The Thinking ‘Kat: Heroes & Villains
Of late, the noises coming from Donald Trump and his cronies could not be better music to Vladimir Putin’s ears. Trump has called Ukraine‘s President Zelenskyy a dictator for not holding elections, during a period of marshal law, which exists because of an invasion by a foreign power. Trump has attacked Zelenskyy’s stance on Putin, as though it is somehow outrageous to feel anger toward the man who ordered a devastating war. Indeed, at one point, Trump suggested the war was Ukraine’s fault! Meanwhile, Trump has barely been able to bring himself to criticise Russia’s wannabe tsar.
All of this makes it clear that the new US administration is not favouring peace, nor justice. Trump is quite prepared to let Putin get away with carving up Ukraine, unless he gets what he wants, which is a mineral deal no one, save for Trump and his cronies, will actually benefit from. Meanwhile, President Zelenskyy is prepared to step down as Ukraine’s leader, in exchange for security guarantees. He wants to protect his country from the future threat of a fresh attack, and somehow, this is wrong?!
I do not understand the way people are simping hard for how Trump has become a mouthpiece of the Kremlin. Trump’s version of ‘peace’ is a fractured, more vulnerable NATO, an emboldened Russia, and the weakening of alliances that have provided security for decades. No one benefits from that. There are two possibilities either Trump is an idiot for playing into Putin’s hands, or he is doing so deliberately, which makes him complicit in whatever Putin does in Ukraine. There is no certainly no way Trump can laud himself as a hero or a peacemaker, no matter how much he may try and do so.
