Putin Needs A Red Pill
Paul Craig Roberts
Rasheed and I discuss on The Red Pill Diaries Russian President Putin’s inability or unwillingness to recognize that he is at war and that the war has widened far beyond the Donbas battlefield to deep within Russia. https://www.youtube.com/live/jmUgzYrALYo
Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s Kremlin spokesman, recently announced that the Kremlin’s policy regarding the conflict with Ukraine is that a political and diplomatic settlement of the situation in Ukraine, and not a military victory, remains preferable for Russia: “It remains preferable for us to resolve this conflict through political and diplomatic means,” Peskov told reporters. https://sputnikglobe.com/20260707/political-settlement-of-ukraine-conflict-remains-preferable-for-russia—kremlin-1124409157.html
Peskov went on to say: “You know that we maintain contacts through working channels with the Americans. And we hope that their efforts to bring the whole situation to a peaceful path of development will be successful.”
In other words, Putin trusts US President Trump’s good will to prevent the Europeans from enabling Ukraine’s continuation of the war and Latvia and Finland’s hosting of nuclear missile bases. Putin thinks that now that the Russian military is on the verge of clearing Donbas of Ukrainian soldiers, Trump will force Zelensky and Europe to “accept the facts on the ground.”
John Helmer reports that Putin told Trump in a July 4 telephone call that “the European party of war proceeds from a false perception of the overall situation and developments on the frontline.” https://johnhelmer.net/if-trump-signs-the-nato-statement-to-escalate-the-war-against-russia-putin-must-demilitarize-ukraine-to-the-polish-border-fire-dmitriev-and-nabiullina/
Clearly, Putin hasn’t a clue. The frontline is no longer some village in Donbas. The front line has moved deeply into Russia, and now Ukraine with US and NATO intelligence information attacks at will Russian civilians, oil refineries, energy storage depots, Moscow, disrupts airline travel, and imposes gasoline rationing. Donbas is no longer where the fighting is taking place. Putin refuses to admit that these attacks on the Russian homeland are acts of war. He dismisses them as “terrorists attacks.” Reality is simply too much for Putin. Indeed, few leaders have ever been capable of recognizing the reality with which they are confronted.
As for Putin’s naive trust in Trump, how does Putin reconcile his trust with Trump’s signing of this statement at the recent G-7 meeting:
“We, the Leaders of the G7, stand united in our unwavering support for Ukraine in defending its freedom, sovereignty, and territorial integrity… To support and accelerate this new momentum, we agree to increase the delivery of air defense capacities, additional systems and interceptors, and long-range capabilities. We are also ready to consider extending to Ukraine the benefit of licenses to allow for an increase in Ukraine’s military production… We commit to increase the pressure on the Russian war economy. In this context, we will strengthen our sanctions, including those on the oil and gas sectors. We consider this the right moment to proceed with additional measures.”
What does Peskov say about this declaration of war against Russia?
The delusional Peskov says that Steven Witkoff and Jarad Kushner, Trump’s principal negotiators even though they hold no government office, “are busy right now. Once they have more time to spare, they will always be welcome in Moscow.” Peskov could have added, “in order to feed Putin’s delusions.”
For years since the American Neoconservative overthrow of the Russian-friendly Ukrainian government was accomplished, I have said that Putin’s nonresponse to a clear threat is leading to nuclear war. Sooner or later Pusillanimous Putin’s evasion of reality will back Russia to the wall, and the only remaining option will be nuclear weapons.