Saturday 22nd of February 2025
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PEACE: we need to get serious and fast..........

President Trump bashed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as a “Dictator” in a blazing rant Wednesday, one day after an American delegation met with Russian officials in Saudi Arabia.

Ukraine didn’t have a seat at the table at the Riyadh discussions, leaving Zelensky fuming that his country wasn’t represented in the first formal talks between Washington and Moscow since the Kremlin launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

“A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left. In the meantime, we are successfully negotiating an end to the War with Russia, something all admit only ‘TRUMP,’ and the Trump Administration, can do,” Trump, 78, wrote in a lengthy Truth Social post, referencing Ukraine suspending elections in 2024 due to the ongoing war.

“Biden never tried, Europe has failed to bring Peace, and Zelenskyy probably wants to keep the ‘gravy train’ going. I love Ukraine, but Zelenskyy has done a terrible job, his Country is shattered, and MILLIONS have unnecessarily died – And so it continues…..”

Vice President JD Vance made a point of sharing Trump’s post on Vance’s own X account, adding the message: “I just wanted to make sure no one missed it.”

Trump’s post went live hours after Zelensky accused the American president of living in a Russian-made “disinformation space” after Trump claimed to reporters a day earlier that Ukraine had “started” the war.

“The idea that Zelensky is going to change the president’s mind by badmouthing him in public media, everyone who knows the president will tell you that is an atrocious way to deal with this administration,” Vance told the Daily Mail in an interview Wednesday.

In a separate interview, Vance said that pursuing new elections in Ukraine is now US policy.

“The idea that you cannot have elections in the midst of a war is, I think, kind of a preposterous idea,” the VP told The National Pulse. “And the president has made very clear that he thinks that should happen. So, you know, that is, that is American policy. And I think it’s, it’s pretty simple and straightforward.”

 

The Ukrainian president didn’t directly respond to Trump’s remarks Wednesday, but did say Ukraine is looking forward to constructive talks with the US, especially with special envoy Keith Kellogg, with whom Zelensky is scheduled to meet in Kyiv Thursday.

“Our meeting is scheduled for tomorrow, and it is crucial that this discussion—and our overall cooperation with the U.S.—remains constructive,” Zelensky wrote on X of Kellogg.

Separately, Zelensky said he spoke to Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), noting, “We greatly appreciate the bicameral and bipartisan support of the US Congress to the Ukrainian people in our fight against the Russian aggression.”

Ukraine’s constitution prohibits elections from taking place under martial law, which Zelensky declared in response to Russia’s invasion.

Trump had initially promised he would seek a solution to the war — Europe’s biggest and deadliest since World War II — that would involve both Russia and Ukraine.

But the president’s tone has shifted in the last few days, with Trump now calling Zelensky a “modestly successful comedian” with “very low” approval ratings in Ukrainian polls and saying “the only thing he was good at was playing Biden ‘like a fiddle.'”

“Think of it, a modestly successful comedian, Volodymyr Zelenskyy [sic], talked the United States of America into spending $350 Billion Dollars, to go into a War that couldn’t be won, that never had to start, but a War that he, without the U.S. and ‘TRUMP,’ will never be able to settle,” Trump went on in his Truth statement.

“The United States has spent $200 Billion Dollars more than Europe, and Europe’s money is guaranteed, while the United States will get nothing back.”

Trump’s comments caused an uproar among America’s European allies, with former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson arguing the statements were meant “to shock Europeans into action.”

“When are we Europeans going to stop being scandalised about Donald Trump and start helping him to end this war?” asked Johnson, a staunch supporter of Ukraine. “Of course Ukraine didn’t start the war. You might as well say that America attacked Japan at Pearl Harbor. Of course a country undergoing a violent invasion should not be staging elections. There was no general election in the UK from 1935 to 1945. Of course Zelenskyy’s ratings are not 4%. They are actually about the same as Trump’s.

“Trump’s statements are not intended to be historically accurate but to shock Europeans into action,” the ex-PM added. “In particular the US can see $300 [billion] of frozen Russian assets – mainly in Belgium. That is cash that could and should be used to pay Ukraine and compensate the US for its support. Why is Europe preventing the unfreezing of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s cash? The US believes Belgium, France and other countries are blocking. It’s absurd. We need to get serious and fast.”

