Whether Trump spoke with Putin or not, it’s high time that the U.S. and Russian leaders communicate to resolve the existential crisis over Ukraine.
Putin and Trump (President of Russia)
By Ray McGovern
Special to Consortium News
A former and future U.S. president talked with Vladimir Putin on Thursday! At least that is what The Washington Post reported today.
In a highly detailed account, the Post wrote:
Except on Monday, Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesman, denied it ever happened.
As a follow-up, the Post was forced to report:
“Peskov called the story ‘completely untrue’ … ‘This is the most obvious example of the quality of the information that is now published, sometimes even in fairly respected publications. This is completely untrue. This is pure fiction, this is simply false information,’ he told the Russian news agency Interfax.”
Someone is lying here. The Post said it had five unnamed sources confirming the call and providing extensive detail of what was supposedly discussed. Trump has said nothing so far about whether such a call took place. But on Monday he posted a short Fox video on his Truth Social account showing the world leaders he has spoken to so far and Putin is not among them. Volodymyr Zelenksy of Ukraine is.
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/113465350193329113
A Long- Time Coming
It has been two and a half years since a conversation between U.S. and Russian presidents.
That last conversation was held on Feb. 12, 2022. It ended badly – the readout showing there was no room for compromise, no room for a “deal” to stave off war in Ukraine.
The U.S. would not reverse its stance on inviting Ukraine into NATO; and went back on an earlier undertaking not to put offensive missiles in Ukraine. The Russians saw their core national security interests at stake, just as the U.S. had core interests in preventing Cuba from installing offensive missiles in 1962.
According to the Russian readout, Putin made clear that Joe Biden “did not really address non-expansion of NATO, or non-deployment of strike weapons systems on Ukrainian territory.” Twelve days later, the Russians launched what they call their Special Military Operation.
The Biden administration knew this would happen. None other than NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg let that cat out of the bag (no doubt inadvertently) in a speech to the EU Parliament on Sept. 7, 2023:
“Putin’s precondition for not invading Ukraine was: No Ukraine in NATO. We rejected that. So he went to war to prevent more NATO.”
Context: Reading the Readout
The Kremlin placed the readout of the Feb. 12, 2022 summit-call squarely in the context of a key Putin-Biden telephone conversation nine weeks earlier on Dec. 7, 2021. That virtual summit had been arranged abruptly, at Putin’s urgent request.
And so it came to pass that Biden was at home on holiday in Delaware – without his minders. As things turned out, he apparently reasoned that agreeing not to put offensive missiles in Ukraine made sense, given the threat Putin saw in that (and the fact that the US already had such emplacements in Romania and Poland).
The Russian readout from that Dec. 30, 2021 telephone call stated: “Joseph Biden emphasized that Washington had no intention of deploying offensive strike missiles in Ukraine.” [Emphasis added.]
Biden administration officials, with the full cooperation of Establishment media, were able to obfuscate and suppress this key undertaking made by Biden when he was ‘home alone’, so to speak.
There was virtually no public reporting or comment. The only exception was former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, John Herbst, an ardent Ukraine fan, who quickly and quietly dismissed the readout as nothing new.
Dec. 7, 2021: U.S. President Joe Biden, on screen during video call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Kremlin.ru, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons)
Signs of Thaw
A lot of water has flowed down the Dnieper River since February 2022. Much of it will be frozen thick on Jan. 20 when Donald Trump takes office. There are, however, already some tentative signs of a coming thaw in relations between the U.S. and Russia.
On Thursday, Putin publicly congratulated Trump on his victory, praising his “manly” response to the assassination attempt in Pennsylvania. On Sunday, Kremlin spokesman Peskov told an interviewer there were “positive” signs for improved relations under a Trump presidency.
“Trump talked during his campaign about how he sees everything through deals, that he can make a deal that will lead everyone to peace. At least he talks about peace, not about confrontation and the desire to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia,” Peskov said.
Tempering expectations, Putin responded cautiously to a question at the Valdai conference in Sochi on Nov. 7. Asked what he expects from a second Trump administration, Putin replied, “I don’t know what will happen now. I have no idea.”
On Ukraine, nothing good will happen until Biden/Blinken/Sullivan can admit that what they have been saying for a year and a half is not true. Putin has not “already lost.” It is just the opposite. And his terms are correspondingly tough. On that basis, and only on that basis, will he be prepared “to deal.”
US ‘Exceptionalism’
Biden was fond of quoting former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright’s oft-stated belief that the U.S. was not only “exceptional” but also “indispensable.” It seems Biden and his acolytes, particularly Secretary of State Antony Blinken, may actually believe that.
What most observers have long since forgotten is that Putin called out Barack Obama on that very issue – precisely at a time when there was hope for increasing mutual trust. Putin placed a revealing op-ed about all this in The New York Times on Sept. 12, 2013.
