Russia Russia No More

Donald Trump nudged both Zelenskyy and Putin closer to actual negotiations this week, with Putin saying he was ready for a US-brokered ceasefire — with conditions.

Putin was worried that a 30-day ceasefire would allow Ukraine to rearm and wanted guarantees that wouldn’t happen. He also insisted that the ceasefire resolve the “root causes” of the conflict.

For Russia, that means it keeps Crimea (which, in fairness, has stronger ties to Russia than to Ukraine) as well as most of eastern Ukraine that it currently occupies.

That amounts to putting the final status talks before the ceasefire talks. And while Trump said he was hearing “good signals” from Moscow, somehow I don’t think that’s going to happen.

The left-wing media both here and in Europe was quick to scream “Russia-Russia!” and trot out its old baseless claims that somehow Trump is in Putin’s pocket — a pathetically absurd notion. As I mentioned last week, I believe Trump is playing the long game, and the long game is a return to normal relations with Russia.

Trump wants to dramatically dial down the risk of miscalculation and war, and end Russian aggression. That is his ultimate goal.

There is a word for these policies, one I haven’t heard for some time: realpolitik. It was Henry Kissinger’s favorite term, and it served us well for much of the Cold War.

Nobody loved the Soviets — or even liked them, for that matter. But we talked to them. Oh, sure, there were plenty who called Henry the K an “appeaser” back then, just as they are calling Trump one today. But talking to your adversary doesn’t make you an appeaser: giving way repeatedly to their bullying, does. Trump’s “peace through strength” defense posture has no tolerance for bullies.

On Friday, the Chinese government hosted Russian and Iranian diplomats to talk about potential negotiations over Iran’s nuclear weapons programs. This was another Trump initiative. If we can’t talk to Iran — because the Iranian regime refuses to talk to us — then why not let the Russians do so?

I am not naive enough to believe these talks will succeed, but they have the merit of taking place. I just wonder whether the Russians and the Chinese – who helped build Iran’s nuclear weapons infrastructure in the 1990s — still adhere to the old non-proliferation norms? Those norms, codified in the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of nuclear weapons, bound the nuclear weapons states to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons technology to non-nuclear states like Iran.

Do Russia and China today think that a nuclear-armed Iran is a danger to their countries? Or do they see it as a potential ally, creating uncertainty for the nuclear calculus of their main adversary, us?

I believe it’s an open question.

We also had reports this week of sectarian killings in Syria, mostly aimed at Alawite supporters of the former regime but also at Christians. Syria’s interim president Ahmad al-Sharaa promised to form an “independent investigative committee” and hold those responsible accountable. We’ll see.

But he also announced this week in a joint appearance with the commander of the mainly Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces in the north that the Kurds would be integrating into the Syrian national government as full partners, a deal brokered by Sec/State Marco Rubio. If that really happens, it would be a huge step toward a democratic Syrian state.

I can’t help but compare the violence in Syria today to what we saw in Iraq after the liberation from Saddam Hussein. Sure, it’s still early, but you see no mass car bombings, no insurrection — and no US-led government imposed on the people.

Marco Rubio’s actions in Syria this week and the President’s negotiations with Putin are a clear demonstration of what an American First foreign policy looks like.

Where we can, we help to stop the killing; we spread peace, not war. And it starts by not waging foreign wars or occupying foreign lands.

I discuss all these topics, as well as the China-Russia-Iran axis, in this week’s edition of Prophecy Today Weekend. As always, you can listen live at 1 PM on Saturday on 104.9 FM or 550 AM in the Jacksonville area, or by using the Jacksonville Way Radio app. Later on, you can listen to the podcast here.

Yours in freedom.

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©2025 Kenneth R. Timmerman. All rights reserved.

Ken Timmerman’s 14th book of non-fiction, THE IRAN HOUSE: Tales of Revolution, Persecution, War, and Intrigue, can be ordered by clicking here or by viewing my author’s page, here. 

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