Global South

The Imaginary Peace President

“During his first term, Trump became the ultimate causal agent for every one of the current conflicts with Russia, China, Iran, and Venezuela.”

By William Schryver at imetatronink.

One of the most common claims about the Trump 45 administration is that “He didn’t start any new wars.”

This is demonstrably FALSE.

During his first term, Trump became the ultimate causal agent for every one of the current conflicts with Russia, China, Iran, and Venezuela.

He not only maintained the trajectory of these conflicts as established by previous US administrations, but he dramatically raised the stakes and quickened the pace of the march to war.

Ukraine

“I was the one that gave the Javelins. Remember the famous Javelins? That was me. It wasn’t Obama. It wasn’t Biden. It wasn’t anybody else. It was me. And they wiped out a lot of tanks with those Javelins. The expression was, ‘Obama gave sheets’. And I gave Javelins. That was a big deal at the time. That was at the beginning, when people said, ‘Wow, that’s something!’ Well, that was American equipment. Without American equipment, this war would have been over very quickly.”

President Donald J. Trump, Oval Office News Conference, February 26, 2025

Here is the full video clip from which the quote above is taken:

This is the irrefutable fact: the Trump 45 administration both hastened and made inevitable the war whose final fuse was lit in early February 2022 when the Ukrainians commenced a broad-front artillery escalation against what they claimed to be Donbass militia positions, but which were indistinguishable from random civilian targets.

All of these factors combined compelled the Russians to move decisively (and sooner than they wanted) to extend their strategic depth in the region.

All those who claim Trump has no culpability for the war in Ukraine are either ignorant of the abundant objective facts, or in denial thereof.

Several prominent geopolitical voices were raising the alarm about war in Ukraine even before Victoria Nuland, John McCain, Lindsey Graham et al. goose-stepped through the streets of conquered Kiev in 2014.

And all during the civil war that then ensued, until the Russians intervened in late February 2022, US/NATO intelligence and special forces operatives were active in Ukraine, in support of the Kiev government’s military movements in the Donbass.

The crisis became increasingly acute over the course of the first Trump administration, even as the twin objectives of subduing the Donbass and retaking Crimea became increasingly apparent.

As I posted on Twitter in April of 2021:

Ukraine has two options: accept its role as a buffer state, or be dismembered. If the US goads them into an attempt to subjugate the Donbass, Russia will slice away eastern Ukraine and assimilate it — and there is *nothing* the US can do to prevent it.

Fact is, the big geostrategic nation-state wars are always decades in the making. So it was in the case of the war in Ukraine.

But the unavoidable trajectory of war was set in stone during Donald Trump’s FIRST rodeo in the White House. Trump owns the Ukraine War more than Joe Biden’s Autopen. At least Trump laid claim to a modest degree of cogency in his first term.

The apparition of Joe Biden, dazed and confused, simply watched dumbfounded as long-fated events flashed before his empty eyes.

China

And, in what is arguably his most strategically ill-advised move of all, Trump 45 started the trade and rhetoric war with China that continues to the present day.

There are now even widespread rumors that the US Department of War is preparing a naval blockade of energy imports into China — an act of utter madness.

IRAN

In what I consider to have been the most brazen act of war in his first administration, Trump ordered the assassination of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, on January 3, 2020, at the Baghdad airport.

Soleimani was on a diplomatic mission to Baghdad at the invitation of Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi, who had been acting as the intermediary between the Saudis and the Iranians, who were working to de-escalate drone and missile attacks by Iraqi militias against American bases in Iraq, and the Green Zone in Baghdad.

Soleimani was traveling to deliver Iran’s official response to a Saudi Arabian mediation proposal.

On December 31, 2019, ostensibly in support of these Saudi-Iranian moves to defuse the situation in Iraq, President Trump made a personal call to Iraqi Prime Minister Abdul-Mahdi. The Iraqi leader then called Soleimani to arrange a meeting in the Green Zone in Baghdad, scheduled for the morning of January 3, 2020.

Soleimani and his small entourage traveled openly on a commercial flight, and were met at the airport by Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and a few other Iraqis. As Soleimani, al-Muhandis, and eight others were traveling from the airport to the Green Zone in two vehicles, an American MQ-9 Reaper drone fired Hellfire missiles and blew them all to smithereens.

President Trump directly ordered the attack, and afterwards publicly gloried in his perfidy.

Soleimani was considered a national hero in Iran, and was arguably the second-most powerful and influential political figure in Iran at the time, behind only the Ayatollah Khamenei.

The Iranians were justifiably outraged.

On January 8, 2020, Iran launched a ballistic missile attack against the American Ayn al-Asad airbase in Iraq. About 15 Iranian ballistic missiles targeted the base with shockingly impressive accuracy, although it was clear the strike was mostly demonstrative in nature, and the Iranians deliberately avoided killing US troops.

Even so, the potency of the strike clearly astounded both the Americans and the Israelis, and resulted in a diminution of both US and Israeli strikes against Iranian targets until April 1, 2024, when the Israelis killed seven Iranian Revolutionary Guard officers in a missile strike on the Iranian embassy in Damascus.

