Trump on Putin's Hook

[Alik Bahshi]

Alik Bakhshi

Trump on Putin's Hook

The article on the Trump-Putin meeting in Helsinki was written on July 29, 2018, during Trump's first term (1), and today, Trump's decision regarding Ukraine, which essentially encourages the aggressor, convincingly demonstrates which of the Trump-Putin pair is the boa constrictor and which is the rabbit.

Alik Bakhshi

Helsinki: The Boa and the Rabbit

Rabbit:
"Your hypnosis is our fear.
Our fear is your hypnosis."
                Fazil Iskander, "Rabbits and Boas"

                               
          The press conference between Putin and Trump following their tête-à-tête in Helsinki brought to mind Fazil Iskander's parable, "Rabbits and Boas." The American president appeared in my mind as a meek rabbit, stupefied by a boa constrictor. Where had Trump's bravura arrogance and bluster gone? At one point, it seemed as if Trump was silently opening his mouth, while Putin answered the questions for him. Trump obsequiously echoed everything his political rival said, despite the serious and fundamental political differences that had prompted the long-awaited summit meeting. I don't know the details of their private conversation or what Trump looked like during it, but judging by his demeanor at the press conference, I imagine he sat there, like a rabbit, his pupils dilated, meekly under the gaze of Putin's small, piercing eyes, afraid to contradict the words: "We held the referendum in strict accordance with international law and the Charter of the United Nations. For us, the Russian Federation, this matter is closed. That's it!"

     If I were Trump, I would have found a response and reminded Putin that Moscow has extensive experience holding referendums, for example in Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia in 1940. Then, as in Crimea, the Russians first sent troops, followed by referendums in which the peoples of these countries "voluntarily" expressed their desire to join the USSR. However, it's possible that Trump is unaware of this fact. I wonder how Putin would respond if Azerbaijan, following Crimea's example, sent troops into Dagestan and held a referendum on voluntary accession to Azerbaijan on the grounds that the Derbent Khanate was part of Azerbaijan?

      At the press conference, the American president was afraid to even utter the words "Ukraine" and "Crimea." Yet the main reason for the anti-Russian sanctions is Russia's aggression against Ukraine, a country whose independence, incidentally, President Trump's country is the guarantor of. One can't help but wonder: why did Trump even fly to Helsinki? Was it really just to nod his head in agreement with Putin's words, "the matter is closed for us?"
    It seems Putin really does have dirt on Trump (1). How else can one explain his complete unanimity with Putin that Russia did not interfere in the American elections, contrary to the assurances of American intelligence agencies? However, far from Putin, already in America, Trump publicly disavowed his statements; to put it simply, he retracted everything he said at the Helsinki press conference in Putin's presence.

Fazil Iskander's rabbit was right, if in our case between Trump and Putin, we replace "fear" with "dirt."

----------------------

Who do you think has dirt on whom from the photo?
 
Putin's secret smile reveals the thought: remember, I've got you on the hook.

1. Helsinki: The Boa Constrictor and the Rabbit. https://alikbahshi.livejournal.com/39575.html
2. Putin's Hand in the White House. https://alikbahshi.livejournal.com/124179.html

November 22, 2025

Original with photo https://alikbahshi.livejournal.com/144008.html
 

[Skydrill]

Alik Bakhshi

Trump on Putin's Hook

I think the American president isn't being fair and proactive considering how sensitive and urgent this situation is, perhaps there has never been any American president who has condescended so low to becoming a stooge to any Russian leader and that's what the situation seems like with the US leader.

The people of Ukraine are suffering today as a result of their trust in America whom has been a long standing ally from several decades but right now it seems the Americans have abandoned the Ukrainian state  due to the uncertainty of the US president inability to put more pressure on the Russian president to decease from further aggression against Ukraine.

[BADecker]

It all depends on the way you want to look at it.