In short, Putin persuaded Syria to let its chemical weapons be destroyed under U.N. inspection, and thus pulled Obama’s chestnuts out of the fire when Obama agreed.
Obama later admitted that all of his advisers insisted he had to wage war on Syria because of a chemical attack near Damascus during the civil war there. It was a false-flag attack, and he sensed that. Obama was reluctant to start yet another overt war – this one on Syria. He told a lot of this story to Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic.
Syria’s chemical weapons were destroyed and war was avoided. And not only that. The possibilities had increased perceptively for growing trust, only to be dashed when Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland and friends mounted a coup d’etat in Kyiv just six months later.
Here’s the last paragraph of the NYT op-ed by Putin on Sept 12, 2013. As we shall see, there are clear echoes of this in Putin’s talk on Friday at Valdai, 11 years later:
“My working and personal relationship with President Obama is marked by growing trust. I appreciate this. I carefully studied his address to the nation on Tuesday. And I would rather disagree with a case he made on American exceptionalism, stating that the United States’ policy is ‘what makes America different. It’s what makes us exceptional.’ It is extremely dangerous to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional, whatever the motivation. There are big countries and small countries, rich and poor, those with long democratic traditions and those still finding their way to democracy. Their policies differ, too. We are all different, but when we ask for the Lord’s blessings, we must not forget that God created us equal.”
The Valdai Message
Putin addressing the Valdai Club on Friday. (President of Russia)
Is there a chance for resuscitation of this “growing trust” from 11 years ago? In his Valdai presentation Friday, Putin made abundantly clear what the new international situation — the new balance of power – will now require, especially as a very large part of the world is already in BRICS and arrayed against a lily white, Western minority.
Putin’s words on Friday are as interesting now as his New York Times op-ed was 11 years ago:
“The Western-centric world has embraced certain clichés and stereotypes concerning the global hierarchy. There is supposedly a developed world, progressive society and some universal civilization that everyone should strive to join – while at the other end, there are backward, uncivilized nations, barbarians. Their job is to listen unquestioningly to what they are told from the outside, and to act on the instructions issued by those who are allegedly superior to them in this civilizational hierarchy.
It is clear that this concept works for a crude colonial approach, for the exploitation of the global majority. The problem is that this essentially racist ideology has taken root in the minds of many, creating a serious mental obstacle to general harmonious growth. [Emphasis added.]
The modern world tolerates neither arrogance nor wanton disregard for others being different. To build normal relationships, above all, one needs to listen to the other party and try to understand their logic and cultural background, rather than expecting them to think and act the way you think they should based on your beliefs about them. Otherwise, communication turns into an exchange of clichés and flinging labels, and politics devolves into a conversation of the deaf.”
It is possible to hope that, on Ukraine at least, U.S.-Russian talks can quickly move beyond cliches and labels, to stop the killing. Mutual trust is also possible, but it will take some time to rebuild it.
Perhaps it helps to recall that it almost happened just 13 years ago.
Ray McGovern works with Tell the Word, a publishing arm of the ecumenical Church of the Saviour in inner-city Washington. His 27 years as a C.I.A. analyst included leading the Soviet Foreign Policy Branch and conducting the morning briefings of the President’s Daily Brief. In retirement he co-founded Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS).
— Joe Lauria contributed to this report.
Views expressed in this article and may or may not reflect those of Consortium News.
if it survives Trump the world will have increasingly isolated the USA .America First will be betrayed .It is probably a grave mistake to believe Presidents control foreign policy
I pose the following: there is no essential difference between
1) American Exceptionalism
2) White supremacy
3) Nazi Master Race theory
Comments?
Also I contend that these ideologies are symptoms of a psychological disorder known as “delusions of grandeur.”
Absolutely!
Ray I was preoccupied this earlier today, I have leaves, lots of leaves to deal with, but I had to comment on Karl “Porky the Pig” Rove, I apologize to Porky the Pig! BTW, Mr. Rove’s self absorbed, posturing blather.
Ray as always it is great to hear from you again. Great stuff here from an old master who knows a thing or two about Russia.
It is worth pointing out that Putin, in my opinion, has showed more moxy than Biden and Trump combined.
When the fiasco that is the war in Ukraine started, a way back when, I stated the entire episode could have been and should have been handled much differently.
Around eleven lines down down, in the section titled Signs of Thaw, you quoted Putin, recalling a question asked him at the Nov. 7, Valdi conference in Sochi. When asked what he expected from the second trump administration, His reply, which I believe is something a very many Americans might need to listen too. He replied, “I don’t know what will happen now. I have no Idea”
I cannot agree with this man any more than I already do. Putin seems to me made a very good showing for himself at this conference.