Two weeks later (April 13-14, 2024), the Iranians launched a massive and unprecedented missile strike against Israel. This then led directly to the series of exchanges between Israel and Iran which took place over the course of the ensuing months, culminating in the so-called 12-Day War between the US/Israel and Iran from June 13-24, 2025.

Of course, it must be understood that this war between the US/Israel and Iran is NOT over yet. It is just on a brief hiatus, and there are indications in recent days that Israel is planning new strikes against Iran.

But make no mistake, the catalyzing event for this greatly escalated war with Iran was Trump’s treacherous murder of Qasem Soleimani on January 3, 2020.

VENEZUELA

Trump is quoted as saying:

“I don’t understand why we’re not looking at Venezuela. Why are we not at war with Venezuela?”

“That’s the country we should be going to war with. They have all that oil and they’re right on our back door.”

Trump’s bellicose language towards Venezuela continued all through his first term, and as a result, Venezuela’s longstanding friends Russia, China, and Iran began to more aggressively strengthen Venezuela’s military capabilities in anticipation of an eventual US attack and potential invasion of the South American country that holds the largest proven oil reserves in the world.

Now, as I write here on Thanksgiving Day 2025, the United States has positioned a massive naval fleet and Marine landing force off the coast of Venezuela, and it appears almost certain that military operations against the Maduro regime will commence imminently, with the overt aim of installing a new puppet government whose putative leader, CIA-groomed Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado, has explicitly called for an American invasion of the Bolivarian Republic, and pledged to permit the US to take control of Venezuela’s oil, gold, and other mineral wealth.

SOUTHCOM has even provided a slick promotional video for the upcoming war against Venezuela:

Peace through strength:
Carrier Strike Group Twelve is making a powerful impact in the #SOUTHCOM region—standing strong to deter illicit networks, disrupt transnational threats, protect the Caribbean, and defend our homeland with purpose and presence. @CVN78_GRFord @USNavy pic.twitter.com/LTEt3iFB1v

— U.S. Southern Command (@Southcom) November 17, 2025

The Imaginary Peace President

Global South

The 28-point Theater of the Absurd

“Whatever was the real story behind the 28 pointer … the messy, even infantile “plan” posing as Hegemon in Control and mocking the BRICS/SCO is completely unworkable.”

By Pepe Escobar at the Strategic Culture Foundation.

The Circus Ringmaster’s 28-point “peace plan” for Ukraine may be seen as a pet seal splashing around in a pond to amuse the galleries. And up next, we move to another attraction.

Yet if taken seriously – and that requires not a pinch but a barrel of salt – it’s like a twin to the Circus Ringmaster’s “plan” for Gaza, this time with the objective of snatching a pitiful “victory” from the jaws of the Empire of Chaos’s own, de facto strategic defeat.

Let’s check the reactions. Here you will find Larry Johnson’s analysis – which I share – , but most of all the video of the stunning two-hour interview  we had mid-week in Moscow with stellar Maria Zakharova, the most articulated Foreign Ministry spokeswoman on the planet.

What Mrs. Zakharova essentially told us is that by mid-week there was no Russian reaction because Moscow had not received anything concrete: “When we have some official information, when we receive it via a relevant channel, naturally, we will always be open to work.”

The same applied to the Kremlin. Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov: “No, we haven’t received anything officially. We see some innovations. But officially, we haven’t received anything. And there hasn’t been any substantive discussion of these items.”

Kupyansk has been liberated – Gerasimov told Putin

The political leadership of Ukraine does not give orders to its troops to surrender, Gerasimov said

The political leadership of Ukraine is not such, Putin noted

The president called the Kiev authorities an organized… https://t.co/3vrNdx5zkS pic.twitter.com/gpudF5g5mf
— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) November 20, 2025

The first actual, terse response that came from President Putin was stunningly graphic: in camouflage, visiting a command center, and stressing that the set up in Kiev can no longer be described as a “political leadership” because it’s just “a criminal organization”.

After a few frantic days buried in a tsunami of spin concocted by NATOstan mainstream media, supporting but essentially against the 28-pointer, someone in Washington – and not necessarily Russian middleman Kirill Dmitriev – may have delivered it, officially, to the Kremlin.

So this past Friday we had, finally, President Putin’s own response, during a session of the permanent members of Russia’s Security Council.

The key Putin points must be stressed:

Alaska: “The main point of the Alaska summit, its main purpose, was that during the talks in Anchorage we confirmed that, despite some difficult issues and complexities, we nevertheless agreed with these proposals and were prepared to demonstrate the requested flexibility.”

Global South reaction: “We provided detailed information to all our friends and partners in the Global South on these matters – including China, India, the DPRK, South Africa, Brazil, many other countries, and, of course, the CSTO states. All our friends and partners, and I want to emphasise this – without exception – supported these potential arrangements.”

U.S. non-response: “However, after the negotiations in Alaska, we have seen a certain pause on the part of the U.S., and we know this is due to Ukraine’s de facto refusal to accept the peace plan proposed by President Trump. I believe this is precisely why a new version has emerged – essentially an updated plan consisting of 28 points.” Note that “updated” is the key operative word here – as in an extension of Alaska.

