“Give us what we’ve stolen, and disarm”. Not even a mention of Never NATO. Russia’s position continues to erode. Trump, as always, tries to use bullying leverage that he doesn’t actually have. Since he already withdrew U.S. support and tried to cause a global recession with moronic trade tarriffs, he is left with nothing else to do but stamp his feet and be a repeater for Russian demands.

Russia always negotiates on ridiculous “terms”, and it’s helpful to remember that this isn’t where they want to be. At all. The fact they are stuck on Give Us Donbas is a colossal shortfall compared to the full conquest they really wanted.

Zero chance Ukraine disarms, and Russia can’t do much about that at the time scales this war is moving at, compared to Trump and Putin’s life expectancy. This is like negotiating with a pigeon, but - it’s a good thing that they think this is the best they’re going to get.