Member Info for DShox

Thank you. Good stuff. I'll need to test drive at some point. There's the premium badge appeal on the German cars but if the technical gap closes, there's a point at which that becomes hard to justify at the counter.

Any Polestar or BYD drivers able to comment on how they compare to the German line up?

So Trump has a framed picture of him and Putin at the Alaska Summit in the West Wing. Clearly mutual respect between the two Presidents. Interesting of Trump's team to tweet this now.

And now Zelensky takes to X to create a fantasy narrative its Russia thats just run out of money and been forced into concessions. This is projection, typical Zelensky, and a good sign for a peace on the horizon:

"We already see Russia’s colossal new problems with the federal budget, inflation, and economic indicators. These are all good and right signals that peace can, at last, be achieved. The more difficult it is for Russia, the closer peace becomes."

He's sounding confident. And why shouldn't he. He's finally put Zelensky under the required pressure to make concessions on Donbass that will lead to a cessation of fighting across the entire contact line, allow the Security Guarantee document to be signed and in turn the $800bn Reconstruction document. It's the latter that allows Zelensky to assure those in Kiev the money will soon start to flow again. He has but one option. His attempt at telling the US to first ratify the documents in Congress and the Senate are unlikely to win any friends.

To me, the trade is US/Russia on one side, a desperate coke addled clown on the other. My money's on the former.

US official warns the offer of security guarantees will not be there indefinitely. Unbelievably Zelensky's trying to issue demands to the US to ratify the deals in Congress and Senate first. A man digging himself deeper every second.

Anchorage Formula - the main sticking point is the territorial situation. The Russians refer to the Anchorage Formula agreed in Alaska. Of course The FT then ran a misinformation piece claiming Alaska went badly, Trump got angry after Putin started talking about history etc - usual claptrap - but that aside, a understand the Russians agreed to a ceasefire if the Kiev regime left Donbass i.e. an end to the fighting in Kherson and Zaporizhia. Trump and BlackRock's Fink stated the $800bn reconstruction plan cannot be signed until the fighting ends. This document Zelensky wanted signing in Davos so he could return to Kiev assuring everyone the money would soon start to flow again. Trump is in no rush and knows he has the cards.

Trilaterals are good, and they'll run for some months. Peskov notes the US "is in a hurry," and that was evident in the US desire to hold meetings with Putin until 330am in order to kick off Abu Dhabi that same day.

Dont forget there's bilateral meetings between the US and Russia solely focused on economic deals. I'd like to hear if EUA has taken steps to elevate its projects on the list being discussed between the two sides and if thats where CS is getting his confidence from that there's progress in the Arctic.

We had the first real negotiation and semi permanent process start last weekend after 2025 was "wasted" on performative diplomacy. The format now and the figures involved, including the US, show seriousness and respond to Putin's request to upgrade the negotiating teams in Istanbul and setup working groups. The presence of the US also obliges the Ukrainians to attend, preventing a repeat of last year. A new Pentagon National Security document released 3 days ago again calls for a US wind down in Ukraine and calls Russia a 'persistent but manageable threat' that Europe should manage, with US focus on homeland security and China. You will note not one European leader bemoaning the talks in Abu Dhabi or the fact they're left out. None of this "bone crushing" Lindsey Graham 500% sanctions talk either. The presence again of Driscoll, US Army Chief and apparently school buddy of JD Vance from the US also a good sign. Expect the likes of Witkoff and Kushner to fade from the trilateral security meetings but continue in the bilateral economic sessions. As per Witkoff, there's months of talks and drafting ahead, but the process is underway with hopefully some good milestones in between.

A small detail in the so-called Board of Peace. Putin agreed to contribute the $1bn entry fee from the assets frozen in the US. Trump agreed. What this means is obvious - the US must first unfreeze those Russian assets. It also admits those funds are Russian, building the legal case against the Europeans.

What happened this weekend marks the start of the first of a new semi-permanent continuous negotiation between the conflict parties, involving top military intelligence officials and the US army chief, in order to de-escalate and reach a settlement. The US dismissed the European troop deployment plan (coalition of the willing) as weak and pointless, as have the Ukrainians. The only viable security guarantee is that from the US. There's no more "Kellogg plan" either. As what happened in Vietnam and Afghanistan, US may increasingly negotiate over the head of its proxy and maintain its own timetable to exit its commitment.

There's two working groups in Abu Dhabi. A trilateral group involving Ukrainians and a separate Bilateral between US-Russia only, that'll involve Witkoff, Dmitriev and new addition Josh Greenbaum, Economic Advisor to White House. Here's an extract from Putin's Advisor Yuri Ushakov following talks yesterday that ended this morning in the Kremlin:

"I want to stress as well: future Russia–US relations were discussed in a constructive spirit. The assumption on both sides is that there’s huge potential for cooperation across many areas. The Americans are already thinking about projects that could be launched once the Ukraine settlement is reached. They also put major effort into preparing today’s trilateral security format, and they hope the Abu Dhabi meeting will go well. And will open a path toward progress on the entire package of issues tied to ending the conflict and achieving a negotiated peace. To sum it up: the Kremlin meeting that just ended was useful in every sense, for both Russia and the US. And both sides agreed to stay in close contact going forward. Not only on Ukraine, but on other issues as well."

You might then say well why bother put my head in a vice Mr DShox. "Please don't do it sir!," similar to what Zelensky is probably saying. Well the benefit to me is that is looks like it was all your idea, so when I take the paperwork back home, my critics and opponents are silenced. To me, this is fine because thats the point of having a proxy.

Lorenzo, if I put your head in a vice and start turning it, I can make you say and sign all sort of things you don't want to. If you don't, you'll be gone another way, with nothing at all. Its very simple. A bit like when Zelensky refused to send a negotiating team to Istanbul last year until Trump ordered him to, or entertain even a ceasefire. Or more recently when Zelensky said he wasn't going to Davos unless there were documents to sign, and then Trump ordered him to get on a plane. He jumps to and does whatever Trump tells him, for obvious reasons. He's not a sovereign leader of a functioning state.

4 trades on AIX - a record :) either laugh or cry but probably true!

Thats the curse of Elensky lifting.

The Europeans can only give Zelensky money, or thats what they've been trying to desperately do. With money he can pay his inner circle and maintain power, as well as civil servant salaries, pensions, and maintain the myth of a functioning economy. But Britain and the EU can't replace the US even here. Their plan was to "buy time," string along Trump and hope the next US President was more like them. An interesting post by a detained political opponent of Zelensky states NABU is essentially a CIA (he refers to Soros) vehicle taking out Zelensky's bribery team, increasing the pressure on Zelensky to make concessions. He reasons that if Zelensky doesn't go now, the guys being arrested will sell Ukraine to Washington for next to nothing.

The start of that format is the result of the diplomacy we've seen so far. X pt peace plans are frameworks and signals of intent, but detailed, sustained negotiations and arrival at document(s) capable of being signed that set out terms require months of continuous negotiations between skilled negotiators. The Russians proposed three working groups to meet with the Ukrainians in May last year, in continuation of the Istanbul talks but the Kiev regime failed to respond. Corporate media span the misinformation stories as usual. So now there's cause for optimism the grown-ups have reached this point and have entered a new track.

Zelensky got removed from the Davos stage earlier than he expected, questioning the audiences interest. The interviewer said 'its time for you to return to Kiev' and that he was being signalled from behind Z to wrap-up. He then offered him 15 minutes 'but no more.' Yesterday's useful idiot now watching yet another of his former deputies arrested and charged by NABU in the last 24 hours.