From Tuomas Malinen on Geopolitics and the Economy.
Unfortunately, I cannot start this week with a happy tune (but I guess you have gotten used to it ;)). On Sunday, I published a long thread on X, which dealt with the darkening situation in and around Ukraine. I and we at GnS Economics have been warning that President Trump is losing his initiative in Ukraine, which now looks almost complete. The thread started by asking, how can presidents Putin and Trump stop Ukraine from turning into their Vietnam?
My “advice” to President Putin was straightforward: Force the AFU (Armed Forces of Ukraine) and the Zelenskyy regime into surrender to avoid a wider European war. This is how I explained the situation President Zelenskyy is likely to be facing.
This analysis was based on the observation of Dr. Nicolai Petro that nationalistic (fascist) factions hold considerable power in Ukraine. The problem, as I see it, is that President Zelenskyy is unable to even negotiate on peace because of a threat of a (bloody) military coup. This is why either President Trump or President Putin needs to oust him from power and eliminate the fascist groups in Ukraine, which was done in the rest of Europe after WWII. Because President Trump looks to be failing on this, President Putin will need to act decisively, or we risk a European-wide war. In this entry, I will explain why developments on the ground hint that Russia might be planning something major and that the Kremlin is losing hope that a negotiated settlement could be found.
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