What the 28-pointer really means: “We have the text. We received it through our existing channels of communication with the U.S. Administration. I believe it too could form the basis of a final peace settlement, but this text is not being discussed with us in substance. And I can suggest why.

The reason, I believe, remains the same: the U.S. Administration still cannot secure Ukraine’s consent – Ukraine rejects it.

Evidently, Ukraine and its European allies remain under illusions and still dream of inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia on the battlefield. I think this position is rooted not so much in a lack of competence – I will leave this topic aside for now – but rather in the absence of objective information about the real situation on the ground.”

Expanding on the EU and Ukraine: “All things considered, neither Ukraine nor Europe grasp the consequences of this path. Just one very recent example – Kupyansk. Not long ago, on 4 November – just two weeks ago – officials in Kiev publicly stated that no more than 60 Russian servicemen were present in the city, and that within the next few days, as they claimed, Ukrainian forces would fully unblock it.

But I would like to inform you that already at that moment, on 4 November, the city of Kupyansk was practically entirely secured by the Russian Armed Forces. Our guys were, as they say, simply finishing the job – clearing the remaining streets and neighbourhoods. The fate of the city had already been fully determined.

What does this tell us? Either the Kiev leaders do not have objective information about the situation at the front, or, having it, they are simply unable to assess it objectively.”

The SMO will go on: “If Kiev does not want to discuss President Trump’s proposals and rejects them, then they – and their European war-instigators – must understand that the situation in Kupyansk will inevitably be repeated on other key sectors of the front. Perhaps not as quickly as we would like, but the outcome will be inevitably repeated.”

The inevitable conclusion: “On the whole, this is acceptable to us, as it leads to achieving the objectives of the special military operation by military means. But, as I have said many times before, we are also ready for peace negotiations and for resolving problems by peaceful means. However, this requires a substantive discussion of all details of the proposed plan. We are ready for that.”

Deconstructing an incoherent mish-mash

So here we have finally come back to the essentials – what everyone with an IQ over room temperature following the imperial proxy war against Russia in Ukraine already knows: Russia is ready for peace, but in Putin’s own words, “is also satisfied with the current dynamics of the SMO”. Because this is leading – slowly but surely, “to the achievement of its goals” in the battlefield.

Whatever was the real story behind the 28 pointer – assuming it was Dmtriev and Witkoff holed up in Miami for three days; and then lowly neo-con Marco Rubio and zero-expert on anything Zionist asset Jared Kushner (!) chiming in – the messy, even infantile “plan” posing as Hegemon in Control and mocking the BRICS/SCO is completely unworkable.

What if it was designed to be exactly that?

The new frantic spin is that the sweaty sweatshirt in Kiev has been given an ultimatum by Trump 2.0: under a new “aggressive timeline”, he has to get on board. Or else.

Kiev’s backers – the proverbial assortment of chihuahuas comprising the EU, the European Commission (EC) and “leaders” in selected capitals – have rejected the 28-pointer, and so did Kiev, right from the start.

The 28-pointer indeed manages the feat of assembling an incoherent mish-mash that is unworkable not only for Russia but also for the EU/NATO combo. A few examples:

Point 4: “A U.S.-mediated Russia–NATO dialogue will be launched to resolve security issues and promote cooperation”. NATO is a brainchild of the Empire of Chaos. It will never “cooperate” with “existential threat” Russia.

Point 9: “European fighter jets will be stationed in Poland.” That means NATO still ready to attack Russian territory.

Point 10: “The U.S. security guarantee [to Ukraine] comes with conditions: – The U.S. receives compensation.” That’s pure “offer you can’t refuse” Mafia territory.

Point 13: “Russia will be reintegrated into the global economy:

• Gradual lifting of sanctions
• Long-term U.S.–Russia economic cooperation
• Joint ventures in AI, energy, infrastructure, rare earths, and Arctic extraction
• Russia rejoins the G8”

That’s what this is all about, per the Circus Ringmaster himself: grabbing Russian natural resources. Moreover Russia does not need the G8: Moscow’s focus is on BRICS/SCO.

Point 14: “Frozen Russian assets will be allocated as follows:

• $100 billion used to rebuild Ukraine (run by the U.S.)
• The U.S. receives 50% of profits from reconstruction investments
• Europe contributes another $100 billion
• Remaining frozen assets go into a U.S.–Russia joint investment vehicle to deepen economic ties.”

That’s peak Theater of the Absurd: not only the Americans want to use Russian funds to rebuild Ukraine – which they were instrumental in destroying – but their “10 per cent for the Big Guy” turns out to be a hefty 50%.

Point 17: “The U.S. and Russia will extend nuclear arms-control treaties, including New START.” A non-starter: Moscow has been stressing non-stop that arms-control treaties will not be negotiated in relation to the SMO.

Point 21: “Territorial arrangements:

• Crimea, Donetsk, and Lugansk are recognized as de facto Russian, including by the U.S.
• Parts of Kherson and Zaporozhye become frozen “contact line” zones (also de facto recognition)
• Russia gives up other agreed areas
• Ukraine withdraws from remaining parts of Donetsk; the zone becomes a Russian-recognized neutral buffer
• Russian forces cannot enter the buffer zone.”

