RE: Donald Trump pushes back Ukraine war deadline in sign of support for Kyiv10 Jan 2025 10:19
Mistake in 2015 was to allow Russia to keep Crimea. This is one of the first mistakes with tyrants( Hitler did same with Austria and Poland before war declared). Similar principle with Taiwan if the US do not show strong. Domino effect if Ukraine falls or US/Nato ( particularly US) seen as dillatory. Dictators abound. From Iran to China to NKorea. And more. Home truth:-appeasement simply does not work. It encourages more of the successful. History speaks for itself. Hitler was not happy with annexing Austria. He wanted Europe and Russia, and North Africa. This war is not just about Ukraine. Putin is a fit 70 year old. Mugabe is in his nineties. Putin does not just want Luhansk , Donbas and Crimea. Any decent historian will tell you that. Tyrants do not work via appeasement . They only recognize force, particularly Putin , who is as wily as it comes. Only when he has no alternative will he negotiate. Negotiation is alien to him. He needs an internal rebellion, assassination ( unlikely) , his close group to turn against him( as with Hitler but no sign of this), or to be worn down with another year of attrition. There are other influences of course.
Trump’s goals and biases will soon be clear, but if he bends to Putin, he is assassinating himself ( metaphor).