We really are at one of the most pivotal moments in human history. Decisions that are being made now will have very serious implications for every man, woman and child on the entire planet. We have entered a time of “wars and rumors of wars”, and we have seen so much death and destruction over the past couple of years. But now a new administration is in control in Washington and we have reached a fork in the road. Will global leaders take advantage of this small window of opportunity to establish peace, or will they choose all-out war?

(Article by Michael republished from EndOfTheAmericanDream.com)

The good news is that for the first time in a long time, U.S. officials are talking with the Russians.  On Monday, Marco Rubio traveled to Saudi Arabia, and it is expected that he will be talking with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov about Ukraine while he is there…

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Saudi Arabia on Monday and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was on his way to the country, amid expectations that peace talks on ending the war in Ukraine are about to begin.

This is a very positive development, but negotiations with the Russians will certainly not be easy.

For one thing, the Ukrainians and our European allies are demanding that the Russians make territorial concessions, and the Russians are completely ruling that out…

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday ruled out territorial concessions to Ukraine, setting out a tough opening stance on the eve of talks on Tuesday with U.S. President Donald Trump’s team in Saudi Arabia.

Trump said after a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday that the two sides would begin talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine.

The Russians are winning the war and having been steadily moving forward in recent months.

They see absolutely no need to give any territory that they have captured back.

The longer the Ukrainians wait to make a deal, the more territory they will lose.

The Russians have all the leverage, and they know it.

The Ukrainians and our European allies are also adamant that Ukraine must be allowed to join NATO and that western troops must be allowed to serve as “peacekeepers” in Ukraine once the war is over.

In fact, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer just admitted that he is “ready and willing” to deploy British troops for such a purpose…

Europe is growing more hawkish in its rhetoric, seeing the need for a counterbalance against Trump efforts to secure lasting peace in Ukraine, which recently included Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announcing that the US does not see future NATO membership for Ukraine as a realistic possibility.

The latest shot across the bow is British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announcing that the UK is “ready and willing” to put British peacekeeping troops on the ground in Ukraine, and stressing it’s essential that the West backs Kyiv toward “securing a lasting peace in Ukraine that safeguards its sovereignty for the long term” which essential” to deter Putin from “further aggression.” There is as yet no framework for negotiated peace in place, and yet Starmer is talking boots on the ground.

Over and over again, the Russians have rejected the idea of Ukraine joining NATO.

And over and over again, the Russians have rejected the idea of western “peacekeepers” in Ukraine once the war is over.

Peacekeepers from neutral nations might work.  If I was negotiating this deal, I might suggest that.

But from my perspective, it will be nearly impossible for the Trump administration to come up with a deal that will be acceptable for both sides.

Of course Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is already sabotaging the peace talks between the United States and Russia before they have even started.  He just told Meet The Press that he will “never accept any decisions between the United States and Russia about Ukraine”.

Zelenskyy refuses to talk to Vladimir Putin, and he doesn’t want anyone else talking to him either.

Instead, Zelenskyy just continues to try to come up with new ways to drag western powers directly into the conflict.  His latest scheme would result in the creation of an “armed forces of Europe”…

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for the creation of an “armed forces of Europe” to guard against Russia, appearing to suggest that the United States may no longer come to the continent’s aid.

Zelensky, speaking on the second day of the Munich Security Conference, said Ukraine’s three-year fight against an invading Russian army has proved that a foundation exists for the creation of a European army that has long been discussed among some continental leaders.

“I really believe that time has come,” he said. “The armed forces of Europe must be created.”

There already is an “armed forces of Europe”.

It is called NATO.

And Zelenskyy has been trying over and over again to drag NATO into the war, because that is Ukraine’s best chance of winning.

At this point, I think that Zelenskyy is deeply frustrated with the Trump administration.  Earlier this month, the Trump administration sent him a contract that would give the U.S. a tremendous amount of control over the natural resources in Ukraine…

The Telegraph has obtained a draft of the pre-decisional contract, marked “Privileged & Confidential’ and dated Feb 7 2025. It states that the US and Ukraine should form a joint investment fund to ensure that “hostile parties to the conflict do not benefit from the reconstruction of Ukraine”.

The agreement covers the “economic value associated with resources of Ukraine”, including “mineral resources, oil and gas resources, ports, other infrastructure (as agreed)”, leaving it unclear what else might be encompassed. “This agreement shall be governed by New York law, without regard to conflict of laws principles,” it states.

The US will take 50pc of recurring revenues received by Ukraine from extraction of resources, and 50pc of the financial value of “all new licences issued to third parties” for the future monetisation of resources. There will be “a lien on such revenues” in favour of the US. “That clause means ‘pay us first, and then feed your children’,” said one source close to the negotiations.

Once they understood what this agreement said, officials in Kyiv started freaking out.

Just like the Biden administration did, the Ukrainians wanted the Trump administration to hand over giant piles of money with no strings attached.

Clearly that is not going to happen.

The Ukrainians are holding a losing hand.  They should make peace with the Russians while they still control most of their country.

If no peace deal materializes within the next few months, I believe that the Russians will strongly consider sending a massive force at Kyiv from the north in an attempt to end the war by force by the end of 2025.  At this stage the Ukrainian armed forces have deteriorated so badly that I think such a move would be successful.

Of course if the Russians did take Kyiv, that wouldn’t cause the Trump administration and the Europeans to back down.  Instead, that would just push us to the brink of nuclear war.

Meanwhile, U.S. relations with China just took another turn for the worse…

China accused the United States on Monday of a “serious regression” in its position on Taiwan, after the State Department updated the Taiwan section of its website to remove a reference to the independence of the Beijing-claimed island.

The State Department fact sheet on U.S.-Taiwan relations continues to state Washington’s opposition to any unilateral changes to the status quo from either China or Taiwan, a self-ruling democracy that rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims. But the phrase “we do not support Taiwan independence” appears to have been removed Thursday in what the State Department says was a routine update.

The change was cheered by Taiwan, while China said it “sends a wrong signal to the Taiwan independence forces” and urged the U.S. to “immediately correct this mistake.”

We are far closer to war with China than most people realize.

A trade war between our two nations has already erupted, we are headed for a showdown with China over control of the Panama Canal, and the Chinese have been preparing for the day when they will invade Taiwan.

But the most imminent threat of all-out war is in the Middle East.

The Trump administration and the Israeli government are in full agreement that Iran’s push for nuclear weapons must end.

Earlier this month, President Trump indicated that making a deal would be preferable to “bombing the hell” out of Iran…

US President Donald Trump said he would prefer to make a deal with Iran rather than “bombing the hell out of it,” in a media interview published Saturday, adding that Israel would not carry out a strike if there were an agreement.

“I would like a deal done with Iran on non-nuclear. I would prefer that to bombing the hell out of it,” he told the New York Post aboard Air Force One on Friday. “They don’t want to die. Nobody wants to die.”

“If we made the deal, Israel wouldn’t bomb them,” he predicted, though he also said he would not discuss potential negotiations with Tehran.

The Trump administration has decided to impose “maximum economic pressure” on Iran in a last-ditch attempt to force the Iranians to make a deal.

But it won’t work.

The Iranians have no intention of making a deal.

So it won’t be too long before the Trump administration and the Israelis are faced with a decision.  Either they will choose to allow Iran to build nukes, or they will choose the “bombing the hell out of it” option.

I have a feeling that the second alternative will prevail.

So enjoy this little bubble of relative calm while you still can, because it is not likely to last for too much longer.

Read more at: EndOfTheAmericanDream.com