Transcription
We have some breaking news, and concerning breaking news at that, that I want to start Today's Show with. That is Putin's reaction to Trump's proposal, or his administration's 30-day ceasefire proposal between Ukraine and Russia. This would be a chance for military attacks to halt as negotiations take place. Now, Trump has been absurdly claiming that it's Ukraine that is withholding peace; it is Ukraine that is to blame, or is more difficult to deal with. And so I want you to keep that in mind as we go through the segment.
Actually, before getting to the big breaking news update on not just Putin's reaction but also top officials of his, here is Trump claiming what I just referenced—that, you know, as Ukraine is being illegally, offensively invaded, it is they who are preventing peace. If you appreciate the show, please do click the Subscribe button.
Um, President Putin is bombing Ukraine. Do you still believe him when he tells you that he wants peace?
Yeah, know, I, I believe him. I believe him. I think we're doing very well with Russia, uh, but right now they're bombing the hell out of Ukraine, and Ukraine, I'm, I'm finding it more difficult, frankly, to deal with Ukraine, and they don't have the cards; they don't have the cards. Um, as you know, we're meeting in Saudi Arabia on sometime, sir, Mr. President, president, this is not poker, next week early, and we're talking. I find, uh, that in terms of getting a final settlement, it may be easier dealing with Russia, which is surprising because they have all the cards. I mean, and they're bombing the hell out of him right now, and I put a statement in, a very strong statement. Can't do that. Can't do that, Mr. President. Trying to, we're trying to help them, and Ukraine has to get on the ball and get a job.
So, of course, after Trump said that—who was very quickly willing to agree to a pause in hostilities—Ukraine, obviously the ones who want peace, the ones who are fighting for peace—now, they of course want a lasting, just peace, but they're the ones who want peace, as shown by them not being the aggressor. Not the only time Trump has claimed this. One more clip, and then we'll get into the updates. And say, is that he really wants peace? Do you believe him?
Yeah, I do. I believe he wants peace. I believe that President Putin, when I spoke to him yesterday, I mean, I know him very well. Yeah, I think he wants peace. I, I think he would tell me if he didn't. I think I'd like to see peace. Do you trust President—I believe that, uh, yeah, I believe that he would like to see something happen. I trust him on this subject. Yeah, he would; he would like to see something happen. Something. As we've seen since Putin, for the last, however, like 25 years he's been in, in power, he's made clear peace is not his ultimate objective, but a lust for power. Just maybe so.
Here's the first and most recent update on now Russia's reaction to this. Putin expresses quote-unquote reservations about 30-day ceasefire proposal. Wrestling President Vladimir Putin said during his Thursday news conference that he has reservations about a 30-day ceasefire proposal in the Ukraine war, saying it's not clear how the situation would develop in the region of Kur and elsewhere if a ceasefire was implemented. Then I want to show you that after Ukraine had accepted this, Putin made a show of showing up in Kskk, where currently Russian troops are engaging in an offensive to take back this territory, and he showed up in military fatigues to show his support for, uh, the military and talk about how they're going to swiftly act militarily to take back the Ksk region. This being, in my mind, a pretty terrifying symbolic gesture towards Trump. This is not something we've seen him do in a while, and he just so happens to do it, showing up again in military fatigues and rooting on the military actions of his troops right as this is being, uh, discussed and negotiated. I mean, that comes along with escalations of attacks by Russian, uh, troops and by the Russian military as all of this has been taking place. But again, as you saw at the start, apparently, according to Trump, it is Ukraine who's so difficult to deal with. I assert again that that's absurd.
Then you have Andrew Napolitano who just spoke with one of Putin's top officials, that's Sergey Lavrov, and he said that Lavrov expressed the same skepticism. When this is over, he came over to me, and we just chatted almost like, like you and I are without, uh, the cameras on us at all, and I did say to him, uh, does President Putin have any interest in a ceasefire at this time? Now, this was a day before Secretary of State Rubio announced that Ukraine had agreed to the ceasefire. He looked at me and he said, "Why would we do that now?" Wow. Because they believe that they're within inches of consummating their goals, uh, in the war. Oh, right. And why not continue to take advantage of the stance of Trump that is so misaligned with our longstanding principles but is more aligned with Russia's than we've seen in a very long time. Then Lavrov himself, during the conversation with that guy, said this was this, uh, peacekeepers' obsession. Peacekeepers, let's stop in one month. Peacekeepers would be deployed, then we'll see, uh, what to do next. It is first, it is not, uh, what we, what we say, uh, is required for the end of this, uh, war which the West waged against us through Ukrainians with their direct participation of their military. We know this. Um, if NATO expansion is recognized, at least by Donald Trump, as one of the root causes, then the presence of the troops from NATO countries under any flag in any capacity on Ukrainian soil is the same threat; is the same threat. You won't accept it under—you see, you see what, what can be so destructive about Trump accepting the premises of Russia. Trump says, "No, I, I agree that, I mean, it makes sense. Makes sense. They invaded because they are concerned about NATO expansion." Now, it is fundamentally irrational and absurd to think that Russia gets to say what defensive military organizations a sovereign country is a part of, or what economic organizations the EU—Ukraine is a part of. That's not their say, and you don't get to demand the actions of other countries through military force. But Trump, by accepting that premise, causes Lavrov, causes Putin to go, "Well, if you accept that we were provoked by Ukraine wanting to be part of NATO, which only says an attack against one is an attack against all, meaning that the only problem you'd have with that is that that could prevent you from attacking Ukraine," and now he's saying as a part of a long-standing peace agreement that peacekeeping forces couldn't be in place. We're talking about security guarantees, so we're already seeing build, even if they agree to the ceasefire, the negotiation process is going to be so troubling because it seems that they'd require a lack of security guarantees, European troops, NATO backing to say whatever we agree to now has to stand forever; has to be indefinite. You can't just keep breaking agreements, Putin, and doing further aggression, and he's saying that is not acceptable. Also saying this is in Russian, so I'll just read the English translation: "What is important to us is not a ceasefire that will allow Ukraine to be armed once again and again directed at our country, but a long-term sustainable peace based on the elimination of the root causes of the conflict." So Ukraine doesn't get to be armed, doesn't get to be military, uh, militarily strong enough to prevent further aggression. That seems to be what is increasingly the message from Russia, which is what I keep coming back to—an unacceptable set of, uh, requirements because it wouldn't actually protect Ukraine; it wouldn't actually be peace in any meaningful way.
Trump then, more recently, got asked about Ukraine's acceptance of this deal and how he's now thinking about Russia. Will you hear this one? You said earlier that it was now up to Russia, uh, in terms of the ceasefire. Is there anything you can do in terms of pressuring Russia, in terms of sanctions, or what can you do?
We can, but I hope it's not going to be necessary. Sure, we can pressure; we can do that with Russia. Remember this, uh, Russia took Georgia from Bush, right? They took, uh, Crimea from a man named Obama, Barack Hussein Obama, right? They tried to take the whole thing from Biden. They're going for the whole ball of wax. Who is the only one that never took anything from Trump? Well, actually, they engaged in illegal military operations in eastern Ukraine throughout your presidency that prepared for a full-scale invasion. That's what they did under Trump. So there's your update. We'll be following it very closely. This is a pivotal moment in the future or for the fate of Ukraine and for the fate of American principles on the world stage. Share your thoughts in the comments.