At the conclusion of a G7 summit in Quebec, Canada, Secretary of State Marco Rubio talks about the geopolitical realities of coming to a place where a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia is possible.
This is a very solid outline from Marco Rubio who appears to have found his ideal career position as U.S. Secretary of State. Rubio simply shines in this role. This is a 20-minute press conference where Rubio weaves through the narrative engineering, and puts the bigger picture of national security, economic security, and pragmatic U.S. foreign policy into a very well-presented package.
As the Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick interview yesterday was a ‘must watch’ segment, so too is this press conference by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. WATCH:
Why isn’t Volodymyr Zelenskyy the one asking for mercy? That’s the larger, unspoken message from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Speaking directly to President Donald Trump’s request for Russia to spare the lives of Ukrainian soldiers surrounded in the Kursk region, President Vladimir Putin says they will be spared if they lay down their arms and surrender.
Notice how Putin draws a distinction between President Trump and President Zelenskyy.
Putin says, “we are sympathetic to President Trump’s call to be guided by humanitarian considerations,” and then Putin shifts the emphasis on the absence of this plea from bloodthirsty Zelenskyy. “There must be an appropriate order from the military and political leadership of Ukraine to its troops to lay down their arms and surrender,” Putin said.
“We have read today’s appeal from President Trump to spare the lives of servicemen of the Ukrainian Army in the Kursk region. In this regard, please note that Ukrainian militants have committed numerous crimes against civilians. These acts, as I have already stated, are classified by us as terrorism. At the same time, we are sympathetic to President Trump’s call to be guided by humanitarian considerations regarding these servicemen. In this regard, I emphasize that if they lay down their arms and surrender, they will be guaranteed life and dignified treatment. To effectively implement President Trump’s call, there must be an appropriate order from the military and political leadership of Ukraine to its troops to lay down their arms and surrender.” ~ President Putin
After a daring maneuver, the Russian military have completely surrounded Ukraine forces in the Kursk region. The Ukraine soldiers seemingly have been instructed to continue trying to fight on behalf of Zelenskyy.
President Trump is asking Russian President Vladimir Putin to spare the lives of the Ukraine troops.
PRESIDENT TRUMP – “Crooked Joe Biden got us into a real “mess” with Russia (and EVERYTHING ELSE!), but I’m going to get us out. Millions of people are needlessly dead, never to be seen again…and there will be many more to follow if we don’t get the Cease Fire and Final Agreement with Russia completed and signed. There would have been NO WAR if I were President. It just, 100%, would not have happened.”
Just as Trump envoy Steve Witkoff departed Vnukovo airport, near Moscow, a series of inbound drone strikes from Ukraine (EU/NATO/UK) hit the area. The airport was closed immediately following Witkoff departure.
This timed and targeted drone strike is yet another example of Ukraine/NATO/EU/UK provoking and antagonizing Russia as President Trump tries to assemble the outlines of a ceasefire. This is the 3rd coordinated attack on Russia timed to coincide with President Trump’s team meeting with Russian and/or Ukranian officials.
Fortunately, Steve Witkoff was already exiting the airspace as inbound drones began hitting their targets.
The inbound drones in combination with the outbound Witkoff flight likely complicated the use of Russian air defenses. The NATO team within Ukraine are playing with fire.
CTH ignores the western media reporting as we await President Trump and Steve Witkoff’s statements on the meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Obviously, the U.S. team must be noticing the timing of the NATO attacks as they relate to the ongoing effort toward peace.
(VIA MSM) – Ukraine staged major drone strikes on Russian capital Moscow soon after accusing Vladimir Putin of seeking to thwart Donald Trump’s ceasefire demand.
A major oil refinery was also hit in a strike, triggering ten explosions followed by a massive inferno – just 55 miles from Putin’s £1 billion clifftop palace on the Black Sea.
Vnukovo airport – used by Trump envoy Steve Witkoff to leave Moscow after meeting Putin and his top officials – was closed.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that he agrees in principle with a U.S. proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine, but the terms need to be worked out, and he emphasized that it should pave the way to lasting peace.
The “root causes” of the conflict need to be discussed in advance of a cessation of hostilities in order for Russia to evaluate terms of a ceasefire, and who would ultimately be in charge of ensuring peace along a 2,000km point of confliction.
President Putin notes a discussion between himself, and President Trump is needed in order for both principals in control of the conflict to understand the terms of any agreement. Keep in mind, this press conference happens as President Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff prepares to enter a discussion with President Putin.
Beyond the Kursk operation where Putin has encircled the remaining Ukraine ground troops, an issue of importance to Russia, it appears that President Putin might be looking for President Trump to be the ‘peace enforcer.’
There’s going to be a lot more that comes very soon; however, it is prudent to be very careful when looking at western media on the issue of Russia’s response.
Putin will never trust the word of the EU, NATO, Ukraine control agents or Volodymyr Zelenskyy. There is only one person to whom President Putin is willing to give a modicum of respect and trust, that’s U.S President Donald Trump. It is an amazing dynamic.
