And so, these 'attempts' to begin 'peace talks' about Putin's war in Ukraine are suddenly developing an 'urgency' of their own amongst Putin's 'siloviki'.
"Russian oligarchs and business executives have directed their anger at the country’s state away from Putin - and have instead taken a swipe at their central bank’s governor.
...
However, instead of blaming the war for the economic state, the Russians are aiming their discontent at the Russian bank governor, Elvira Nabiullina. (Express: 19 December 2024) (my emphasis)
Not to be outdone, John Varga (right) reports that, 
"Chechnya's strongman leader Ramzan Kadyrov (left) has launched a blistering attack on two of Vladimir Putin's most trusted and senior officials.
Kadyrov's outburst was directed at Alexander Bastrykin, the head of Russia's Investigative Committee, and Vladimir Kolokoltsev, the Minister of Internal Affairs.
The former is one of Putin's closest allies and the latter was directly appointed to his post by the Russian leader." (Express: 18 December 2024) (my emphasis)
And then we have Putin himself, during his rambling end-of-year marathon 'question-and answer' session from the Russian people, and from the international community, attempting to boast that,
"Despite the toll his war has taken on Russia’s finances and the lives of its young men, Putin claimed that sending troops into Ukraine in 2022 has boosted his country’s military and economic power." (Tom Watling and Namita Singh: The Independent: 20 December 2024) (my emphasis)
whilst at the same time Adam Toms (left) points out that,
"Vladimir Putin is facing a construction nightmare as stocks in Russia's biggest construction group plummet.
...
Russian news agency Interfax describes the Samolet Group as "the leader in terms of current construction volume in Russia".
At the time of writing, according to Investing.com, the firm's stocks have decreased by 78.05 percent in a year." (The Express: 19 December 2024) (my emphasis)
We should all be reminded of the currrent collapse of China's construction industry, and how it is causing the Chinese economy to teeter on the brink of implosion.
"As the dust settles on China's real estate sector, the global economy awaits the Chinese Communist Party's next move. With property once at the core of Xi Jinping’s domestic economy, fueling China’s miraculous growth into the 21st century and contributing over 18 percent to global GDP in 2023, the faltering real estate market poses a daunting challenge to global economic stability." (International Relations Review: 12 April 2024) (my emphasis)
And against the backdrop of Putin's 'marathon' Q&A session,
- Some two hundred North Korean troops fighting alongside Russia's forces against Ukraine have been killed or wounded during fighting in the Russian Kursk border region, according to a senior US military official. (Chris Samuel: Express: 18 December 2024) (my emphasis)
- Ukraine has launched a missile and drone attack on an oil refinery in the Russian city of Novoshakhtinsk, officials there have reported.
...
The fire broke out in the early hours of this morning, December 19, lighting up the night sky with a glow of burning orange, the Russian Telegram news channel Astra reported. (Lauran O'Toole: Express: 19 December 2024) (my emphasis) - Vladimir Putin is facing a fresh sanction nightmare as a new wave of economic measures hits Russia.
The EU's Council - the bloc's institution that defines its "general political direction and priorities" - announced yesterday that it had approved its fifteenth package of measures aimed at impeding Putin's capability to wage war in Ukraine. (Adam Toms: Express: 17 December 2024) (my emphasis) - The Danish government has prepared the 23rd military assistance package for Ukraine in the amount of DKK 2.1 billion (EUR 281.5 million) to strengthen air defence and combat aviation. (Source: Danish Defence Ministry, as reported by European Pravda)
Details: As part of the aid package, Denmark is allocating funds, among other things, to strengthen Ukraine's air defence and operate Ukrainian F-16 fighters. (Oleh Pavliuk: Ukrainska Pravda on MSN: 19 December 2024) (my emphasis)
We also learn that,
"Ukraine possesses a laser weapon able to destroy aircraft flying more than a mile above ground and is developing breakthrough "mother drones", a top military official claims.
In comments on Monday reported by the Interfax-Ukraine news agency, drone forces commander Vadym Sukharevskyi said, "Today we can already shoot down aircraft at an altitude of over 2 km with this laser," which he said was called Tryzub." (Chris Samuel: Express: 17 December 2024) (my emphasis)
Is it any wonder that, in his latest 'marathon' Q&A session,
...
“I don’t know when we’ll meet because he doesn’t say anything about it,” Putin said of Trump Thursday at his annual televised news conference and phone-in in Moscow. “I haven’t spoken to him at all for more than four years. (Really???) I’m ready for it, of course, at any time. And I’ll be ready to meet if he wants.” (Bloomberg on Yahoo News: 19 December 2024) (my emphasis)
But if Putin and Trump think that they can cobble together a 'peace' deal that may end Putin's war in Ukraine. entirely in his favour, they have another thing coming.
As Lorne Cook reports,
...
In a show of solidarity at a summit in Brussels with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, many EU leaders repeated a variation of what has become a common mantra — nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine, nothing about security in Europe without Europeans." (AP: 20 December 2024) (my emphasis)
That 2018 Helsinki summit 'bromance' between Putin and Trump has not been forgotten.
Washington Post: 2019: YouTube
"President Trump has gone to extraordinary lengths to conceal details of his conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, including on at least one occasion taking possession of the notes of his own interpreter and instructing the linguist not to discuss what had transpired with other administration officials, current and former U.S. officials said." (The Washington Post: 3 January 2019) (my emphasis)
Putin knows that talks with Trump in 2024 will not be the same as talks with Trump in 2018!
So does Donald Trump!
Putin's offer of talks with Trump now has the world carefully watching.
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