Yesterday afternoon’s interview with News X focused on the fake news coming from Kiev: that Zelensky’s 15 minutes chat with Donald Trump in Rome signified a change in relations with the American President, who allegedly now is favoring Ukraine over Russia in any peace settlement.
As they say, Zelensky was putting lipstick on a pig. They fail to mention that a second meeting with Trump after the funeral was refused by the White House: They fail to compare the 15 minutes Zelensky was accorded with the 3 hours that Trump’s personal emissary Steve Witkoff spent with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow the day before, on Friday.
As of last night, Russian state television remains cautiously optimistic that a full detente with the United States is possible, regardless of whether the Trump-brokered peace talks between Russia and Ukraine succeed or fail.
(https://youtu.be/CSSj6c70MyU?si=VTTZfhmxWgJ8g5k1)
Transcript submitted by a reader
NewsX: 0:00
Donald Trump’s standing amongst Ukrainians is poor, but a shift has come after his meeting with President Zelensky during Pope Francis’ funeral in Rome. Trump has posted doubts about Vladimir Putin’s sincerity, writing, “It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, just tapping me along.” Quote unquote. Well, the meeting was brief but meaningful. Photos show Trump and Zelensky leaning in, speaking as equals, a stark contrast to their disastrous February encounter.
Some Ukrainians saw hope. “Maybe Trump finally understands Putin can’t be trusted”, said Ole Karas, a volunteer gathering donations in Kiev. Trump’s skepticism follows Russia’s latest missile attack that killed 12 and injured nearly 90 in Kiev, deepening Ukraine’s distrust of Moscow’s intentions. Despite Trump’s earlier push for Ukraine to accept a lopsided peace deal, Saturday’s tone suggested he may rethink forcing concessions on Kiev. Meanwhile, Russia has launched new attacks across Ukraine, killing at least four people and injuring many more with missiles and drones.
0:56
Russia also claimed full control of Ukraine’s gains in the Kursk region, though Ukrainian officials insist fighting there continues. Trump hinted at tougher sanctions on Russia, even as he emphasized wanting quick progress towards peace. At the same time, European leaders have reaffirmed support for Ukraine, pushing back against any deal favoring Moscow. Zelensky and European Commission President von der Leyen has agreed to coordinate pressure on Russia through new sanctions and stronger security ties.
Though pressure on Ukraine is mounting, Zilensky insists on a ceasefire tied to lasting security guarantees, not surrendering territory without future recovery plans. The path to peace remains uncertain, but after Saturday, Ukraine sees a small opening with Trump that did not exist before.
Gilbert Doctorow, Russian affairs expert, is joining us live from Brussels in Belgium. Thank you for being with us today, Gilbert. What do you make of this latest statement by President of the United States Donald Trump criticizing Russia?
Gilbert Doctorow, PhD: 1:56
I don’t think it means anything, frankly. Mr. Trump has been rocking back and forth, praising or criticizing each of the sides in turn in an effort to confuse all of us. And I must say he succeeded very well. All commentators, all of them, whether they are in the alternative media or they are in major Western media, are totally confused about his intentions.
The remarks that you have quoted, coming essentially from Ukrainian sources, make reference to this short chat that they had prior to the funeral service for Francis in Rome. The Ukrainians requested a second meeting that same day, and it was turned down by the White House. So as for their rejoining closer together, I think that’s an exaggerated interpretation coming from Kiev and is hopeful, but doesn’t express reality. It is pretty obvious to me that Mr. Trump favors the Russian side.
3:01
His direct emissary, Steve Witkoff, was a week ago Friday in Moscow. He had a long walk and chat with Mr. Dmitriyev, who is his counterpart, that is to say Vladimir Putin’s emissary, to these talks about a peace in Ukraine war. They had a long walk down the center of Moscow in a pedestrian zone called the Arbat, which is an expression of friendliness, of rapprochement on a personal level between the people who are responsible for ending the war.
3:47
Mr. Putin received Witkoff, and they had three or four hours of discussions, which were not chit-chat. What is at issue here is that the Russians and the United States are discussing points for the end game, for how the war will end, while Mr. Zelensky is only interested in discussing his 30-day ceasefire, because when push comes to shove, he does not agree to make any concessions, any compromises to enable a peace. And he tries to disguise that and hide it by talking only about ceasefire. For the Russians, a ceasefire is meaningless and will lead nowhere.
I wrote a week ago, the last few days, that Mr. Trump, the best thing he could do would be to walk away from these talks. It is possible, but I would say unlikely, that they will end in a peace agreement. It is more likely that Mr. Trump is building an argument for dumping Ukraine.
And the argument is based on the unwillingness or inability of the Ukrainian side to negotiate a peace that involves anything other than forcing a capitulation on the winner, the Russians. So the end of these discussions, nobody could foretell. As I said, Mr. Trump has done an excellent job of confusing everybody. I just am not certain whether he isn’t also confusing himself. That remains to be seen.
NewsX: 5:12
Gilbert, do you believe that there has been any breakthrough based on this meeting that Trump had with Zelensky in the Vatican, this one-on-one meeting that happened there?
Doctorow:
First of all, it was very brief. And second of all, the best indicator was the White House’s refusal to have a second meeting that same day requested by Zelensky. So I think it’s entirely understandable that the Ukrainians would want to make a great deal about this little mini-summit, as they would call it, between Trump and Zelensky.
5:48
But I don’t think anything is achieved except their behaving for once in a civilized way, as opposed to the real spat that they had before the whole world at their meeting in the Oval Office of the White House, when Zelensky came calling.
NewsX:
Yes. Gilbert, do you believe that this conflict then is likely to continue for the long term? You believe there is no short-term breakthrough likely, looking at these fresh developments?
Doctorow: 6:22
I don’t believe in a short-term end to this war. As I said, these parties are quite far removed, And the Europeans are doing everything possible to sabotage the talks by giving Zelensky the false hope that they can support his war effort if the United States leaves and walks away from it. They cannot. They don’t have the men. They don’t have the materiel.
Without US participation, the Ukrainians will find themselves short of everything they need to continue the war, as it has been for the last three years, holding up the line, not crumbling, not capitulating. That will be very difficult for them if the United States leaves. And I think that is just a question of a few weeks when these latest talks result in what? What can you expect? They result in zero, because the Ukrainians refused to accept reality on the ground.
7:22
They’re arguing about the moral stance, as they are the victims of aggression, as if that gives them the right to reverse the battlefield results that everybody sees, that they are losing and the Russians are winning. The losers never dictate the terms of capitulation to the winners. That is against the laws of gravity. So in this sense, unless Mr. Trump can summon the strength and the determination, and I would say the courage, to beat down Europe and to remind them of who is who and what is what, namely the United States leaves and the United States can also leave Europe.
7:59
If he does that and reads the riot act to Messrs. Starmer and Macron, then the war will end. If he cannot do that, then he will have to walk away from the talks.
NewsX:
All right, Gilbert Doctorow, thank you for joining us with your perspective on that story. Meanwhile, efforts to end the Israel-Hamas conflict continue with some–
Gilbert Doctorow 