MxM News

Quick Hit:

Russia has proposed a new round of peace talks with Ukraine in Istanbul next week—an apparent response to rising pressure from President Trump, who recently warned Vladimir Putin that he’s “playing with fire” by continuing to bomb Ukrainian cities.

Key Details:

• Russia offered to meet Ukraine in Istanbul on Monday to exchange written ceasefire proposals.
• Ukrainian officials see it as a move to appease Trump, not a genuine push for peace.
• Trump has threatened economic retaliation against Russia if attacks on Ukraine continue.

🇺🇸 TRUMP: “WE’LL KNOW IN 2 WEEKS IF PUTIN IS STALLING”

"We're gonna find out whether or not he's tapping us along or not.

And if he is, we'll respond a little bit differently."

Source: @RealAmVoice https://t.co/XWXakS3ye2 pic.twitter.com/2nXkaJZaq4

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) May 28, 2025

Diving Deeper:

The Kremlin has proposed a fresh round of peace talks with Ukraine next week, hoping to exchange written proposals for a ceasefire agreement and possible terms to end the war. Russian and Ukrainian officials confirmed the offer on Thursday, with the proposed meeting set for Monday in Istanbul.

The proposal came directly from Putin adviser Vladimir Medinsky, who leads Russia’s negotiating team. In a call with Ukrainian Defense Minister Rusten Umerov, Medinsky stated, “We are ready to begin a substantive discussion of each of the points of the package agreement on the future ceasefire.”

But behind the scenes, Ukrainian officials are skeptical. According to a source close to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the proposal appears more like a diplomatic gesture aimed at placating President Trump than a sincere bid to end hostilities. Ukraine has not prepared any written peace offer, the source said, instead advocating for an unconditional ceasefire before formal negotiations. “Maybe the Russians can just send their peace memo by email,” the source added.

The renewed Russian outreach follows blunt warnings from President Trump, who has grown increasingly frustrated with Putin’s refusal to stop the bombardment of Ukrainian cities. Earlier this week, Trump accused Putin of “playing with fire” and signaled that economic consequences could be on the table if Moscow continues to ignore his calls for peace.

“I don’t like rockets fired into cities and I am not going to allow it,” Trump told reporters. He acknowledged that sanctions or tariffs were being considered but said he was holding off to avoid jeopardizing a possible deal. “I don’t want to screw it up by doing that,” Trump said. “I am a lot tougher than others… but you have to know when to use that.”

This marks the second round of direct talks between Russia and Ukraine, with the first taking place in Istanbul two weeks ago. That meeting ended with little progress. Since then, Trump has attempted to personally broker a ceasefire, including a rejected proposal for Vatican-hosted talks.

Putin had previously promised Trump that a “peace memo” would be delivered within days. That promise remains unfulfilled, and in the meantime, Russian airstrikes on Ukrainian cities have intensified, further testing Trump’s patience. “We are gonna find out soon if [Putin] is tapping us along or not, and if he is we will respond a little bit differently,” Trump warned.

Trump also noted that his envoy, Steve Witkoff, is actively engaging with Russian officials. “He’s dealing with Putin very strongly right now to see if he wants a deal,” Trump said.

As of now, Ukraine is weighing its options. While the proposed meeting in Istanbul could signal movement, Ukrainian officials remain cautious—viewing the Kremlin’s motives as more about managing international optics, particularly with Trump, than genuinely pursuing peace.

From LifeSiteNews

By Frank Wright

Alastair Crooke says the situation in Ukraine is headed for an ‘inevitable escalation’ threatening a far bigger war with the West that Putin is trying to avoid.

What is the Trump administration doing about the Ukraine war? This week President Trump said the Russian leader Putin had “gone crazy” and issued what seemed to be a threat in response to Russian air strikes across Ukraine.

Reports in the Western media of a three-day Russian air assault on Ukraine – launched overnight on Sunday, May 25 – sparked outrage. The condemnation of the attacks was paired with renewed calls from the forever war faction to escalate U.S. involvement – leading to fears of a move towards World War III.

As usual, this media campaign for more war did not include the Russian perspective.

An unprecedented number of drones – over 1,000 – had been launched into Russia by Ukraine. It was reported May 25 that there was even a “large-scale” attempted assassination attack against Putin’s helicopter, involving dozens of Ukrainian drones, while the Russian president was on his way to visit the Kursk region. Putin survived thanks to the successful defensive actions of Russian military protecting the helicopter.

