Putin Ready To Meet 'Smart, Pragmatic' Trump To 'Talk Calmly' On Oil, Energy, Ukraine
Putin Ready To Meet 'Smart, Pragmatic' Trump To 'Talk Calmly' On Oil, Energy, Ukraine
https://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/putin-ready-to-meet-sm...
BY TYLER DURDEN
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"It will likely be better for us to meet, and based on today’s realities, speak calmly about areas that are of interest for both the US and Russia," Putin said in televised comments. "We are ready, but this depends above all on the decision and choice of the current US administration."
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The Russian leader further acknowledged that Trump is a "pragmatic" and "smart" leader. This rare moment of praise at a time US-Russia relations are at a historical low point in modern history came despite Trump's threats of new sanctions and tariffs unless Moscow quickly ends the nearly three-year long Ukraine war.
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"I’ve always had a businesslike, pragmatic and even trusting relationship with the current president," Putin said in the state broadcast.
And most interestingly, he continued: "And I agree that if his victory hadn’t been stolen in 2020, the crisis in Ukraine might not have emerged in 2022."
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These words will be proverbial music to Trump's ears, which demonstrates that Putin is truly seeking for the much-anticipated meeting to happen quickly. Soon after Monday's inauguration Trump told reporters he expects to meet Putin "soon".
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Putin in these latest comments painted a theme of the US shooting itself in the foot with the sanctions, which would grow worse if more extreme measures are taken by Washington against Moscow.
It had "hurt US interests, undermining the dollar’s role in global financial system," Putin described as cited in the AP.
"I have a hard time imagining decisions being made that would damage the American economy," Putin added of potentially extreme fluctuations in oil prices due to America's sanctions policy and efforts to isolate Moscow.
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Putin was indirectly addressing some provocative words of Trump given at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday evening, wherein he laid out that OPEC should to push down global oil prices in order to hurt vital stream of revenue for the Kremlin and its military machine. "Right now the price is high enough that that war will continue," Trump had said. According to more:
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Oil and gas revenues have been Russia’s most important source of cash, accounting for a third to a half of federal budget proceeds over the past decade.
On Friday, Putin downplayed Trump’s economic threats, saying "excessively" low oil prices were bad for both the US and Russia.
As for the practical reality of what it will take to eventually get Putin and Zelensky at the same table, or their representatives directly engaged, the Russian leader explained the following:
Putin emphasized Friday that he’s open to talks but pointed to Zelenskyy’s 2022 decision to rule out negotiations with Moscow.
"How is it possible to conduct talks if they are banned?" Putin said. "If the talks start in the existing legal framework, they would be illegitimate and the results of those talks could also be declared illegitimate."
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But Zelensky has only within recent days begun to shift his rhetoric a little on this, which is no doubt the result of Trump entering office in expectation of a pressure campaign for peace.
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There are reports saying that Zelensky fumed with anger at not being invited or in attendance from Trump's Monday inauguration and all the ceremonies and celebrations that go along with it.
Certainly Zelensky won't be happy if Trump in reaction to Putin's fresh remarks heaps praise on the Russian leader or say any level of positive things.
One thing is for sure - Zelensky has lost his rock start status with a new US administration in town, and the global spotlight is now on Trump-Putin.
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1) Trump is telling Putin to settle now. It will only get worse.
Trump says, if Putin is not settling, there will be more taxes, tariffs and sanctions on Russia and its aligned countries.
2) Trump and Rutte are urging NATO countries to increase military spending up to 5% of GDP by 2030, which means in a few years NATO would be much stronger.
That will be worse for Russia, especially with less revenue from oil exports.
3) Saudi Arabia's application to become a member of BRICS has been accepted by BRICS, but Saudi Arabia has taken no action yet.
The King of Saudi Arabia, who almost never travels abroad, visited Trump and offered to invest $600 billion in the US in 4 years.
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Every day Ukraine fights, it loses at least 1600 dead and seriously wounded (including. Kursk), and NATO has more time to become stronger.
NATO would like an immediate cease fire to stop the disastrous manpower losses of Ukraine, NATO’s proxy
NATO wants to insert 100,000 troops (mainly German, French, UK) on the line of contact, about 800 miles closer to Moscow, after a cease fire.
That would formally enter NATO into Ukraine, a Deep State goal, which is a non-starter for Russia.
Other Deep State's goals are political control of Greenland and making Canada the 51st US state, both of which would give the US a long shoreline on the resource-rich Arctic Sea to counter Russia's long shore line
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If Putin, with the prospect of a financially strapped Russia, were to “settle the Ukraine War”, what guaranty/leverage would Russia have that a stronger NATO, urged on by the Deep State, would not want to “unsettle things”, such as in east Ukraine, or in the Arctic, with a more militarized Canada, Greenland, Norway, Sweden and Finland, or create Color Revolution/Regime Change, as almost happened in Russia in 2000, as almost happened in Belarus in 2020 and Kazakhstan in 2022 and Georgia in 2024, and as may happen in Serbia, Slovakia and Hungary.
