A HOT SUMMIT

What are the keys to success in the talks between Washington and Moscow for a real ceasefire in Ukraine?

 

By Sidney Hey 

Everything is set for the meeting between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, which is currently taking place at the binational Elmendorf-Richardson military base in Alaska. What comes out of it will only be known when each of them return to their capitals, but there is no doubt that we will see its immediate results in what happens on the battlefields in Ukraine.

While the meeting is aimed at negotiating a ceasefire in Ukraine, the persistence of Zelensky's neo-Nazi regime in not accepting any agreement that does not meet its expectations (which are NATO's) already gives it an inauspicious framework for the hoped-for ends. In that plan the Ukrainian leader has demonstrated his disagreement with the talks by claiming that he was not invited to them.

But in reality it is not Zelensky who is encouraging a boycott of any settlement, let alone rapprochement between the US and Russia, it is the EU and its top officials who have an interest in the negotiations going nowhere. Zelensky himself and his clique of neo-Nazis would not last a day without the support of the Atlanticists. Even more. It is in London and from Keir Starmer's government that lies the basis of this political interest for the war to continue as part of their hopes to weaken Russia and if possible collapse it. Nor should we neglect the German government, which is so enthusiastic about the British line that it supplies Kiev with medium-range offensive weaponry.

As usual, the attempt to muddy the waters was relentless and as part of the attempt to frustrate the development of the negotiations in Alaska on 12 August, Ukrainian forces, in a desperate attempt, tried to bomb the nuclear reactors in Zaporizhya, which would have caused a catastrophe of proportions that would have affected the whole of Europe. Surely the media propaganda machine in the West already had the scripts drawn up by the intelligence agencies under their desks in which Russia was to blame.

The interference of these agencies (especially MI6) is always linked to the production of dark and destructive acts (such as terrorism), of which there is a long list in Ukraine.  

As the capture of three senior British intelligence officers in a command and control bunker in Ochakov proved, it is not surprising that other British assets or even senior MI6 officers were involved in this attempt to blow up the nuclear reactors.

At the same time as these dirty tricks, Russian forces were dealing other heavy blows to the Ukrainians and their sponsors on the Sumy front. A day before the encounter in Alaska, ‘Iskander-M’ tactical hypersonic missile systems detected and destroyed a battery of the US ‘M-142 HIMARS’ system - possibly operated by NATO personnel - which, according to reliable sources, confirms that 40 units have already been destroyed so far in the war.

This episode adds to another string of misfortunes for the Kiev regime, which has also lost several industrial weapons facilities and critical centres, such as the State Institute for Scientific Research of Chemicals in Shostka, in Sumy, and another where a missile programme was being developed with NATO technical assistance that could match the capabilities of the Russian ‘Iskander’.

While it would be very good for everyone and especially for the Ukrainians if this war were to end, the British and their EU assets have no interest in continuing to instigate at any cost and by any means, despite and in the knowledge that this will cause more bloodshed. When one considers these elements and the factors behind this evil initiative, one can understand how great the interests involved are.

Politically, the EU government and especially some governments such as the British, French and German governments that make up the EU need to focus on the image of an enemy in Russia to divert attention from its severe socio-economic problems born of its own political failures, as Russian Foreign Minister Maria Zakharova made clear. 

So far, Zelensky's only support in a de facto government is force, and to this end, the control exercised by ultra-nationalist elements with the support of Western intelligence agencies in the upper echelons of the security forces and the Armed Forces. Likewise, discontent in the middle ranks and even more so in the rank and file (many of whom have been kidnapped for recruitment) could be a sign of a possible uprising in the making that could bring the regime to its knees.

It is true that Trump and Putin represent two competing contemporary powers, but both do not have the influence they once had in Cold War times to keep each of their satellite countries in line. Today, however, that scenario does not present itself, although the US is trying not to lose its flagging hegemony by relying on a new love-hate relationship with the Europeans and NATO. If Trump really expects to get results from this meeting and it is not just another of his gaffes, he will have no choice but to bring the EU's petty conspirators to heel. Two other questions arise: will he do it? And if he does, how will he do it?