Dunge

I think in the middle of my bingo card is the suggestion that of course a deal about Ukraine is possible if he can speak to the right person. Basically divide & conquer.

I assume King Charles has gone private?

If Putin agrees to an interview with Tucker Carlson then it’ll be both tailored for western ears but also with a mind to the fact it would likely reach the ears of his populace too. I don’t know why you think such an interview would be blocked by the West when the whole point is that we would be the target audience. Besides, you already know Putin’s angle so what exactly are you expecting to hear from him that’s new? Or is the situation actually that you’ve long since made up your mind on the matter, you don’t really care about balance at all and you just want his words to reach more western ears because you agree with them?

“Funny story actually, Tucker. All I said was that isn’t Ukraine lovely at this time of year and I wish I could give all the loyal men of my army and prisons a long holiday there. The next thing I know, there is a special military operation happening! We do laugh about it in the Kremlin. Anyway, just give us the Baltics and we will be on our way.”

Because if they leave the land, Israel will level it and won’t let them back.

I hear what you’re saying but I also see why Israel would be very scared of releasing the reins. This is a culture and a race of people who have been historically targeted not because of anything they’ve done but because they’re Jews. Whether or not the Israeli government desire anything that can be described as genocide, there’s no doubt that they’re fighting an organisation in Hamas who desire it against them. There’s a strong argument to say that freeing Palestine won’t lead to any better security for them. That isn’t to say I don’t desire a two-state solution but there’s an awful lot of convincing to do of a democratically elected government.

I think the point people are making is that they aren’t even doing that - the Hamas top brass live elsewhere and their actions are breeding them a new generation of angry recruits. In terms of what they can achieve, I think crippling them operationally is about the limit of it. Destroying their bases and tunnels inside Gaza. The best hope might be that such actions provide some respite for a new Israeli government to actually work toward a peaceful solution again. And when I say best hope I don’t necessarily mean probable.

Not quite the same but something I find highly frustrating: Coming out of Barrow along Bridge Street, there at lights at the Bridge itself. They’re sensor-operated, so if there’s someone at the caravan site turning right and anyone lets them out just as the lights go green, you risk about two cars going through then the lights turn red again. Which then backs the traffic up to the roundabout and worsens the jam. Grr.

It feels more part of a wider strategy to me to pressure Israel to bring their war to an end. ”Either hurry up with this or we’re going to start getting ideas you won’t like.”

I’m saying it’s the curse of Richard III.

China have a long term plan. It does involve getting Taiwan, eventually, at some point, but right now it feels like they’re watching and waiting. As you say, seeing nukes flying around is definitely not what they need. Nor is a world war come to that - the result would be too much out of control for Xi’s liking.

While it’s tempting to see this in an “us vs them” context, and note that they are indeed allied in a core ideology of authoritarianism, I don’t really see those countries named really working together in any organised way. Russia have long been after Ukraine, Iran are looking for something to unite a country that has had major issues with their rulers over recent years, China look like they have an eye on picking up the pieces of whatever happens and North Korea are anyone’s guess. It feels more like they’d take advantage of each other’s distractions rather than actively coordinate the overthrow of the west. Not sure whether that makes the situation any less dangerous but I don’t see them as some great united power. For one thing, none of those leaders would have any desire to share with the others.

Anyone else having trouble connecting to the Wordle page today? I can reach NYT Connections but Wordle just hangs.

It does grow thin. like his cartilages.

For what it’s worth I think it’s number 3. And if it had got through without being struck then they do the prisoner swap as planned and nobody’s any the wiser. Either way they experiment with Ukraine’s monitoring and response capabilities.

Three stand-out possibilities then, given it looks very much like Ukraine have taken the plane down: 1. It never contained any PoWs and Russia are just saying it did. 2. It contained PoWs and was a massive screw-up in communication. 3. It contained PoWs and Russia dangled it out as bait deliberately in order to get this result and embarrassment for Ukraine.

I’m fully expecting this, and his supporters will put tons of pressure on the Republican Party to achieve it. Could get really nasty when the moderates refuse.

DeSantis comes across to me as a wet wipe. So much for being the bright young thing of the Republican Party.

Just keep on doing what they have been doing and - in the case of the EU - look to increase military spending in case they can’t rely on the USA any longer. It’s tough because Putin’s known for his patience, but just keep facing him down. Try to bore him out of it. If that doesn’t work, just stick with it until he dies, even if that takes 20 years. There is no good answer or easy way to end it. The war ends when Putin or his successor decides it ends. If Russia says it ends tomorrow, it would end tomorrow. What would you do?

I’m not saying Putin would take him seriously. Only that he might decide Trump is best used as an opportunity to get a deal that suits his strategic goals, and that all he needs to do for that is to tell Trump how smart he is.

Well, there is something of a precedent. Just depends whether Putin feels patient enough for a break. I doubt he’ll mind Trump being painted as a great American statesman knowing that Europe can’t stand him and that it potentially moves them and America further apart, weakening NATO.

I could see Trump and Putin making a deal. Putin gets time to restructure the Russian economy; Europe is just glad they don’t have to think about it anymore; Trump says what a great statesman and deal-maker he is. Ukraine gets sold down the river completely of course, isolated in any objection and forced to accept a land grab diplomatically. Discussions start taking place for what remains of Ukraine to join NATO but it never happens. A few years down the line, probably but not certainly with Trump having left office, a few false flag operations take place and Putin launches his forces once again. At best, Putin finds Trump enigmatic and is uncertain how he would respond at any given point. At worst he sees him as an ally. Most likely he sees him as a useful idiot.

Even if it reined Trump in before the election it wouldn’t afterwards.

To be fair, the Daily Mail’s puzzles section do tend to do a good Word Wheel.