’m not inventing this, and I’m not telling you something from RT. Just pick up a mainstream newspaper.

15:01
Now, as to the question of resources. They are– Ukraine is not a new continent. Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union, which had a great tradition in extractive industry. These deposits, which are, they do exist, titanium and other interesting metals do exist in Ukraine, and some of them are presently being mined. But the most exciting ones, the ones that one speaks of for the 16-trillion-dollar estimate of net worth of Ukraine, they weren’t mined — for good reason. They are difficult to extract in the present geological setting where they exist. There are countries around the world, like Chile in South America, that have such deposits which can be extracted profitably. Ukraine is not one of them. The Russians didn’t mine that, for a good reason: there is nothing worth mining.

16:00
And talking about it now is an empty discussion. As I say, it’s a propaganda point, like most of what my previous panelist was talking about in defending Ukraine and its worthy causes. We’re not talking worthy causes. We’re talking the military situation on the ground. And it is not favorable to Ukraine.

NewsX: 16:20
I do ask that we keep this conversation–

Haran:
I need to say something.

NewsX:
Professor Haran, I will let you speak. I will let you speak. I just ask that we keep this conversation respectful. Professor Haran, please respond.

Haran:
Okay, look, I am participating, I believe, for the third time with Mr. Doctorow in this kind of discussion. And I had a feeling, and still have this feeling, that he is very happy, you know, of the, as he said, of the problems, of Ukrainian problems.

So my question is to you, Mr. Dr. Rokol, because you know the hard facts. Can you say that Russia is aggressive and Russia violated all the treaties and Ukraine is a victim of aggression. Can you say that?

Russia is aggressive. Can you repeat? Russia is imperialist state. Can you repeat? I would like…

I believe there’s nothing to talk about. If Mr. Doctorow cannot recognize that Russia is a great threat, which violates all the treaties which are signed, you know, so we understand what is Mr. Doctorow’s position. Unfortunately.

NewsX:
Okay, I would like to move on if we can. I want to talk about US-Russia communications. Adrian Kalamal, President Trump mentioned a phone call with President Putin about ending the war claiming Putin wants to see people stop dying, though the Kremlin has not confirmed this just to be clear. What role should direct communications between the US and Russia leaders play in facilitating a resolution to the Russia-Ukraine conflict?

No, I don’t think those direct conversations are going to facilitate anything. I think it’s going to be eventually, what will facilitate it is when Putin feels enough pain. I have to disagree. They are feeling a lot of pain. Ukraine is not on the verge of collapse. When you’re importing a bunch of North Korean soldiers, when you’re importing a bunch of Islamic Republic drones, ballistic missiles, things aren’t going for you well on the field.

And what Trump needs to do is leverage that and make Putin understand that, you know, you want to carry this on, we’re gonna make it nasty for you. And you’re going to have to sue for peace on this. And I don’t think Putin wants to be there. U.S. Has enormous economic and military leverage.

We can use the economic leverage to put a further vice on, an economic vice on Russia, on Putin’s Russia. And we can also introduce more different types of weapons, the type of weapons that make Putin a little bit nervous. And then also start talking about NATO membership again. If you got such a problem about this, bring up NATO membership and say, Putin, listen, the last straw here is you don’t back out. It’s a medium NATO membership once we resolve this thing.

So there’s multiple levers that we can use, that the United States can use. Putin doesn’t want anything except for expansion. We’ve seen what he’s done. I mean, he’s, it’s a stalemate there. There’s been thousands and thousands of dead on each side.

He’s bringing in other troops. He doesn’t care about bloodshed. He’s very Machiavellian in his approach. John Rossomondo, I wanted to move on on the relationship with Trump and Putin. Obviously in Trump’s first term the two met up since a lot has happened.

