Episode Details

Hi there, I’m Decoding Trolls. I wanted to give you my quick take on the proposals Ukraine is going to bring to the so-called peace conference in Saudi Arabia next week.

Obviously, my heart and many hearts sink at the prospect of Ukraine surrendering either to Russia or to America’s concern trolling about deaths in Ukraine — especially as credible reports have emerged from the battlefield in Kursk which suggest that Russia’s targeting of Ukrainian forces in Kursk has suddenly improved exponentially. Suddenly improved at the same time that Druidy Don’s special envoy mentioned that what they are trying to do to Ukraine is what these people would do to a mule who was too stubborn — slap them until they moved.

When we see this intentionality on the side of the American regime under Druidy Don, and then we hear reports from the battlefield in Kursk that suddenly Russia’s targeting of Ukrainian positions and the killing of Ukrainian soldiers has improved — we heard similar reports in Avdiivka last year under President Biden. Yet again, we see Russia relying on America to help it out of the hole it has dug for itself by invading a country which will continue to resist.

The two proposals Ukraine says it will bring to the Saudi Arabia peace talks next week are: first, Ukraine will propose a ceasefire involving a moratorium on the use of long-range weaponry to hit parts of Russia — last night, there was a hit on a Russian oil refinery some 1,200 kilometres from the border with Ukraine. Second, a moratorium on attacks at sea, in the Black Sea.

The team going to Saudi Arabia is very experienced with these kinds of negotiations. I was a diplomat in eastern Ukraine between the years 2015 and 2022. I’ve seen this rodeo before. I’ve been on this rodeo before, I think is the proper phrase.

In the autumn of 2019 — which may be remembered or unnoticed by many people — Moscow, London, Paris, Berlin, and Washington were all ranged against Ukraine. They were colluding to pressure Ukraine into accepting what was named for the current president of Germany, the Steinmeier solution. Under the Steinmeier solution, Ukraine would agree to allow Russia to hold elections in Russia-occupied Luhansk — where I worked between 2015 and 2018 — and Russia-occupied Donetsk, before Russia gave Ukraine back control of its borders. Essentially, this was the international community colluding with Moscow to get Ukraine to accept the occupation, the brutal genocidal occupation and continued brainwashing of Ukrainians inside Russia-occupied Luhansk and Donetsk, by allowing them to hold elections.

At the time, I and a colleague, a former British Army officer, were tasked with working out in rough general terms what it would mean to hold elections in Russia-occupied Luhansk and Donetsk — elections which, under the OSCE framework, would need to be proper, free, and fair.

The first problem was to bring in the 1.5 million Ukrainians who had fled from Russia-occupied Luhansk and Donetsk and allow them to vote. The second problem: we worked out it would have cost the international community around 1.5 billion euros and involved armoured vehicles and army squadrons at every polling place in Donetsk and Luhansk, which obviously the Russians wouldn’t agree to. It was a non-starter.

There was a meeting to be held in December 2019 in Paris with Duncy Putler and the comedian President Zelensky, hosted by Emmanuel Macron — Jupiter is his call sign. At this meeting, President Zelensky — who was then perceived by many in the international community as not up to the job, just a mere comedian rather than a great artist, a great business person, and a true Ukrainian patriot — some papers emerged in the weeks before this meeting where the signature of Andrii Yermak, who is still the chief of staff in the president’s office, was on documents that suggested Ukraine was going to allow these elections under the Steinmeier solution in Russia-occu