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Per Dørup's avatar

Trump urges Putin not to escalate the war in Ukraine? But who is escalating the war?

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Kevin Batcho's avatar

I'm not sure how true any of these reports are but let's suppose this one is. Urging Russia to not escalate could be read as a warning not to go after Odessa. It could also be seen as a plea for Russia not to finish off Ukraine energy infrastructure. It can also be read as a sort of agreement that neither side will escalate. Since Russia currently dominates the escalation ladder, this seems like a reasonable thing for Trump to urge! If Trump really is to cut off Ukraine funding, it would help him politically if in the meantime Russia didn't do anything too provocative to empower Trump's neocon enemies in the media.

There may come a time where Russia turns up the heat by claiming four more oblasts as Russian territory, including Odessa and Kharkov. We are entering a very delicate chapter of the war, where the Ukrainian forces may soon collapse. Russia has spent nearly three years on a grinding war of attrition but the big prizes will only be captured during a very high stakes endgame.

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Per Dørup's avatar

I agree with you about Stalin, but I can not afford not paying for all the critics of the US, the EU and the Kiev regime who volunteer.

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