But how critical are direct leader-to-leader conversations in resolving conflicts when both sides have such deep mistrust? Well, I think that you need to have direct communication to remove any possibility for things being misread. And throughout the Cold War, you had the Moscow to Washington hotline that saved us from having World War III. So I think that this is a way for President Trump to play hardball directly with Vladimir Putin, saying, hey, Adrian was saying, if you don’t do this, I’m going to make it so that your economy doesn’t function. I’m going to go after Kazakhstan, China, and everything that you rely on to fund and to rearm your war machine.

So anything that President Trump does is it has a more personal tone to it, where he can use carrots and sticks directly with Vladimir Putin, which Joe Biden didn’t understand over the past four years. Professor Haran, there has been talks of this happening, but how does Kiev view the possibility of a US-Russia bilateral agreement potentially shaping the terms that directly impact Ukraine and possibly ending the war? Well, we know that Mr. Trump said that on many occasions that he would like to stop the war. The question is, what are the conditions?

Because we actually hear, I believe it was said by Mr. Rubio, that Russia is aggressive. Full stop. Mr. Doctor also.

He said, Russia is aggressive. The words that you cannot repeat for some reason. He said that we know who is good guy, who is bad guy. But then he continued that both sides need to make compromises. So the huge question for us, what are compromises?

What kind of compromises? And this is really difficult question, where we are not sure what may happen. So we hope that Trump administration will pressure on Putin, you know, but we don’t know, you know, what specific points of agreement would be, potential points of agreement. And I believe Trump’s administration now actually is in the process of developing the plan. So they need to have more contacts in Europe with other countries, with Ukraine, with Russia, in order to create more solid position.

NewsX: 22:54
Gilbert Doctorow, I was wondering if there’s any public or governmental support within Russia for direct talks with the US that might bypass other diplomatic channels?

Doctorow: 23:10
Talks are ongoing, and Russians know that, and the people around the Kremlin know that and therefore satisfactory negotiated settlement between the United States and Russia, which takes in a lot more than just Ukraine. The war started over NATO. That is what December 2021 was all about, the terms that Moscow gave to Washington or NATO to pull back to the 1997 posture before the expansion of the Clinton years and the next two administrations.

23:45
The point is that the– as Mr. Ryabkov, the deputy minister of foreign affairs, said two hours ago– relations with the United States are at the breaking point. They have been in discussions, back channels to Washington. The plans that Mr. Trump has to use his great leverage, as my fellow panelists believe exists, was not well received in Moscow, because they know the reality. There is no leverage that is yet to be used by Washington short of starting World War III.

24:20
Mr. Biden may have been senile, but the people who were actually running his foreign policy, Blinken and Jake Sullivan, were not senile. And they did the maximum destructive action towards Russia. They took the sanctions from hell that Victoria Nuland had dreamed up with her team, and they all replied against Russia, to no purpose. The sanctions on the shadow-fleet oil tankers that Mr. Trump imposed a few days ago to show the kind of muscle that my colleagues thinks he has, that resulted in very negative readings in Moscow. It’s not going to stop the Russian export of oil, as the same sanctions imposed on Iran a few days ago will not stop Iranian exports of oil. There is no leverage in Washington. And so long as panelists in the States believe there is, well, the only thing they’re heading for is World War III.

25:23
May I say one word?

NewsX:
Yes, of course, Professor Aron Kopeckin.


May I do that?


Yes, yes, yes. Very briefly.


So it’s very important to understand that before 2014, Ukrainians believed in friendship with Russia. And Ukrainians didn’t want to join NATO. And our official status was neutral country. And we gave up our nuclear weapons. Mr. Doctorow, do you know about these facts? Why do you repeat this crazy lie about NATO on the territory of Ukraine? There are facts. We were a neutral country and we demilitarized ourselves. I’m talking about nuclear weapons and Russia attack, full stop, no NATO involved.

NewsX:
Thank you very much everyone for joining us. We have unfortunately run out of time. Thank you very much Gilbert, Dr. Rowe, Professor Alexi Haran, Adrian, Kamamel and John Rossomando. We have unfortunately ran out of time. We will continue to bring you more news updates from across the world. Thank you.