This image tells the whole story. The US is not a signatory to the ICC treaty... in fact, the US is threatening the ICC and its prosecutors with sanctions and arrests. Europe, by contrast is a signatory, but appears ready to ignore the legitimate charges against Netanyahu for his role in the Palestinian genocide. Europe has become a cesspool of turpitude.
Did you hear the heads exploding all over Europe on Friday at the conclusion of the summit between Putin and Trump? Years of a massive, coordinated propaganda effort to paint President Putin as the reincarnation of Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin was demolished by the images of the two smiling Presidents exchanging warm greetings, and by Vladimir Putin's scripted remarks at the concluding press gaggle.
I am pretty sure that Trump entered the first meeting with Putin in Alaska believing that he could persuade Vladimir -- because he is Trump, the master negotiator -- to agree to a ceasefire. What Trump did not anticipate is that Putin came prepared to explain in meticulous detail the root causes of the war -- i.e., specifically Joe Biden's rejection in January 2022 of Putin's draft treaty to address the security of Russia and of Europe -- and Russia's willingness to negotiate a comprehensive end to the war... not just in Ukraine, but with NATO.
John Helmer made the astute observation, as only John can do, that Trump changed the scheduled one-on-one meeting with Putin to a three-by-three chat, that included Lavrov and Ushakov on the Russian side, and Rubio and Witkoff on the American side. Why? Because Trump realized he could not handle Putin by himself.
Putin presented in person the same deal he outline in his 14 June 2024 speech to the Russian Foreign Ministry officials -- i.e., recognition of the five former Ukrainian oblasts as permanent Russian territory, withdrawal of Ukrainian forces to the west of the River Dnieper, and a firm pledge to not bring Ukraine into NATO. While maintaining that as an inflexible Russian demand, Putin emphasized that he was willing to engage Trump in a comprehensive security negotiation that, if successfully concluded, would represent an historic achievement and seal Donald Trump's legacy as a legendary maker of peace. All Trump has to do is convince the Europeans. That will be, to put it mildly, a challenge.
Monday is now scheduled to be a new day of press frenzy. The European clown car is loading up and is headed for Washington, with Zelensky, aka the Green Goblin, in tow. They will put enormous pressure on Trump to impose the bone-crunching sanctions that he had threatened to put in place when his ten-day deadline expired a week ago Friday. I hope that Trump has some steel in his spine and will rebuff their demand, especially now that he understands, based on his meeting with Putin, that the Russians are not worried about more sanctions, because they have weathered everything that the US and Europe have imposed on Russia over the last 42 months. Meanwhile, Russia will continue its military operation in Ukraine, armed with the full confidence that there is nothing that the US and Europe can do to prevent the inevitable collapse of the Ukrainian army.
Here are three more podcasts I did on Friday (I did eight interviews in total).
I thank you for your invaluable support by taking time to read or comment. I do not charge a subscription fee nor do I accept advertising. I want the content to be accessible to everyone interested in the issues I am discussing. However, if you wish to make a donation, please see this link.