Thanks so much for making this available for scrutiny. What a piece you have here. Very welcome after eight years of horse pucky from the Dimos and Repugniklans both.
Now for a fresh take on reality.
According to the unreliable talking heads at CNN Trump is seriously considering an executive order that would allow for a group hand picked by Mr. Decider himself to review the records of generals who make up the lower echelon of serving generals, especially the “woke” ones, in the U.S. military services. After his statement about needing, “generals like Hitler had,” this report has even some of his supporters giving sidelong glances.
All this having been said, based on the comparison of Putin opposed to Trump, my view is Mr. Trump is well out of his depth! Hell, we will see soon enough if he lasts long enough to rip stars off U.S. General Officers.
I will remind all those Trumpians out there, it is still very early one might wish to keep who they voted for to themselves until everyone’s bank accounts are brimming with cash. I mean hell it isn’t like he didn’t tell you already who he was.
Those last three lines of “Signs of Thaw” say it all, Indeed!
By the way Y’ all how do you feel about the draft being reinstated?
Much gratitude to Ray for caring so much!
Thanks to the CN Crew and the donation is in your account! Joe, you folks are welcome!
I do love the American ‘news’. The Washington Post writes a story, undoubtedly in the usual, modern American fashion relying on unnamed sources and other such BS. I don’t want to put on my mental hazmat gear to go check. But, the Trump camp never confirms the story. The Russian office of the President now firmly denies it.
But yet, all of America acts like the stuff made up by the WP, or its ‘sources’, is somehow true. There was never any evidence, was there? So, why on earth did people ever believe this? Its not like the WP has credibility, other than credibility at being willing to print whatever the intelligence agencies want to make up. The story also had the failing of sounding a lot like Russiagate (Trump-Putin collusion) from a pro-Democrat outlet that hates the notion of Peace breaking out anywhere or in any form. The same outlet from the same faction that appears to be throwing a giant hissy-fit over Trump defeating their chosen candidate. So, why would anyone believe this?
If you read news outside the USA, the most common story in the world is of the form …. “[person/nation] denies what was said in the American media.” And yet, Americans still don’t seem to figure out that they are just making this stuff up.
Thank you Ray for a wonderful article. If only your view was heard/read on MSM. Keep on working/acting/writing for peace.
as Roy Bourgeoise says: “in solidarity”, Carolyn
Many thanks for this.
On the subject of contradictions, it is still not clear who put U S nuclear forces on alert during the Yom Kippur War!
Nixon claimed that he did it but other sources say that it was Kissinger and Haig and that Nixon was ill at the time.
I think that Nixon probably lied about that as he would not wish to admit that he was not in control of the situation.
I very much hope that Trump will end the war in the Ukraine and will then seek to bring a formal end to the Korean War. I am not so optimistic about Gaza though.
thank you so much, mr mcgovern, for this positive note
and for reminding us of options we once had and could
still opt for today.
US exceptionalism has brought those who are supposed
to accept it little – except violations of international law,
grief, destruction, trauma and bleak outlooks regarding
their futures. one thing we are all supposed to ignore is
[US] warmongers’ mantra: “peace doesn’t pay!”, they say
and have been acting accordingly for centuries, alas.
will we soon be in positions to prove them dead wrong?
Human civilization in this century faces a massive reorganization of karmic entanglements over the ages and settlement required on a global basis and dominance and who is to be first is an profound obstacle. Western world disorder has ruled for itself far too long.
If you can Believe Tucker Carlson, there’s a better than equal chance that the President elect is estrous about moving away from the neocon agenda of perpetual war, and moving instead in the direction of a peaceful world achieved by means of diplomacy and negotiated settlements of international conflicts. However, on the other hand, there’s that $100 million he took from Marion Addelson in exchange for annexation of the West Bank into a Greater Israel.
Do leopards change their spots? No, so why should anyone realistically expect Trump to change as much as so many people believe he has or will?
It would be a huge mistake for anyone, or any country, to bank on any significant changes, good ones that is, coming from the new Trump administration.
Indeed, that was my personal hope when supporting Trump. Notwithstanding your unusual use of the word estrous to describe his alleged move away from interventionism , I must confess his new administration picks are becoming increasingly concerning. We applauded his rejection of Pompeo, Haley and Bolton but his apparent new picks can only be described as lesser known neocon chicken hawks.
Let’s start with Little Marco as Secretary of State. Good grief. Then there’s Mike Waltz as National Security Advisor, a proponent of missile strikes deep into Russia. Elise Stefanik as UN representative. Yet another super pro-Israel supporter who was instrumental in suppressing student activists protesting genocide. Brian Hook , an Iran hawk to staff the State Department. Mike Rogers another neocon as Secretary of Defence, plus another China hawk Elbridge Colby in an advisory position. This is absolutely NOT looking hopeful if peace on earth was your ultimate goal.