Putin’s helicopter ‘fended off Ukraine drone attack’ https://t.co/NT2LBwgqUl

— ❌RYLEIGH❌ (@RyleighRueWhoo) May 25, 2025

This was one reason for the Russian assault which seemed to have been news even to Donald Trump himself.

“I don’t like what Putin is doing … he’s killing people,” Trump said in a report of May 26. “Something happened to this guy.”

A reporter then tells Trump that a Russian military commander said Putin was targeted in a Ukrainian drone attack.

“I haven’t heard that,” said Trump, adding “maybe that would be a reason” for the Russian response.

See video report below from the Redacted team indicating it was NATO that almost assassinated Trump using Ukrainian forces.

Another reason was given by the Russian Foreign Ministry on May 23.

⚡️ The Kiev regime is relentless in its terror attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure in numerous Russian regions, including Moscow.

Russia will deliver a matching response to barrages of terrorist attacks carried out by the Kiev regime.

👉… pic.twitter.com/wmx3SxFrmN

— MFA Russia 🇷🇺 (@mfa_russia) May 23, 2025

Two days after Trump’s remarks, Russian outlet TASS reported a “massive overnight attack by Ukrainian drones on Russian regions has been repelled,” claiming Russian defenses had downed almost 300 drones targeting 13 regions – including Moscow.

Trump added that Zelensky was not helping the cause of peace.

“He is doing his Country no favors by talking the way he does. Everything out of his mouth causes problems, I don’t like it, and it better stop.”

Does Trump know what is going on?

Speaking to Judge Napolitano, an unusually passionate and alarmed Alastair Crooke, a British former Middle East negotiator, noted how Trump “seemed not to know” that Ukraine had “launched over a thousand drones” and an attempted “assassination of President Putin.”

Crooke warns that Putin and the Russians understandably no longer trust anything that Trump and the Americans say. He tells Napolitano the situation is headed for an “inevitable escalation” threatening a far bigger war with the West, which Putin has been trying to avoid. See the exceptional interview below.

Trump is hypocritical in not telling the exact truth to reporters he openly denounces – as he did here – of being “fake news.”

What can the U.S. do?

Perhaps it is wise to ask what the Trump administration can do. With a new grand strategy of national security through the promotion of world peace, it would appear that all-out war with Russia is off the table.

The bipartisan push for escalation to war is ever-present, however. Whether it is war with Russia or war with Iran, the “neocon” faction constantly urges military action.

Why? The motives of people like Lindsey Graham – who once called for Putin’s assassination – are only partially explained by the capture of the U.S. House and Senate by the Israel lobby.

At base, this is about business. The economics of permanent war is the lifeline of the neocons, and of the European political establishment. If peace breaks out, they are all finished, as their business goes bankrupt as their promotion of war as the “defense of democracy.”

This is not only morally bankrupt, as JD Vance pointed out last May, but the forever wars pursued by Zionist neocons have driven America’s debt to a record $36 trillion high.

Trump’s goal is to change all of that. To do so, the business model of permanent war must go – in order to “make America great again.” Another reason was supplied by Vance last week: the “era of uncontested U.S. dominance” is now over.

It makes no sense to launch a great project to reverse the financially and diplomatically ruinous project of “liberal intervention” and then start a major war which many Western experts not on the military-industrial complex payroll are warning you will not win.

U.S. wars have cost ‘$21 trillion’

Speaking in Saudi Arabia on May 13, Trump derided the so-called “nation builders, neocons, liberal non-profits” who he said “spent trillions and trillions of dollars failing to develop Kabul, Baghdad, and so many other cities…”

As Newsweek reported, a 2021 study showed “[i]n the 20 years since the September 11 attacks, the United States government has spent more than $21 trillion” on funding the forever wars abroad – and on mass surveillance at home. The bottom line is that the business model of neocon wars has broken America, and Trump says he wants to fix that.

Given that the Russians have not lost in Ukraine, and have not collapsed as the Pentagon hoped they would in 2019, where does this leave the U.S.?

As Alastair Crooke and Col. Douglas Macgregor have pointed out, it leaves the U.S. with “no leverage.”

If you're a Russian and listened to Trump prior to the election you would have assumed when he took office that he would have withdrawn all support for Ukraine.