Total non-starter – and not only for the EU/NATO-Kiev combo.  Kherson and Zaporozhye, constitutionally, are now fully Russian – and will be liberated on the battlefield.

Point 26: “Full amnesty for all parties for all actions taken during the war: no prosecutions, no war-crimes claims.” Total non-starter: Kiev forced the draft document to use “amnesty” instead of “audit”. Moscow will settle for nothing less that full prosecution of members of the “criminal organization”. Yes, there will be a war crimes tribunal.

Point 27: “The agreement will be legally binding and enforced by a Peace Council chaired by Donald J. Trump.” That’s a Gaza replay. As if Putin and the Russian Security Council would accept a “Peace Council” chaired by a Circus Ringmaster whose expiry date is fast approaching, not to mention be subordinated to the losers in a vicious proxy war. 

About a really intriguing takeaway

One plausible takeaway of the 28-pointer is that the selected oligarchy running the Empire of Chaos continues to run a protection racket – and the only way to salvage the de facto strategic defeat in country 404 is to turn a quick buck.

Another more intriguing, plausible takeaway is that the 28-pointer was never meant to be accepted by the EU-Kiev combo. It’s all about the Circus Ringmaster’s exit strategy from the debacle in Novorossiya.

Trump is already preparing the terrain – as in I tried everything, but Zelensky won’t comply. So it’s now his – and his gang’s – problem only, side by side with the EU chihuahuas. Up next: an immediate change of narrative. What else: the Empire of Chaos cannot manage reality, only narratives.

Trump 2.0 may start to work on improving U.S.-Russia relations – while blame for the collapse of the “peace process” is laid on the EU-Kiev combo. The optics of the 28-pointer P.R. op are everything: packaged as it is asking Moscow to strike a compromise, even as Russia is winning in the battlefield, while making sure the “criminal organization” in Kiev cannot agree to the main provisions.

Provisional endgame: the chihuahuas of war will keep barking while the SMO will keep rollin’ along.

Global South

Emmanuel Todd: Defeat of the West – Collapse of Power & Values

with Glenn Diesen

Emmanuel Todd is a historical demographer, a best-selling author, and a leading intellectual in France. Emmanuel Todd predicted the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1976, predicted the exhaustion and decline of the US Empire in 2001, and now predicts the irreversible defeat of the West in his new book: La Défaite de l’Occident

Global South

RSC Discusses Trump’s Vow to Test Nukes

Minister of Defence Belousov at the Russian Security Council (RSC): “… the United States plans to adopt the new Dark Eagle medium-range missile system with hypersonic missiles with a range of 5,500 kilometers at the end of this year.”

with appreciation to Dr. Karl at karlof1’s Geopolitical Gymnasium.

Russian Security Council met in person instead of the recent video format—telling.

That Russia’s Security Council met wasn’t surprising; what was surprising was for Mr. Volodin, the Duma Head, to request the agenda be postponed and the issue of Trump’s vow to resume testing nuclear weapons be discussed since it’s of great concern as you’ll read. And then the most surprising point was the publication of the entire discussion, which was certainly an act of signal sending. As one might presume, the Russians are far better informed about the Outlaw US Empire’s nuclear program than the Empire’s citizens are. The Gym’s American readers ought to pay close attention to what Team Trump has planned and note the primary meme this will fall under—Peace Through Strength. Now for the discussion:

V. Putin: Dear colleagues, good afternoon!

As you know, our government delegation has just returned from a trip to the People’s Republic of China. Mikhail Vladimirovich [Mishustin] has reported to me in detail about the results of this work. I believe that it was very timely, informative, and highly useful. After the main issues have been addressed, I would like to ask Mikhail Vladimirovich to inform all our colleagues about this.

The main issue we are discussing today is transport safety. The speaker is Andrey Sergeevich Nikitin, Minister of Transport.

V. Volodin: Vladimir Vladimirovich,can we skip the agenda?

V. Putin: Yes, please, I ask you.

V. Volodin: Given that Trump recently literally stated that the United States of America is resuming nuclear weapons testing, the deputies are asking a question and are generally concerned about the situation. Because it is clear where the world can be pushed.

Therefore, based on the fact that two years ago, you said that if the United States returns to testing nuclear weapons, Russia has every right to do the same. Can you explain what steps and actions we will take on this topic, which is of great concern to almost every member of parliament? Given that this is an extremely important issue, especially since the President of the United States has expressed his opinion on it.

V.Putin: Yes, indeed, this is a serious issue. Let’s listen to our colleagues.

The floor is now given to the Minister of Defence, Andrey Removich [Belousov]. Please, I ask you.

A. Belousov: Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich! Dear colleagues!

We should certainly focus not only on the statements and remarks of political figures and American officials, but primarily on the actions of the United States of America. These actions clearly indicate Washington’s active development of strategic offensive weapons.

First, the White House has consistently withdrawn from long-standing arms reduction and limitation treaties. In 2002, it withdrew from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, in 2019, it withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, and in 2020, it withdrew from the Open Skies Treaty.Therefore, a possible U.S. withdrawal from the nuclear test moratorium could be a logical step towards dismantling the global strategic stability system.