All this could get very dicey!
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The Kellogg Plan for $45/barrel is Totally Naive
Retired General Kellogg, an advisor to Trump, wants to increase world oil production to drive down oil prices from $80/barrel to $45/barrel to force Putin to negotiate.
OPEC members would not agree, because they would have a huge hit to revenues.
Saudi Arabia needs $60/barrel to cover on-going expenses. It could temporarily reduce production by, say 3 million bpd to achieve $45/barrel, but it would not do it, because it would destroy OPEC.
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An Alternative for Trump
Trump may become ensnared into a Deep State trap.
Trump could not do big tax cuts, expensively do MAGA, and waste more money on Deep State goals.
The better approach would be for Trump to withdraw almost all US troops from Europe, reduce the US role in NATO, let the Europeans defend themselves, as they see fit.
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Trump should focus on MAGA, and advancing worldwide peace and prosperity, instead of increasing worldwide instability and war-mongering, which would has been the preferred approach of the US Deep State since 1945.
Eisenhower warned against the dominance of the military-industrial complex in 1960.
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Trump Cuts Ukraine Aid As State Department "Totally Went Nuclear" On Foreign Assistance.
The Trump State Department on Friday halted spending on almost all foreign aid grants for 90 days, which also appears to apply to funding for military assistance to Ukraine
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The guidance, issued by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, was sent to all diplomatic and consular posts, and orders all department staffers to issue "stop-work orders" on nearly all "existing foreign assistance awards.
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It appears to go further than President Donald Trump’s recent executive order, which instructed the department to pause foreign aid grants for 90 days pending review by the secretary. It had not been clear from the president’s order if it would affect already appropriated funds or Ukraine aid.
The new guidance means no further actions will be taken to disperse aid funding to programs already approved by the U.S. government, according to three current and two former officials familiar with the new guidance. -Politico
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Rubio also outlined the Trump administration's stance on spending, saying “Every dollar we spend, every program we fund, and every policy we pursue must be justified with the answer to three simple questions,” Rubio wrote. The questions: Does the action make America safer, stronger, and more prosperous?
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The new order reportedly shocked State Department officials.
"State just totally went nuclear on foreign assistance," a State Department official told Politico.
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Rubio was confirmed unanimously by the Senate the day before and is the first of Trump’s Cabinet nominees on the job.
Previously, he was a senior senator from Florida, and he served on the Foreign Relations Committee for more than a decade.
He developed a reputation as a China Hawk and a fierce critic of the neoliberal foreign policy consensusthat emerged after the Cold War.
Shortly after taking the oath of office, he sent a lengthy cable to every US diplomatic and consular post worldwide letting them know that the Biden administration had mistakenly emphasized "ideology over common sense," and "misread the world."
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You'll Never Guess Who Still Gets Aid...
The document specifies that Israel and Egypt will continue to receive that sweet, sweet US taxpayer money.
It also allows emergency food assistance and "legitimate expenses incurred prior to the date of this" guidance "under existing awards," and also that decisions need to be "consistent with the terms of the relevant award."
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One State Department official as well as two former Biden admin officials told Politico that the pause appears to stop aid to Ukraine, Jordan and Taiwan, while the report suggests that the guidance could open the US government to civil liability from lawsuits over unfulfilled contracts if the terms are deemed to have been violated, said the current and former officials.
That said, the note from Rubio clearly states that decision need to be "consistent with the terms of the relevant award."
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Maine Center For Public Interest Reporting – Three Part Series: A CRITICAL LOOK AT MAINE’S WIND ACT
******** IF LINKS BELOW DON'T WORK, GOOGLE THEM*********
(excerpts) From Part 1 – On Maine’s Wind Law “Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine if the law’s goals were met." . – Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, August 2010 https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/From Part 2 – On Wind and Oil Yet using wind energy doesn’t lower dependence on imported foreign oil. That’s because the majority of imported oil in Maine is used for heating and transportation. And switching our dependence from foreign oil to Maine-produced electricity isn’t likely to happen very soon, says Bartlett. “Right now, people can’t switch to electric cars and heating – if they did, we’d be in trouble.” So was one of the fundamental premises of the task force false, or at least misleading?" https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-swept-task-force-set-the-rules/From Part 3 – On Wind-Required New Transmission Lines Finally, the building of enormous, high-voltage transmission lines that the regional electricity system operator says are required to move substantial amounts of wind power to markets south of Maine was never even discussed by the task force – an omission that Mills said will come to haunt the state.“If you try to put 2,500 or 3,000 megawatts in northern or eastern Maine – oh, my god, try to build the transmission!” said Mills. “It’s not just the towers, it’s the lines – that’s when I begin to think that the goal is a little farfetched.” https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/flaws-in-bill-like-skating-with-dull-skates/
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Hannah Pingree on the Maine expedited wind law
Hannah Pingree - Director of Maine's Office of Innovation and the Future
"Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine."
https://pinetreewatch.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/
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