Is Trump just a slow learner when it comes to foreign policy? Picking a new B team of neocons.
There are so many options out there that would be better suited for those roles, if indeed they wanted those roles.
A short list; Col.Douglas MacGregor, Col.Lawrence Wilkerson, Professors John Merscheimer or Jeffrey Sachs. Scott Ritter, Andrew Napolitano, Col. Daniel Davis, any and all members of VIPS.
Meanwhile we watch and wait for miracles as hope again appears to be taking another hit.
If you separate the BS from fact, the DT is a “neocon”, just one with a different pack of lies: he’s an Israel Firster: rabidly Zionist, racist, genocidal. He wants Netanyahu to “finish the job” in Palestine. (with Bipartisan support). Kushner wants to buy prime waterfront property on the Med, once the final solution for Palestine is achieved. All subsidized by the US taxpayer. Millions in the US have a form of Stockholm Syndrome. Even Ed Bernays would stand in awe if he were alive now. Millions believe the blah blah of politicians, a nation with 10s of millions of gullible, electronically lobotomized sheep.
Despite the MassMedia hysteria, the first DT regime imposed sanctions on Russia and China, bombed Syria, tried to provoke a war with Iran, imposed Siege Warfare on Venezuela, Cuba etc. continued to support Ukraine, with support of the Bipartisan Consensus of course. Vladimir Putin has pointed out that DT is no friend of Russia, and has damaged Russian interests and Russian allies. It is a pity that no one pays attention to what the leaders of Russia, China, Iran actually say and do.
President Putin’s comments this year and 13 years ago display a humanism and wisdom that our leaders for too long have sorely lacked.
Anybody with an ounce of objectivity and critical thinking couldn’t help but agree. Anybody who has actually followed what he says at Valdai, year end international press conferences etc. ,speaking in rational ,thoughtful, considered answers to numerous questions can’t help but agree he’s a cut above. As opposed to the cartoon caricature we’ve had to endure in our MSM and official political discourse.
America doesn’t need to listen to other nations. Other nations need to listen to America. This is the ideological blather that is the basis for American foreign policy and MSM reportage.
A few decades ago, an official from the Cheney regime made an un-sourced quote to the WP. “We do not worry about reality, because we create reality.”
For a ‘thaw’ between Russia and the USA, the USA has to accept reality.
After 20, 30 years or more, that’s not going to be easy. In fact, I’m not sure that at this point they remember that they went down that rabbit hole where they rejected reality and moved so far away from it.
We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you’re studying that reality — judiciously, as you will — we’ll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that’s how things will sort out. We’re history’s actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.” ? Karl Rove
The arrogance is indeed breathtaking. And there he was on a Fox panel on election night with his little whiteboard and marker still embedded in a network with a schizophrenic messaging. No wonder Tucker left ( fired) because he latterly has developed a conscience and repents constantly for his past beliefs. His contrarian views on Ukraine,Covid, and especially Big Pharma finally did him in and he’s far better off for it with his TCN show that is a huge success drawing more eyeballs than Fox could ever hope for.
As usual I am often motivated by certain stimuli which triggers alarms in what is left of my brain and it’s full reserve of common sense.
This has occurred again. My thoughts are based in a reality I do not consider my reality but the state of being experienced by the masses. I suppose some will say it is personal failing. So be it!
reality – noun – 1: the quality or state of being. 2. a (1): a real event, entity or state of affairs |his dream became a reality (2) : the totality of real things and events | trying to escape from reality b: something that is neither derivative or dependent but exists necessarily The definitions continue.
The reality I see expressed in the CN quote above is, in my opinion, an example of the closed mind of Karl Rove. His reality does not make my realty. His serves to promote his agenda, mine interprets the facts which compose my life’s observations of the world and it’s inhabitants.
Greed for power and treasure abound in many of the world’s population of the maladjusted among us. Those who would justify their actions by claiming some divine justification, when in reality their justification is based in selfish thought.
My thought is the founding fathers many of whom were not Christians had this concept in mind during the construction of the Constitution. Hence the separation of Church and State.
I doubt that many of the worlds population would consider a mere mortal human pressing the button to end life on the planet as being an act of a sane individual.
Karl Rove in my opinion is a pompous ass who views himself as some divine individual, when in reality he is a shill seeking favor.
People such as Rove fail to understand his reality is his and not mine or that of many others.
Garbage in, garbage out.
If we look to others to protect our security and freedom we will lose both. The current duopoly controlling the U.S. Government serves not the common man, but those seek unlimited wealth and power. The reality is everyone will not ever be of unlimited wealth and / or power. The two party system has out lived it’s usefulness. Reality proves this, look around.
Thanks CN.