Several congressional Republicans also joined in questioning Trump’s attack.

Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) wrote on X, “Putin started this war. Putin committed war crimes. Putin is the dictator who murdered his opponents. The EU nations have contributed more to Ukraine. Zelensky polls over 50%. Ukraine wants to be part of the West, Putin hates the West. I don’t accept George Orwell’s doublethink.”

“I would like to see that in context, because I would certainly never refer to President Zelensky as a dictator,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) told CNN.

 

Trump had been pushing for a deal with Ukraine that would get the US billions of dollars worth of rare-earth minerals as a form of repayment for the billions the US provided the country.

Zelensky initially expressed openness to the rare earths deal, but then pushed back after Trump proposed a 50% ownership of Ukraine’s rare-earth deposits.

“I didn’t let the ministers sign a relevant agreement because in my view it is not ready to protect us, our interest,” Zelensky said at the Munich Security Conference over the weekend.

Retired four-star US Army Gen. Jack Keane argued the Trump-Zelensky tiff will be short-lived, and started it happened in part because the Ukrainian president “overreacted” to not being represented at the Saudi talks.

“I think this debate, this lashing out at each other is temporary. I don’t believe it’s long-lasting,” Keane told Fox News’ “The Story,” “because our common interests are at stake here, and they will come together and work something out here, and I think the counter-proposal [on rare earths] that Zelensky’s team is putting together will go a long way to accomplish that.”

https://nypost.com/2025/02/19/us-news/trump-rips-ukraines-zelensky-as-dictator-without-elections/

 

YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

 

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.

bitching baerbock....

Europe should not hesitate to put pressure on the US if it fails to fall in line with “liberal democracies,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Friday. The diplomat made the remark following talks between the US and Russia that excluded representatives from the EU and Ukraine.

Speaking at a campaign rally in Potsdam on Friday, the Green politician stated, “We’re increasing pressure on the Americans [so they know] they have a lot to lose if they don’t stand on the side of Europe’s liberal democracies.”

With respect to EU-US relations, Baerbock warned against drawing any precipitous conclusions, remarking that “nothing has been decided there.”

“No one can decide about war and peace for the Ukrainians or us Europeans, and this is the clear German stance,” she insisted. Baerbock also warned against forcing Kiev into a “phony peace” or “capitulation,” which she said would only invite further “war and violence.”

A rift has opened up between Washington and Brussels since US President Donald Trump took office last month. Trump has taken a tougher stance on trade with the EU by threatening tariffs and demanded that its European-NATO partners boost spending on collective defense.

Addressing Munich Security Conference attendees last Friday, US Vice President J.D. Vance delivered a sobering speech to Europe’s political elites, suggesting that the biggest threat the continent is facing is one coming from within – the erosion of democracy.

”In Britain and across Europe, free speech, I fear, is in retreat,” the official stated, concluding that “if you’re running in fear of your own voters, there is nothing America can do for you.”

The speech sent shockwaves across governments, with leaders, including Germany’s Olaf Scholz, scrambling to rebuke Vance’s assertions.

The fallout was further highlighted when Washington and Moscow held high-level talks in Saudi Arabia this week without bothering to invite EU representatives. This perceived slight prompted an outpouring of anguish and indignation on the continent.

Trump blasted Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky this week, branding him a dictator without elections, but a number of European leaders have rejected the US president’s assertion that he lacks legitimacy.

In an interview with Fox News on Friday, Trump said he sees no point in having Zelensky involved in peace talks with Russia. He also insisted that French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer “haven’t done anything” to put an end to the bloodshed in Ukraine for the three years since it started.

https://www.rt.com/news/613126-germany-us-russia-ukraine/

 

BAERBOCK IS A "GREEN" WHO WANTS WAR. WHAT DOES THIS TELL YOU?... SHE "APPEARS" AS A GRUN-PAINTED NAZI BITCH.

 

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YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

 

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.