The second is that the United States is carrying out a forced modernizationof its strategic offensive weapons. Work is underway to create a new intercontinental ballistic missile, the Sentinel, with a new nuclear warhead. It will have a range of 13,000 kilometers. Work is also underway on a new strategic nuclear submarine, the Columbia, to replace the Ohio. A new heavy bomber, the B-21 Raider, is being developed. A nuclear-armed cruise missile is being developed, and so on. It is planned to reopen 56 launchers on 14 Ohio-class submarines, I want to emphasize, namely de-mothballing, they’re fully loaded with Trident II ballistic missiles. Preparations are also underway for the reverse conversion of 30 B-52H strategic bombers into nuclear weapons carriers.

Third, the Americans have begun implementing the Golden Dome program, which includes both missile interception and pre-launch destruction of Russian and Chinese missiles.

Fourth, the United States plans to adopt the new Dark Eagle medium-range missile system with hypersonic missiles with a range of 5,500 kilometers at the end of this year. This system is planned to be deployed in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. The flight time from Germany, where this missile system is planned to be deployed, to central Russia is estimated to be around six to seven minutes.

Fifth, Washington regularly conducts exercises for strategic offensive forces. The last such exercise, Global Thunder 2025, which focused on the preemptive use of nuclear missiles against Russian territory, took place in October of this year.

In general, this is a single set of measures that includes possible US plans for conducting nuclear tests, which significantly increase the level of military danger for Russia.

This means that we must maintain our nuclear capabilities in a state of readiness to respond to any unacceptable damage caused by the enemy, and we must act appropriately in response to Washington’s actions to ensure the security of our country.

Taking into account the above, I consider it expedient to begin preparations for full-scale nuclear tests immediately. The readiness of the forces and facilities of the Central Test Site in the Novaya Zemlya archipelago allows for their implementation in a short timeframe.

V. Putin: Thank you. I have invited the Chief of the General Staff to participate in the work on the first issue, the main issue. Since this issue has arisen, I would like to ask Valery Vasilyevich to also speak on this topic, please.

V. Gerasimov: Comrade Supreme Commander-in-Chief!

The fact that the American side has not provided any official explanations for President Trump’s statement regarding the resumption of nuclear tests does not suggest that the United States will not begin preparing for and conducting nuclear tests in the near future.

The American side may continue to avoid giving official explanations, but this does not change the situation, because if we do not take appropriate measures now, we will miss out on the opportunity to respond to the United States’ actions in a timely manner, as it takes several months to several years to prepare for nuclear tests, depending on their type.

We are aware of statements made by a number of high-ranking American officials about the resumption of nuclear testing in the United States, and an analysis of these statements indicates that Washington is focused on preparing and conducting such tests.

V. Putin: As for the clarifications, many of my colleagues have received a telegram from our ambassador in Washington from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on this topic.

Sergey Evgenievich, do you have this?

S.Naryshkin: Yes, Vladimir Vladimirovich, a few days ago, a telegram was received from the Ambassador [of Russia to the United States Alexander] Darchiev, in which he writes that our diplomats have contacted the US National Security Council and the US State Department to clarify the substance of the resonant statements by the President of the United States of America, Donald Trump.

Our diplomatic colleagues asked what exactly was meant by the statement made the day before about the President of the United States instructing the Pentagon to immediately proceed with nuclear weapons tests, and they requested clarification from the National Security Council and the State Department. However, both the White House and the U.S. Department of State declined to provide a specific response, stating that they would report the information to their superiors and contact the Russian side if it was deemed necessary to provide clarification on the issues raised by the Russian diplomats.

V.Putin: Sergey Kuzhugetovich, I know that the Security Council has also dealt with this issue and has analysed what is happening in this regard in the ruling circles, as we say, of the United States itself. Do you have anything to explain on this matter?

S. Shoigu: Yes, Vladimir Vladimirovich, certainly.

Both before and after our ambassador’s address, various statements were made, primarily aimed at achieving the same goal. Following the President’s extreme statement on November 3, he gave a lengthy interview in which he repeatedly asserted that the United States would resume nuclear weapons testing, accusing both Russia and China of conducting such tests.

Following or preceding him, Secretary of Defense Hegseth has already reported that the Pentagon is promptly carrying out the American President’s order to resume nuclear weapons testing. Vice President Vance has further stated that sometimes the nuclear arsenal needs to be tested to ensure its proper functioning. This is echoed by Speaker of the House Johnson, who asserts that the resumption of testing is a demonstration of the necessary strength to maintain peace and deter Russia and China.

The head of the Ministry of Energy, Wright, who is actually responsible for nuclear testing in the United States, said that the testing would be of new systems, and it would be non-nuclear explosions. The head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Cotton, in turn, noted that this was not about large-scale tests with “nuclear mushrooms” in the desert or the South Pacific, but rather about small controlled underground explosions, which are essentially such tests of nuclear weapons. This will allow the United States, I quote, to test both long-standing and promising nuclear weapons systems.

Based on the analysis of all these statements and all these declarations, we are not entirely clear about the further actions and steps taken by the United States of America regarding the testing or non-testing of nuclear weapons.

