Trump falling for Putin ploy on Ukranian elections

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

By Lena Surzhko / For The Conversation

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky was shut out of the discussions concerning the future of his country, which took place in Saudi Arabia on Feb. 18. In fact, there were no Ukrainian representatives, nor any European Union ones; just U.S. and Russian delegations, and their Saudi hosts.

The meeting — which followed a mutually complimentary phone call between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin just days earlier — was gleefully celebrated in Moscow. The absence of Ukraine in deciding its own future is very much in line with Putin’s policy toward its neighbor. Putin has long rejected Ukrainian statehood and the legitimacy of the Ukrainian government, or as he calls it the “Kyiv regime.”

While the U.S. delegation did reiterate that future discussions would have to involve Ukraine at some stage, the Trump administration’s actions and words have no doubt undermined Kyiv’s position and influence.

To that end, the U.S. is increasingly falling in line with Moscow on a key plank of the Kremlin’s plan to delegitimize Zelensky and the Ukrainian government: calling for elections in Ukraine as part of any peace deal.

https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/comment-trump-falling-for-putin-ploy-on-ukranian-elections/

[Irish_Dem]

1. Putin must get rid of Zelensky by any means possible.

Will try a couple of gambits to do so.

[RockRaven]

2. TCF and Co aren't "falling for" anything. They are co-conspirators with Putin.

This soft language about what they are doing fails to acknowledge their full culpability.