By Alasdair Black
President Trump’s pivot from advocating a ceasefire to endorsing the surrender of Ukrainian territory marks a dangerous shift. By rewarding Russia’s aggression, this move erodes the principles of sovereignty and self-determination – the bedrock of the international order. If these foundations crumble, we risk sliding back into a world where might makes right, where superpowers act with impunity, unchecked by rules or reason.
History warns us of the consequences. Unrestrained power breeds conflict, as it has throughout human civilisation. From empires to tyrants, the jealous pursuit of dominance overcomes all obstacles, seeking ever more control. As Lord Acton famously warned, power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Without a rules-based global system, clashes become inevitable, leading to catastrophic wars that tear apart the fabric of humanity.
Lawless nations, like lawless societies, sow mistrust and disrupt cooperation. Rewarding aggressors in Ukraine today threatens not just one nation but the entire global community. It signals to every would-be conqueror that force will be met with concessions, not consequences.
We stand at a crossroads. To preserve peace and neighbourly coexistence, the world must uphold the principles that bind us. Appeasing aggression invites chaos; only a commitment to sovereignty and accountability can safeguard the family of nations.
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Is this the raving Scottish pastor, saturated in superstition and retaining putrefied, archaic and entirely irrelevant attitudes? Problems to be solved by negotiation, diplomacy, skill, experience, subtlety, care and patience are difficult. Spitting and grimacing in fixated onesidedness are of no use, which is why this problem continues…
For Trump, all that matters is the deal. He is not working on any principle, only this image of himself as the deal maker. He got Putin to meet him at the place he chose, he delivered the image of himself as in charge. It does not matter to him what the actual outcome is so long as he perceives himself as having gained kudos.
Both Putin and Netanyahu have been welcomed onto American soil by Trump in recent times – both men are the subject of arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court.
If you really want to be given a Nobel Peace Prize, Donald, you should have handed over these criminals to the ICC for trial in the Hague.
Come on Terry, no one takes any notice of the UN or it’s off suites, Israel has ignored them for years.
The simple fact is both these conflicts would not exist, but for the support of America.,
jonangel is correct.
It has to be understood that all the wailing and gnashing of teeth that we are seeing from the mainstream media over the Alaska meeting is down to one thing — the media lied about Ukraine from the start and are now dealing with the reality that they debased themselves in the service of a lost cause — the Western powers no longer rule unchallenged.
Of course, there’s some secondary realities that go with this.
The clever little adventure in Ukraine has back-fired.
Russia did not fold as expected.
Russia is in control of the Ukraine theatre.
Russia will determine the future of Ukraine.
The security framework for Europe that Russia begged for in order to avoid war, will come to pass in much the way that Russia wanted from the start.
The Russians won’t get everything they asked for in 2021, but this raises another issue that all the MSM will refuse to confront.
What was the purpose of it all?
Why did Europe convince Ukraine to continue fighting when a few days after the invasion they were ready to make peace?
The Russians had offered terms that were mutually agreeable.
The US and Europe sacrificed Ukraine to satisfy a petty, egotistical perception of Western exceptionalism and Russian impotence that has achieved nothing but suffering and death to Ukraine.
When peace finally comes it will be pretty much in line with the peace the West rejected.
Anyone who is not disgusted by that needs to think again.
And despite all the criticism of Trump prior to the meeting, all of it perfectly valid, it will never be admitted by the Western wailers that in Alaska he possibly saved the world from a nuclear war.
Because the yapping poodles in Europe were, and probably still are, determined to blow the Ukraine conflict into an all-or-nothing war.
This is not over.
Today’s meeting in Washington might give us an idea about our collective future.
Or whether we have one at all.
To quote from above: “… By rewarding Russia’s aggression, this move erodes the principles of sovereignty and self-determination – the bedrock of the international order…” No mention of the fact that USA perverted the course of justice in 2014: Victoria Nuland incited a rebellion in Ukraine that produced an anti-Russian, pro-USA puppet. USA then encouraged NATO to accept Ukraine and Georgia as new NATO members when Putin had said all along that Russia would not tolerate another militarized NATO member on its’ borders. As to the “principles of sovereignty and self-determination” USA has since 1945 interfered with the governance of so many small sovereign nations and rendered regime change in favour of militarised hegemony. So much for the “bedrock of international order”. On reflection, the above essay does have an element of satire about it.
The ‘strategic geniuses’ with Putin’s three day special operation and Trump’s ability to stop Russia with a phone call….
Both are joined at the hip with Netanyahu who used both Putin and Trump in his 2018 (?) electoral campaign.
They all find it easier to throw victims, of their making, under a bus; their supporters share narcissistic lack of empathy and servitude to power.
I find it amazing that the pro Putin brigade tries to criticise Trump, while parroting a narrative that is entirely consistent with Trump’s.
A remarkable contortionist
And… Putin had said all along that Russia would not tolerate another militarized NATO member on its’ borders
I’m not sure of the meaning of “said all along’ in this context.
We have already established that Putin has previously said- Ukraine joining NATO was a matter for Ukraine and NATO.
Putin has completely changed his position but this is routinely overlooked
But certainly his current position isn’t the one he has held “all along”
Trompon everyone, is unique, so invoking history is futile.
I will bet, the trump, europe and zelensky meeting will get trump the NPP.