 

 

understanding putin....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weQDarZcx5A

Trump ADMITS He Can't Perform Miracles In Negotiations With Russia

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PekZ76WwLw

Macron's PLAN To Change Trump's Mind

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvYgdRcjLqU

How the Trump Admin Can Bring a Permanent Peace Between Russia and Ukraine, with NSA Michael Waltz

 

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The Economist Blames Trump For Europe’s Weakness, But Europe Should Blame Itself

 

BY: LOGAN WASHBURN

 

The Economist, a London-based publication, ran an article this week fear-mongering that President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are “smash[ing] the post-war order” and urged Europe “must respond.” But the publication failed to mention how Europe placed itself in this position in the first place.

“The past week has been the bleakest in Europe since the fall of the Iron Curtain,” reads the article. “Ukraine is being sold out, Russia is being rehabilitated and, under Donald Trump, America can no longer be counted on to come to Europe’s aid in wartime.”

But maybe Europe should never have become so reliant on America in the first place. America sits on the other side of the world and issued a resounding declaration in November against the leftist ideology embraced across Europe. America also contributes vastly more to defense than most European NATO countries, with which the U.S. shares less and less in common.

The Economist did point out some of Europe’s weaknesses: “It is an indebted, ageing continent that is barely growing and cannot defend itself or project hard power.” So instead of blaming Trump, perhaps Europe should look in the mirror. 

The Decline

NATO members are encouraged to allocate two percent of GDP to defense spending. According to NATO’s 2023 secretary general report, the U.S. spent more than three percent of its GDP on defense and accounted for 67 percent of NATO’s total defense spending that year. According to the report, most other NATO members spend smaller shares of their GDP on defense than the U.S., and many have not even reached two percent.

When European countries make low commitments to defense, they should not be shocked when America — across the Atlantic Ocean, thousands of miles away — suggests reducing its involvement in Europe and asks them to increase defense contributions to five percent of GDP, as Trump did recently in Davos, Switzerland.

The Economist essentially admits Europe doesn’t know how to “wield hard power” — then almost immediately complains “[i]ts leaders have been excluded from peace talks between the White House and the Kremlin.” 

With many European countries barely contributing two percent or under two percent of their GDP to defense, why are they now complaining about not getting a seat at the negotiating table?

The illustration for The Economist’s article rings true, but not in the way apparently intended. It shows Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin left alone at a large table, surrounded by vacant seats. If NATO members contributed to their own defense as much as America has — or took meaningful steps to help end the Russia-Ukraine conflict — perhaps they would be sitting at the negotiating table instead of the kids’ table.

Even if Putin declared war on the rest of Europe, these nations face such immediate threats that there may soon be no Europe left to protect.

 

The Economist slammed Vice President J.D. Vance for calling Europe “decadent and undemocratic.” As The Federalist previously reported, while speaking in Munich, Vance warned Europeans of “the threat from within.” Vance clarified this threat to be “the retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values, values shared with the United States of America.”

European leaders have ushered waves of third-world migrants into the continent, overwhelming its native people. And just this week, Scottish police arrested a pro-life grandmother holding a sign outside a hospital under an abortion “buffer zone” law. The continent finds itself clearly oppressed by bad government.

Even Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky, hailed as a hero for opposing Putin, is a de-facto dictator — he declared martial law, enabling him to hold office past the five-year term limit which ended in May 2024. Zelensky’s government has also targeted the Ukrainian Orthodox Church which has historical ties to Russia. Still, Trump caught flak for calling Zelensky a “dictator,” and, as The Federalist’s CEO Sean Davis noted on X, this so-called “smear” has “resulted in a Category 5 neocon meltdown.”

“If Zelensky, who cancelled elections and banned opposition political parties and media, is a dictator (and by all definitions of that word, he clearly is), then he must be removed from power, according to the one-dimensional neocon framework for understanding international affairs,” Davis wrote. “But they don’t want Zelensky removed from power, which means he can’t be a dictator.”

Still, many European countries have firmly affixed their allegiance to Ukraine — despite their low fiscal commitment, the pressing needs of their own people, and the historical complexity of the war.

https://thefederalist.com/2025/02/21/the-economist-blames-trump-for-europes-weakness-but-europe-should-blame-itself/

 

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YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

 

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.