GREAT NEWS. END THE WAR.

Churchill could have shortened WW2 by years if he had just “done a deal” with Hitler. George Washington could have done a deal to end the American Revolution. Zelenskyy is in good company.

Every day we are fighting to prevent French stats from looking like this.

Putin agreed to resume trilateral talks on a settlement in Ukraine. This is so far the main outcome of Steve Witkoff’s trip to St. Petersburg. The last meeting between Russian, Ukrainian and American representatives took place in February, and even then, Moscow viewed the process less as a genuine attempt to resolve the conflict than as a tactical exercise, albeit one accompanied by substantive technical discussions on the modalities of a ceasefire. The talks were supposed to resume following Witkoff and Kushner’s visits to Moscow and Kyiv in September. However, Zelensky’s decision to focus on pressuring Moscow into concessions, which led to intensified strikes during the voting days, instead convinced Putin that Russia should harden its position. Moscow signalled that it now wanted not only the entirety of Donbas and the other annexed territories, but was also prepared to fight to establish a buffer zone beyond them. This was not a new position, but Russian officials have long adjusted how firmly they articulate their demands depending on the circumstances. The resumption of talks thus became another card to play. Judging by Ushakov’s rhetoric, the Americans’ “new proposals” offer little reason for optimism and have failed to generate much enthusiasm in Moscow. Nevertheless, shifts on economic issues, the prospect of partial sanctions relief and the desire to keep Trump satisfied have given Putin sufficient grounds to agree to resume negotiations, particularly as doing so comes at little cost to Moscow. All the latest statements and signals suggest that Moscow does not currently see an acceptable, or even remotely satisfactory, offer on the table. Yet it is prepared to engage in discussions for tactical gains, calculating that these, combined with the further deterioration of the Ukrainian state, may eventually produce a strategic shift in Russia’s favour.

Hosted FM Lavrov for timely talks in Tehran. We covered everything from Europe to West Asia, including Lebanon, Palestine, Ukraine and Yemen. Also focused on expansion of economic and nuclear cooperation. Never in our history have Iran and Russia worked as closely as now.

SECRETARY RUBIO: We are aligned, and we want to see a world in which superintelligence is used for the betterment of man, and one in which the harms it could cause are mitigated.