Through some bad advice, he did the opposite.

This is exactly why we have minimal to no leverage or trust during…

— Douglas Macgregor (@DougAMacgregor) May 26, 2025

This means that after sanctions and after arming Ukraine and funding its regime have failed to stop Russia, the Russians will conclude the war on their own terms because they have won it.

So what can Trump do if the stick of further sanctions and arms is useless? Trump has offered the carrot of the inclusion of Russia in a new geopolitical dispensation which replaces conflict with strategic balance and stable trade deals.

Yet Russia has managed – and rather well – to realign the sale of its oil, gas, and other vast mineral resources. Its informal bloc sees it partnered with two other major producer nations – China and Iran. It is the consumer economic model of the West which needs these resources and cheap manufactured goods, which have the rest of the world for an alternative market should it sanction itself from access to them.

Will the U.S. walk away?

Along with the raw military power and industrial production capacity of the Russians, this is a compelling reason for the U.S. to just walk away from Ukraine. Both Trump and Vice President Vance have said the U.S. may do so.

That is the solution offered by Dr. S. Maitra, whose recommendation for a U.S. drawdown from NATO two years ago is now close to being realized. German outlet Handelsblatt warned on Monday that the EU and the UK must prepare for the imminent withdrawal of U.S. troops from Europe. The U.S. is already walking away from Europe on “defense” – and who pays for it.

Europe is preventing peace, says Lavrov

The search for reasons for the continuing war can be satisfied by noticing the lifeline of funding and arms provided to Ukraine.

The Russians have said that Trump, the “peace president,” promises peace but hypocritically continues to prolong the war with billions more U.S. money, weapons, intelligence, and U.S. special forces in Ukraine and Israel, without which both wars would quickly end. On Tuesday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz responded by lifting range limits on weapons supplied to Ukraine – allowing U.S. and European supplied missiles to hit Moscow.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov added this week that British and EU leaders were “sabotaging” the peace process. Why? He said in Istanbul on Friday: “President Trump has already said that this is not his war. He is interested in the negotiations between Russia and Ukraine continuing.”

Lavrov explained, “European leaders are trying to prevent this, because if the war suddenly stops, they will end their political careers in disgrace.”

‘I see Brussels trying to disrupt the negotiation process. It’s reaching unprecedented levels of actions, statements, and appeals. European hawks understand that they don’t have the strength to continue the war. They are mortally afraid that the US will give up on them and say:… pic.twitter.com/b7CIJJCYwI

— Zlatti71 (@Zlatti_71) May 27, 2025

Lavrov added, “They’ve bet their reputation on dragging Europe into a war against Russia to facilitate the militarization of Europe,” saying “huge sums” of money were being allocated towards that end.

Lavrov’s remarks dispel any mystery over the reasons for prolonging and escalating the Ukraine war. The liberal-globalist leadership of Britain and Europe have invested their political futures in it. The vast economic might of the U.S. war faction relies on the production of wars for its existence.

With around three-fifths of the U.S. national debt of $36 trillion a direct result of its decades of wars it is clear whose money is talking up the need for more war. This is the “democracy” our tax money is defending in Ukraine.

It is the business of monetized death that has a low regard for the sacredness of human life. It is one of the largest and potentially most dangerous results of the modern culture of death that Pope John Paul II constantly warned the world to oppose.

Since NATO intelligence has been embedded in Ukraine it is inconceivable that Trump does not know how U.S. money is being spent – on launching attacks on Russia to provoke a major war.

Trump certainly knows that starting wars is the business of the neocon faction – the whole mission of his MAGA movement can be explained as an attempt to change the U.S. from a war economy with global ambitions. As Crooke points out, Europe knows this, too.

If Trump walks away, Crooke says, the Europeans don’t have the money or the troops to fight the war without him. The Europeans also fear Trump’s alternative “economic model” to the war economy will ruin them. Aside from the fact that they “hate him,” Crooke says, this is the reason they want to destroy him. How?

They want to “push Trump … into an escalation against Russia … to undermine Trump and his program…” he says.

This is an existential moment for the survival of an economic model – whose vast profits have captured the governance of the West. Behind the MAGA hats and talk of democracy’s defense, a battle for the life of the business of death is still being waged – with our taxes.

It would be crazy not to walk away from that and return to spreading a culture of life for the benefit of all mankind.