
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Russian madman Vladimir Putin must believe he has President Trump in a corner. ; Having utterly failed to take over all of Ukraine, he is demanding terms for a “temporary” ceasefire that would essentially be a total victory for Putin. ;</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Even as Trump speaks optimistically about an eventual peace agreement, the pint-sized Putin is kicking sand in the face of the allegedly most powerful man in the world. Russia &#8212; with a GDP ($2.1 trillion) slightly smaller than New York State ($2.15 trillion) and half the size of California ($4.1 trillion) and a military that is better suited for a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta &#8211;is currently playing David to the United States’ Goliath. </p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Putin apparently believes that Trump is so desperate to broker a peace agreement &#8212; and is so unhappy with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy – that he will agree to anything. ; He will give Putin everything he wants now – and set the Russian dictator up for a future invasion to take over the rest of Ukraine. ; Sadly, Putin could be right. ; The man who brags about his negotiating skills – with some justification &#8212; is having his clock cleaned in this one.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">So &#8230; what is Putin demanding for a dubious “temporary” pause in his plan to take over all of Ukraine?</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">First of all, he wants all the land his military currently occupies – and even some that is in contention. On April 28, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov rejected Trump’s proposals, saying that Moscow would accept nothing less than “total victory”.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">He added that Russia had no plans to enter into negotiations until it was preliminarily agreed that Ukraine would permanently cede 20 percent of its land to the Russian Federation – including the Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia. The inclusion of Kherson and Zaporizhia were new demands – not included in Putin’s 2021 demands. Russia rejected even minor concessions, such as returning a small portion of Kharkiv to Ukraine as proposed by the United States.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">In addition, Russia demands the West – and especially the United States – lift all sanctions and lawsuits &#8230; cancel all arrest warrants &#8230; return all frozen assets. (Lavrov did not mention it, but I bet they also want the World Court’s war crimes indictment against Putin dropped)</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">While they want assurances that neither the United States nor NATO nations will enter into security agreements with Ukraine &#8230; provide military assistance &#8230; or have bases in Ukraine.  ;Lavrov said, “We will also insist on obtaining solid security guarantees for the Russian Federation”.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Putin is demanding that Ukraine amend its constitution to remove language that addresses the nation joining NATO. ; Other land concessions to the Russian Federation would also require amending the Constitution and possibly a plebiscite.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Nowhere in the negotiations has Putin addressed the issue of the more than 20,000 Ukrainian children he has kidnapped and sent to Russification camps and into military training. ; Although it is not among Putin’s demands, he has strongly hinted for a regime change in Kyiv. ;</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">There can be no mistaking Putin’s intentions. He wants a full victory in this, his third phase of military conquest of Ukraine. And he has no interest in a serious, permanent peace agreement. Rather, he wants a pause as he plans and builds up for a future invasion. And he has every right to expect as much since neither the United States nor NATO did a damn thing to stop his two previous incursions into Ukraine.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">So far, Trump’s reactions to Putin have been threats. ; No action. ; But what about the natural resource agreement between Ukraine and the United States?</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Some have characterized it as a form of a security agreement for Ukraine. ; They argue that with a vested interest in Ukraine resources, the United States would not allow another effort by Putin to take over all of Ukraine.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Putin might assume that, since the United States and NATO are unwilling to protect their profound current security and commercial interests now, why would they do so in the future?</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Should Trump and the world democracies allow Putin to prevail in this phase of his empirical plan, it would be a diplomatic and foreign affairs disaster that would make Biden’s surrender and bungled exit from Afghanistan appear as a minor diplomatic faux pas by comparison.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">So, there ‘tis.</p>

Putin’s demands keep getting more outrageous … and Trump is looking weaker