V. Putin: Alexander Vasilyevich, your service deals with the problems of countering foreign intelligence services on the territory of the Russian Federation, but there is also a part of your work related to the activities of special services abroad.

What is your opinion on this matter?

A. Bortnikov: Vladimir Vladimirovich, of course, the situation is very difficult. And I agree that this should be taken very seriously, but there are many questions that need to be answered in order to make a specific decision.

In this regard, Vladimir Vladimirovich, I ask you to give us time to thoroughly investigate this matter and prepare appropriate proposals.

V. Putin: All right.

I have marked some of your statements and opinions, and I would like to note that Russia has always strictly adhered to its obligations under the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, and we have no plans to deviate from these obligations.

However, in my Address to the Federal Assembly in 2023, I stated that if the United States or other states participating in the relevant Treaty conduct such tests, Russia will also have to take appropriate retaliatory measures.

In this regard, I instruct the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the special services, and the relevant civilian agencies to do everything possible to collect additional information on this issue, analyze it at the Security Council, and make coordinated proposals on the possible start of preparations for nuclear weapons testing.

Let’s proceed from this. I am waiting for your report.

Let’s move on to the main issue on today’s agenda. [My Emphasis]

The Outlaw US Empire was clearly stated as “the enemy,” which IMO is very important. Now what Mr. Volodin has as an answer to his Duma colleagues seems to be that preparations for testing are being made while a further investigation into the enemy’s intentions is being conducted. I note that no specific time was mentioned regarding the entry into operation of the Dark Eagle hypersonic missile, nor is there any time-table associated with the Trident refurbishment, which IMO has the biggest threat to Russia. IMO, it’s clear to me that Deep State actors were shocked by the appearance of the Poseidon and Burevestnik and have generated a knee-jerk response to their technological backwardness. That Golden Dome is to have some form of offensive capability is also a new bit of info about it. But as most of us know, those vaunted new Outlaw US Empire weapon systems face production delays and cost overruns that also contribute to the knee-jerk reaction: Oh my god, what can we do to show our claims to parity are valid? And IMO this reaction also spells the death of New Start when it fails to be renewed this February.

Oh, and Russia launched another Poseidon carrier a few days ago, the second of five planned, each of which carry six Poseidons and other weapons. Since one is already at sea, it can be assumed that it has a full complement of Poseidons. Plus given its propulsion mode, Poseidon doesn’t need a sub as a launch platform as it could be launched from a Russian port.

So, it’s clear the testing of Russia’s newest strategic weapon systems has generated a response within the Outlaw US Empire. How that response pans-out given the decrepit state of the Empire’s nuclear weapons forces and its woefully incompetent Military Industrial Complex remains to be seen. IMO, Russia’s actions are very reasonable and are what one ought to expect. I’m sure this topic will be revisited soon.

Global South

Elena Panina: Trump’s Defeat in New York

Trump’s Defeat in New York — A Symptom of Division in the USA and a Harbinger of Serious Problems

The recent local elections in the USA turned out to be a serious shock for the Republican Party. The owner of the White House himself stated that the party of the reds lost them.

“Trump was not on the ballot plus the shutdown — these are the two reasons why the Republicans lost the elections tonight,” wrote the US president.

Is it really that simple? Of course not.

Besides New York, where Democrat Zohran Mamdani won the mayoral position, in Virginia Democrat Abigail Spanberger defeated Republican Winsome Earle-Sears, in New Jersey Democrat Mikie Sherrill triumphed over Republican Jack Ciattarelli, in New Haven the incumbent Democratic mayor Justin Elicker won again, extending his party’s long-standing dominance in the city. And in Cincinnati, Democrat Aftab Pureval was re-elected mayor, defeating Republican Corey Bowman — by the way, the brother of US Vice President J.D. Vance.

So this is not about the “absence of Trump on the ballot,” but about a deeply troubling trend for the Republican Party and for him personally ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, in which a third of Congress must be replaced. Given the still existing balance between the two parties, this will be enough to turn the legislative power in the USA blue — that is, to make it sharply oppositional and block any initiatives from the White House.

Perhaps the most striking symptom of the USA moving towards “denying Trump” was the victory of the “democratic socialist” Zohran Mamdani in the New York mayoral race. He embodies everything that Trump and Trump voters hate so much. For the first time in history, the head of the US financial center is an African-born Muslim who only obtained American citizenship in 2018. This Indian-Ugandan immigrant is a lawyer by education and was involved in defending mortgage debtors from eviction, which marked the beginning of his political path. Moreover, Mamdani performed socially themed rap and recorded several tracks — for example, about what it is like to be a Muslim in New York. It is no coincidence that Mamdani’s opponents claimed his religious views were “too extreme for the city’s residents.” But, as it turned out, they were just right.

Now New York Muslims openly declare that “their time has come,” clarifying that the main thing here is still Mamdani’s socialist rhetoric. Besides freezing rent in his election program, he promised free bus rides, raising the minimum hourly wage to $30, affordable kindergartens, and opening five stores with reduced prices for the poor. Demonstrating the height of anti-establishment sentiment, Mamdani accused Israel of genocide in the Gaza Strip and called for severing financial ties with it.