There are multiple media reports outlining ‘terms’ that Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced in order to establish the framework for a ceasefire. Every single one of those ‘western media reports‘ are fake news. Putin has not made any statement of terms or conditions for a ceasefire.
What the media are doing is extrapolating on the prior terms Putin announced when he was trying to avoid war with Ukraine. Those terms included: (1) No NATO membership for Ukraine, (2) no western boots-on-ground peacekeepers (IC ops), (3) Ukraine is denazified/demilitarised and (4) the 4 Donbass regions are accepted by Ukraine/NATO as Russian territory. Again, these were the previous pre-war terms.
President Putin visited the Kursk region where fighting was previously intense as Ukraine mounted a counteroffensive last year, and Russia has just completed retaking most of the area. During his visit Russian President Putin made the following statement. [Source Kremlin]
“In this regard, I would like to, as you have already noted Some units that have shown themselves in the best way, I hear almost and you have named some of them every day, lately both in the morning and in the evening, I still want to name those that I have heard of.
We should keep in mind; a potential ceasefire carries with it a potential benefit for Russia in that a cessation of hostilities provides the opportunity for Ukraine to hold elections. There is a strong sense that current Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy would not win if elections were held in the embattled country.
During his trip to Ireland, Secretary Rubio took multiple questions about the framework of the ‘ceasefire’ terms that Ukraine has outlined. From the Trump/Rubio perspective, the goal is to stop the killing. It is likely that Steve Witkoff will travel to Russia with a broad outline of the discussions so far. From that point another conversation between President Trump and President Putin is likely.
Secretary Rubio stays focused on the primary objective, to get both sides to agree to come to the table, with an interim goal to talk about the conditions for a 30-day ceasefire. WATCH:
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz brief the media on an agreement with the Ukraine delegation for a ceasefire in the Ukraine-Russia conflict.
During their remarks both Secretary Rubio and Advisor Waltz reference a joint statement [SEE HERE] by both delegations. The statement outlines the proposed terms for a 30-day ceasefire that will now be discussed by President Trump’s team with the Russian delegation and President Vladimir Putin.
Here’s the video of the Rubio/Waltz media availability and below I will post the joint statement for discussion. United States and Ukraine are calling for a 30-day ceasefire, subject to the acceptance of Russia. Secretary Marco Rubio also announced that the US would resume intelligence sharing with Ukraine “immediately.”
[BEGIN STATEMENT] – “Today in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia — under the gracious hospitality of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — the United States and Ukraine took important steps toward restoring durable peace for Ukraine.
Representatives of both nations praised the bravery of the Ukrainian people in defense of their nation and agreed that now is the time to begin a process toward lasting peace.
The Ukrainian delegation reiterated the Ukrainian people’s strong gratitude to President Trump, the U.S. Congress, and the people of the United States for making possible meaningful progress toward peace.
Ukraine expressed readiness to accept the U.S. proposal to enact an immediate, interim 30-day ceasefire, which can be extended by mutual agreement of the parties, and which is subject to acceptance and concurrent implementation by the Russian Federation. The United States will communicate to Russia that Russian reciprocity is the key to achieving peace.
The United States will immediately lift the pause on intelligence sharing and resume security assistance to Ukraine.
Retired Col Douglas Macgregor sits down with Tucker Carlson for an extended conversation about current geopolitical events including, Ukraine, Russia, Israel, China and Mexican drug cartels.
Chapters:
0:00 The Ukrainian Drone Strike in Moscow
6:54 Why Is Ukraine Dragging Out This War?
13:11 Benjamin Netanyahu Wants War With Iran
17:27 Ukraine’s Black Market Arms Dealing
20:10 Why We Should Be More Worried About Mexico Than Russia or Iran
22:05 The Mexican Drug Cartel’s Javelin Missiles Systems
23:11 How Many Have Died in the Ukraine/Russia War?
27:59 Reacting to the Russian/Ukraine Proposed Ceasefire Deal
37:45 Can Europe Be Saved?
40:09 American Politicians on Cartel Payroll
50:43 Macgregor’s Advice to Trump
54:11 Should the US Strike a Mineral Deal With Ukraine?
1:03:19 The Future of Germany
The information from Secretary of State Marco Rubio looks good. During his flight to Saudi Arabia, Secretary Rubio answered a few questions about the U.S. delegation expectations of the meeting with Ukraine officials.
Rubio notes the aforementioned “minerals deal” is not an important part of the larger objective. Secretary Rubio says that finding out if Ukraine’s desire for peace with Russia is true, in good faith or not, is the key objective. A pragmatic Rubio also notes that Ukraine is likely going to have to give up lost territory to achieve peace.
FOX NEWS – […] “”The minerals deal is on the table that’s continuing to be worked on – it’s not part of this conversation, per se,” he said, noting that Tuesday’s meeting in Jeddah can be considered successful even without securing such an agreement.
[…] “The important point in this meeting is to establish clearly their intentions, their desire, as they’ve said publicly now, numerous times, to reach a point where peace is possible,” Rubio said, adding that he will need to be assured that Kyiv is prepared to make some hard decisions, like giving up territory seized by Russia, in order to end the three-year war.
