Europeans have abdicated all responsibility by not engaging in diplomacy, not trying to prevent war, and not discussing agreements with Russians that would have prevented the conflict, instead going along with the proxy war as their own choice.

Hegseth said that the US priority is now China and the Asia Pacific, which is alarming to Europeans who have lived their whole lives with Europe as America's priority, and the idea that this will end is unimaginable and very frightening.

Rubio's points about competing great powers and multilateral diplomacy are revolutionary if true, and if the entire American government has accepted this view, it would represent a revolutionary change, though it remains uncertain whether Rubio and Trump have truly adopted this framework.

China is what the Trump administration has on its mind—Trump people, J.D. Vance, and Hegseth are always talking about China now, showing it is the real priority.

If you fight and lose a war, the terms of the peace that follows will inevitably be disadvantageous, and the thing in that situation is to make sure you don't fight a war which you're likely to lose.

It is shocking that it has taken Donald Trump to break through and bring understanding of this obvious principle, and even more shocking that Europe, which invented modern diplomacy, doesn't seem to understand this.

The Middle East is also racked by war with a single origin point: the Palestinian crisis, and the longer conflicts play out there, the more disadvantageous the terms will be because victory is unachievable and defeat will follow.

It is essential that the US, Russia, and Europeans come to understanding about how to deal with conflicts so that conflicts do not result in the catastrophe that has occurred in Ukraine.

The French had doubts about NATO expansion in the 1990s but now prefer the hegemonic system with Americans present to the alternative where Americans are absent, showing how context changes preferences.

It is absolutely impossible to read the mind of Donald Trump because he does things that are so completely unconventional and unpredictable that determining whether his position on Ukraine is genuine or tactical cannot be definitively established.

This is not difficult to achieve—it's strange that it's so resisted by so many people.

The United States now has the president of Russia and president of the United States in direct dialogue, with both sides organizing negotiating teams, Trump mentioning specific negotiators, Russians talking about their own teams, and a potential summit meeting in Saudi Arabia discussed.

Trump and Putin have only spoken and have not come to any actual agreement at all so far about Ukraine, though both agreed the war should end through negotiations.

The US proxy war in Ukraine has from an American point of view gone as far as it can and really cannot be taken further, and should be wound down because Ukraine will not join NATO, will not recover lost territories, and the US will not deploy troops in Ukraine.

Europeans fear that a peace agreement will result in the Americans leaving Europe, and this fear will predispose many people to be against a peace agreement, hoping that continued conflict will somehow keep Americans in Europe.

What Pete Hegseth said is more interesting and important than what Trump has said, because Hegseth articulated realities that Europeans and Ukraine do not want to face: Ukraine will not join NATO, will not recover lost territories, and the US will not deploy troops in Ukraine.

The Russian Defense Ministry has changed its language recently from saying territory 'was captured' to saying it 'was liberated,' a significant indicator that Russia is now thinking of staying in the Kharkiv region territories they hold outside the four oblasts.

Alexander is upset and angry about Keir Starmer's call to Zelenskyy saying Ukraine is on irreversible course to NATO, because this directly undermines negotiations.

The Russians want and will only negotiate with the Americans because they have agency and determine policy, while Europeans simply do what Americans tell them, making Russian negotiation with Europeans pointless.

The Americans haven't conceded anything that wasn't going to happen anyway—they are simply recognizing the realities given that the war is being lost.