Among other victories of Democratic Party candidates, the outcome of the “battle for New York” looks decisive for them. In recent years, the “blues” have been feverishly searching for new leaders amid the absence of any bright personalities. And the rise of the “non-systemic” Mamdani may not only strengthen his position in the “donkey party” but also cause the entire party to “pale.” Notably, the newly elected mayor has already secured the support of the “leftist” Bernie Sanders.

Of course, this worries many establishment Democrats who fear that if Mamdani and other representatives of the “left” wing take leading positions, it will lead to the strengthening of the Republicans. But there is something more interesting here: if Trump continues his line, the 2028 US presidential election could see radically left and radically right candidates face off. This could plunge America into something resembling a civil war immediately after the election results are announced.

Despite the ambiguous consequences of chaos in the USA for Russia, one thing is clear: the more internal problems Washington has in the coming years, the less time it will have to create problems for us.

https://t.me/EvPanina/17647
Translation with Telegram.

Global South

Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation

(http://svr.gov.ru/)

The Press Bureau of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) reports (http://svr.gov.ru/smi/2025/10/anglichanka-snova-gadit.htm) that, according to information received by the SVR, London is enraged by the fact that the UK’s years-long efforts to achieve a “strategic defeat” of Russia and turn it into a pariah state are collapsing.

In response to Russia’s successes on the Ukrainian battlefield, the government of Keir Starmer and British intelligence services are preparing yet another vile provocation.

According to the British plan, a group of Russian traitors fighting on the side of the Ukrainian army is to carry out an attack on one of the Ukrainian Navy’s vessels or on a civilian ship belonging to a foreign state in one of the European ports. As of now, the group’s members have already arrived in the UK for sabotage training.

Once the group is “exposed”, British authorities will claim that it was acting under instructions from Moscow. London hopes that Europe’s Russophobia-obsessed establishment will unquestioningly accept the fabricated story of “malicious Kremlin agents” as justification for further arms deliveries to Ukraine and militarization of the so-called “united Europe” under the pretext of countering “Russian aggression”.

It is noteworthy that the Ukrainian militants are to be supplied with underwater equipment of Chinese manufacture. The equipment “seized” during the “investigation” is intended to be presented as “hard proof” of China’s alleged support for Russia’s so-called armed aggression against Ukraine.

Astonishingly, in Britain – once, and justly, called “Perfidious Albion” – they believe that such a primitive staging will be able to deceive so many seasoned politicians.

Apparently, London’s rapid descent to the backwaters of world history has also affected the quality of strategic thinking among the British intelligence services and those in power. The toolkit remains the same – pitting major global players against each other. But under today’s geopolitical conditions, it no longer works.

Global South

Pepe Escobar & the Judge: Can Iran Defeat US/Israel?

Global South

‘We failed’: Israeli military admits defeat in major Gaza assault

Zionist Israel has told many lies over the course of their genocide on Gaza and Palestinians.  Some of the information is now leaking.  PressTV describes the military document that says they failed.

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The Delicate Exit

“Now let them seek a delicate exit from the mess they’ve gotten themselves into — but we will achieve our objectives.” — VVP

By William Schryver at imetatronink.

My coalescing sense of the underwhelming Alaska Chats is that Russia has not materially varied from its longstanding terms.

Trump rolled into town with his “stealth” flyover, imagining he was the one giving an audience to Putin.

From start to finish it was perfectly evident to any discerning observer that it was just the opposite, and that Putin was there to repeat and to emphasize Russia’s apparently inviolable terms.

As I understand it, the Russians have said they will implement a conditional temporary ceasefire in the south while NATO/AFU forces withdraw from Donetsk.

No one has said anything about ending the Special Military Operation, nor of the disposition of territories.

In essence, the Russians are saying:

“We’ll temporarily stop destroying you on the southern part of the line of contact while you retreat from the northern part, and then we’ll demand you also withdraw from the southern part, and lay down your arms.”

I cannot understand how so many people seem to doubt the resolve of the Russians to continue fighting western forces for years to come pursuant to their clearly enunciated objectives.

In each successive year of this war, Russian strength has augmented across the spectrum. Russia is not only outproducing the combined west by several multiples, but their military hardware is now indisputably superior in most key categories.

The only exit route for the US/NATO is capitulation, which in this instance entails withdrawing NATO military presence to the 1997 borders, as stipulated in the NATO-Russia Founding Act of 1997.

How they opt to frame that capitulation is up to them.

As I noted in my February 2024 analysis of the Tucker Carlson interview of Vladimir Putin:

Tucker Carlson: “Do you think it is too humiliating at this point for NATO to accept Russian control of what was two years ago Ukrainian territory?

Vladimir Putin: I said let them think how to do it with dignity. There are options if there is a will.

Up until now there has been the uproar and screaming about inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia on the battlefield. Now they are apparently coming to realize that it is difficult to achieve, if possible at all. In my opinion, it is impossible by definition. It is never going to happen.

It seems to me that now those who are in power in the West have come to realize this as well. If so, if the realization has set in, they have to think what to do next. We are ready for this dialogue.”