Putin and the Russian government have one basic goal at this time. This goal is to keep NATO and the West out of Ukraine. Sure, Russian writings might show that they have other goals in life. But right now, the basic goal is to reduce the expansion of the West towards Russia.

Trump's plans will need to take this into account. If Trump is proposing peace, he has to do it in ways that do NOT insert the US into Ukraine through some form of tricky wording. If Trump's plan formulates a US foothold in Ukraine, and if Russia realizes this, the whole deal will fall through. It's not an easy thing to determine if Trump's 28-point peace plan really keeps the US out of Ukraine or not.

This means that the peace plan will need to be a general thing that does NOT allow the West, itself, into the bargain at all, in any way.


Kellogg Fired Over Leaking 28-Point Plan - Proposal Designed To Trap Putin


https://www.lewrockwell.com/2025/11/no_author/kellogg-fired-over-leaking-28-point-plan-proposal-designed-to-trap-putin/
It seems that Keith Kellogg, Trump's special envoy to Ukraine, got fired over leaking news of the 28-point 'peace plan'. Let's follow the traces.

On Tuesday the 18th November someone 'leaked' to Axios reporter Barak Ravid who then wrote the first story of Trump's new plan for Ukraine.

Scoop: U.S. secretly drafting new plan to end Ukraine war

The plan's 28 points fall into four general buckets, sources tell Axios: peace in Ukraine, security guarantees, security in Europe, and future U.S. relations with Russia and Ukraine.
…
Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff is leading the drafting of the plan and has discussed it extensively with Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev, a U.S. official said.

Shortly thereafter Steve Witkoff made a mistake on Twitter when he sent a response meant for a private direct message to the public side of his account. He soon deleted it but someone had already taken a screenshot.


...

[Alik Bahshi]

Alik Bakhshi

Trump on Putin's Hook

I think the American president isn't being fair and proactive considering how sensitive and urgent this situation is, perhaps there has never been any American president who has condescended so low to becoming a stooge to any Russian leader and that's what the situation seems like with the US leader.

The people of Ukraine are suffering today as a result of their trust in America whom has been a long standing ally from several decades but right now it seems the Americans have abandoned the Ukrainian state  due to the uncertainty of the US president inability to put more pressure on the Russian president to decease from further aggression against Ukraine.

 The fact is that the Russians pose a primary threat to Europe, not America. The problem is that the slow-witted EU is indecisive and slow to act, which Putin is exploiting in his war with Ukraine, killing its population, while the EU is more focused on rhetoric than action.

[BADecker]

Alik Bakhshi

Trump on Putin's Hook

I think the American president isn't being fair and proactive considering how sensitive and urgent this situation is, perhaps there has never been any American president who has condescended so low to becoming a stooge to any Russian leader and that's what the situation seems like with the US leader.

The people of Ukraine are suffering today as a result of their trust in America whom has been a long standing ally from several decades but right now it seems the Americans have abandoned the Ukrainian state  due to the uncertainty of the US president inability to put more pressure on the Russian president to decease from further aggression against Ukraine.

 The fact is that the Russians pose a primary threat to Europe, not America. The problem is that the slow-witted EU is indecisive and slow to act, which Putin is exploiting in his war with Ukraine, killing its population, while the EU is more focused on rhetoric than action.

Russia is not a threat. It is more of a threat to its own people than those of Western Europe.

Western Europe is a threat to themselves through unnecessary fear. Their fear causes them to attack Russia, even if they are doing it through sending their troops into Ukraine to fight Russia while trying to hide the fact that they are attacking Russia.

Further, it is mostly the Western Europe leaders that are attacking. The EU people don't want such a fight to even start.

Europe is creating their own fight with Russia. Since 1991, has Russia ever attacked any European country that is not within the border-zone of Russia? So, it is the countries of Europe that are making war with Russia, even though they are doing it by sending troops to Ukraine. When Russia fights back, and Western Europe is destroyed, it will be their own fault, for attacking Russia within the borders of Ukraine, first.