Putin’s Dilemma: Can Russia Afford to Trust Trump and America?

ABU DHABI, January 23. /TASS/. Buffer zones and various control mechanisms are among the topics addressed at the meeting of the tri-lateral Russia-US-Ukraine working group on security issues in Abu Dhabi, a source told TASS.

“Yes, naturally, these aspects: buffer zones, various control mechanisms, are discussed at the meeting along with other important topics,” the source said.

Earlier in the day, Emirati Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan announced the beginning of negotiations involving the delegations of Russia, the United States, and Ukraine. The exact venue of the talks was not disclosed.

Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov announced earlier that the trilateral Russian-US-Ukrainian working group on security issues will have its first meeting in Abu Dhabi on January 23. The Russian delegation will be led by Igor Kostyukov, chief of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian army. Ukrainian negotiators will be led by National Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov.

This is a video from Larry Johnson, and it explains what Russia will need to agree to any decisions on Ukraine, and generally.  The interview is good for what it is, but I cannot see that the US, in current circumstances without major change, can deliver what is necessary.  The two interviewees explain why Putin speaks to Witkoff specifically.  Personally, I don’t see it.  I see the SMO continue until it has no more ability to continue, Ukraine is truly 404 and Europe is put back in its box, either through fear of being blasted to smithereens or because it can no longer continue.  It is tiring, the Americans that continually want Russia and the US to be ‘friends’.  I believe they can both behave themselves diplomatically, but I don’t believe that there can be a good relationship and this will continue on for many years, until the US changes.  At the moment, it is still agreement incapable as we can see through documents like the National Security Strategy.  Brian Berletic still holds that the US continues to expand a global blockade on Russia and of course on China.  One cannot be friends or have relationships with the one who wants to own you and negotiates while holding 20,000 sanctions on you.   This video does explain some Russian thinking.

In this episode, Larry Johnson speaks with General Buzhinsky and Prof. Dmitry Suslov about the internal power struggle shaping U.S. policy toward Russia. The conversation looks at how competing factions inside Washington influence decisions on Ukraine, why escalation and negotiations coexist, and what these contradictions mean for the future of U.S.–Russia relations — and the possibility of a deal.