I have been wondering if the Trump regime’s peace negotiations are sincere.  The plan revealed by Trump’s envoy Keith Kellogg indicates that the negotiations are not sincere.  Putin, Lavrov and Security Council Secretary Shoigu, the former Minister of Defense, have all made it clear that NATO troops in Ukraine are unacceptable and could result in World War III.  So why has Kellogg supported, or arranged, a joint statement by the foreign ministers of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, and the UK pledging “robust security guarantees for Ukraine,” consisting of “a coalition of air, land, and maritime reassurance forces that could help create confidence in any future peace and support the regeneration of Ukraine’s armed forces.”  This is certainly not the de-militarization of Ukraine that the Kremlin requires, and protection by NATO forces is the same as being a member of NATO.

Putin has brought this upon Russia by his and his foreign minister’s continuous bleating for a negotiated settlement. For more than three years Putin has avoided a military victory.  The explanation I offer is that he saw in the conflict what he thought was an opportunity to use it to reach a great power settlement, like the mutual security agreement with the West that he and his foreign minister tried to achieve during December 2021 and February 2022.  

Putin’s failure to be prepared for conflict with the West in Ukraine and his withholding of military victory has produced a dangerous situation. Putin’s toleration of a never-ending conflict has widened the conflict into missile strikes deep into Russia and the recent closing of all Moscow airports as a result of drone attacks.  This must raise the question among Russians of Putin’s effectiveness as a war leader.  One result is that the West has so little regard for Putin that despite his dire warning the West is planning to station NATO forces in Ukraine.  It would have been much better if Putin had gone about the business of winning the war instead of trying to use it to negotiate a settlement with the West.  The result of Putin’s failure to fight to win is likely to be a much wider war.

See this.

Does the Kremlin realize that the purpose of  Washington’s “Ukraine peace negotiations” is to sequence Washington’s wars with Russia and China because Washington doesn’t have the ability to take them on simultaneously? Does the Kremlin realize that the negotiations are not sincere and are being used to extract Washington from the conflict and to substitute NATO in order for Washington to be able to focus on China, regarded as the strongest opponent?  It is clear that Washington regards Russia and China as opponents to be defeated.  Are the “peace negotiations” being used to cause wars, not end them?

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Paul Craig Roberts is a renowned author and academic, chairman of The Institute for Political Economy where this article was originally published. Dr. Roberts was previously associate editor and columnist for The Wall Street Journal. He was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy during the Reagan Administration. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

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