26/ "Then the whole structure falls apart, and it turns out that Trump has weakened his own position and Ukraine's without receiving anything in return: no deal, not even a tangible sign of peace." /end

25/ "Trump is betting that Putin thinks like himself and makes decisions based on the same logic. But what if Putin refuses?

24/ "Here, Trump risks falling into his own trap. He's pressuring Kyiv, making concessions to Putin upfront, wasting his leverage—Starlink can only be turned off once—in the hopes of achieving a peace that he's practically already signed off on.

23/ "After all, Russia is fighting without Starlink and the assistance of American intelligence. Essentially, Trump has now gone all-in, using some of his last real leverage against Ukraine in the hopes of a quick peace deal, just before the election.

22/ "Yes, without Starlink and potentially without intelligence, things will be more difficult for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, but it's unlikely to fundamentally change the situation on the front.

21/ "At the same time, the deal that would truly satisfy Putin is Ukraine's capitulation, and not just the surrender of Donbas. However, Kyiv won't agree to it, even given pressure from the US, especially three weeks before the election, which Trump could lose.

20/ "Again, perhaps this is just senility, but Trump believes that everyone in the world does and thinks like him, so he puts himself in Putin's shoes and sees no reason why he wouldn't accept the deal.

19/ "Putin doesn't want to make deals, especially on such terms. A deal that Trump considers a very good one, Putin considers completely unacceptable, because he doesn't care about money or economics, something Trump fails to understand.

18/ 'Intelligence Diary' says that Trump's desire to make a deal is a mere fantasy, as he fundamentally doesn't understand Putin's motivations:

17/ "Therefore, after Trump and the forces behind him made a mess in Iran, they urgently needed a scapegoat. And the "sub-fuehrer," as they say, happened to be in the right place at the right time 😉"

16/ "The "sub-fuehrer," on the other hand, is acting brazenly and only making demands, offering nothing in return, while being a creation of Trump's worst enemies: the globalist Democrats.

15/ "Moreover, the Russian Federation is engaged in constructive dialogue and is communicating with Trump's emissaries in a language they understand — the language of racketeers.

14/ "In the process of applying this pressure, Trump and the forces behind him realised that putting pressure on Putin yielded no results.

13/ "How do I see this situation? Trump was trying to put pressure on both Putin and the "sub-fuehrer" [Zelenskyy], with the goal of ending the war on terms favourable to himself.

12/ 'Comrade Artyom' says that Trump is simply seeking to make Zelenskyy the scapegoat for America's high fuel prices, so that the Republicans don't get the blame at the upcoming midterm elections:

11/ "Now, if he helps, he can count on the US working with Russia and in Russia; if not, he will have to compete for spheres of influence with many players on our continent."

10/ "Understanding this, you begin to understand all of Trump's actions. Based on this, of course, it is more advantageous for Trump now to help Vladimir Putin end the conflict, because he understands that if Russia is defeated, the consequences for the US are ambiguous.

9/ "Or is it an enemy? Neither one nor the other. China is an ally because it benefits them today. So the US does everything not for Russia's benefit, but for its own benefit.

8/ "Alliances are built differently, as I've already written about. Is China our friend if many of the components of the drones that have killed and continue to kill our soldiers are made there?