Donald Trump (L) chats with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin at the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting, Danang, Vietnam, November 11, 2017 (Mikhail Klimentyev/Sputnik/AFP)

EA on RTE: Can Ukraine Hold Out v. Putin and Trump?

I joined Times Radio’s Frontline on Thursday to analyze the Trump Administration’s “nonsense deal” — in effect, an ultimatum — seeking Ukraine’s capitulation to the Kremlin’s terms over its 38-month invasion.

Just before the Administration withdrew from talks in London, after Kyiv rejected the ultimatum, I spoke with Philip Ingram about Vladimir Putin’s mis-steps with his maximalist demands and sham “ceasefire”, Ukraine’s maneuvers with European partners, and what lies ahead in an invasion which is making little progress but inflicting death and destruction on Ukraine’s civilians each day.

Along the way, I have some choice words about the easily-manipulated Trump, the wannabe-bully J.D. Vance, and the real estate developer/”envoy” Steve Witkoff.

Russia looked at a chaotic Trump Administration and thought, “We can roll these guys.”

But when Kremlin couldn’t pull that off in direct talks, Ukraine and Europe were pretty effective in filling the space with a diplomatic alternative to the US-Russia dynamic.