Dear readers, you probably have not heard the news that I have posted above as the title for this brief essay, but then you are not in the press pool of NewsX World and I am doing your listening for you there.
Similarly, you did not hear previously and probably do not even know today that yesterday a Russian state-owned widebody jet landed in Kennedy Airport in New York carrying a delegation of Russian parliamentarians from the State Duma headed by Vyacheslav Nikonov, a veteran legislator, consummate diplomat with extensive foreign experience. This trip may be called a ‘timid exploratory mission’ reestablishing ties between Russian and American medium level politicians that were long ago broken off by the American side per Dmitry Peskov’s description of it earlier today. This may not be newsworthy in the same sense as a president-to-president summit, but it is a promising development nonetheless, a straw in the wind.
And which way is the wind blowing? For that, let us return to my headline above. Quite remarkable news if true. And it would appear to justify President Putin’s insistence in the face of substantial opposition from his own foreign policy establishment, including his Ministry of Foreign Affairs, that it pays to negotiate with and to draw closer to Donald Trump however repugnant, however contradictory the man may be.
Make no mistake about it: the Russian establishment now considers Trump to be the fool’s fool. They see his conduct of the war of aggression on Iran as disastrous and likely to go very badly for him if indeed he attempts to put feet on the ground on Kharg island or elsewhere in Iran.
I note in passing, that the Russian political establishment, like its American counterpart points to Trump’s reliance on Mossad, on Israeli intelligence for setting his expectations when he decided to embark on his Iran war. What we see here is that despite its reputation as being the most competent as well as bloodiest intel operation in the world, despite its demonstrated ability to blow up hundreds of its enemies with explosive pagers and the like, this same Mossad is worthless for political and military analysis, for setting strategy against chosen enemies. Worthless!
Of course, if Trump proceeds with his threat/promise to Zelensky and the Ukrainian president agrees to leave the Donbas, that will drive an enormous wedge between the United States and Europe, between and among Member States of the EU itself.
NB – the podcast of The Bulletin program on News X World which we recorded 20 minutes ago will likely become available later today and I will post it here at that time.
©Gilbert Doctorow, 2026
Gilbert Doctorow 