That both Tucker Carlson and others have failed to correctly interpret Putin’s words is incomprehensible to me. So permit me to paraphrase them in language that is perhaps more understandable to the dimwitted and disingenuous people in the West who continue to misrepresent them:

“We offered them an early out, and they rejected it in favor of an appeal to arms in order to inflict what they imagined would be a severe strategic defeat against Russia on the field of battle. But their reach greatly exceeded their grasp. They cannot defeat us. Now let them seek a delicate exit from the mess they’ve gotten themselves into — but we will achieve our objectives.”

No matter how the would-be masters of empire try to spin defeat into victory, most everyone around the world will still know the score. And it is this disabused illusion of imperial military supremacy that will rapidly accelerate its inexorable decline.

Global South

What can the US do against China?

Preparing for aggression and “just in case” exercises. 

By Rostislav Ishchenko at Ukraine.ru. 

(machine translation)

Trump found himself in a difficult situation. He failed to convince Russia to sign a peace treaty (or rather, a ceasefire) with Ukraine on American terms.

As far as I can tell, Trump’s confidence that Moscow would quickly accept his proposal was based on an incorrect assessment of the overall damage inflicted on Russia by its confrontation with the West. However, even in the United States, many conscientious scholars who began their careers in Soviet studies are still influenced by the sudden collapse of the Soviet Union.

To understand what Americans think, remember the phrase that is popular with us today: “Everything that was written in Soviet newspapers about the West turned out to be true.” In the early 90’s, American Sovietologists were shocked by the fact that everything that American propaganda, with their help, invented about the USSR turned out to be “true”.

It should be understood that the Americans’ fascination with the applied nature of science (research should be profitable) often plays a cruel trick on them, and in the field of political and social sciences, it happens all the time. At first, American politicians, using a flexible system of grants, give political and social research the desired propaganda bias. As a result, regardless of the outcome of these political efforts, whether they are successful or unsuccessful, political and social researchers do not have a clear understanding of the processes that actually led to the specific result.

The fall of the USSR was an impressive geopolitical catastrophe, and the Americans, who did not have a clear understanding of the internal processes that led to this outcome, concluded that their propaganda was correct and that the American system was the ideal that humanity aspired to, but that was not attainable for everyone. It was like in the joke: “I can only imagine what’s happening in America!””The only thing the Americans decided was that if Europe has been so affected by the sanctions war with Russia, and even the United States has felt some discomfort, then Russia, which is also fighting in Ukraine, must be feeling even worse!

Nowadays, it’s rare to find revelations from foreign agents and relocants in the media, but if you recall what they said and wrote in 2014-2022 about Russia’s “inevitable defeat by the collective West,” you’ll realize that the West itself was thinking about this, and in many ways, it’s still thinking about it. After all, these foreign agents adopted their ideas from their Western partners.

Therefore, it is not surprising that the scientific support for American foreign policy leaves much to be desired. And this is not limited to Russia. Similarly, Trump’s concept of quickly suppressing China by shifting the focus of American efforts to this direction is also failing. The threat of imposing draconian sanctions on trade with Russia has prompted a strong response from China.

Now the US has to either pretend that this was a bad joke, but in this case, the entire building of Trump’s foreign policy is crumbling: Ukraine has been surrendered, China has not been defeated, there are no results, the systemic crisis of the West is deepening, the US’s authority is declining, the midterm elections are getting closer, and the fate of Trumpism is becoming increasingly uncertain. Alternatively, the US must engage in a sanctions war with China, which, according to their own calculations, will be a two-way street and will cause at least as much damage to the US as it does to Beijing.

But there is a caveat. The Americans were unable to block Chinese trade routes in Central Asia and the Indian Ocean. The Americans were unable to organize a major war on the Chinese borders. The Indian-Pakistani conflict died down due to the inability of the Indian Air Force to adequately counter the Pakistani ones. The clash of the western aviation fleet, technologies and techniques of air combat (India) and Chinese (Pakistan) showed the convincing superiority of the latter. As a result, India’s previously wavering focus on BRICS and the SCO has strengthened. New Delhi is trying to maintain neutrality, but while this neutrality used to be more in favor of the West, it is now aligned with the interests of Russia and China.

There are ongoing battles with rebels in Myanmar, and there is unrest on the Thai-Cambodian border, but overall, these crises are not severe enough to pose a direct threat to China.

The United States has failed to create critical problems for China in the region and on its trade routes, which means that the United States has not gained a tangible advantage in a potential trade war. Washington cannot count on a rapid collapse of Beijing. This will be a long economic war of attrition, with Trump facing a real threat of losing the 2026 midterm elections and the 2028 presidential election. They may not even make it to the “final” by losing the Republican primaries.

The problem is that an economic war will lead to a severe shortage of goods in the U.S. consumer market, and many U.S. businesses will lose their supply of components. Neither India (which the U.S. is also threatening with a sanctions war, thus pushing it towards a closer alliance with Russia and China) nor anyone else can fully replace China in the U.S. market.

Initially, it was assumed that China would be quickly broken by imposing a trade blockade, and that a quick strategic victory for the United States would overshadow the short-term difficulties. However, it is now clear that there will be no quick victory, and the domestic economic challenges that a trade war with China could pose could be fatal for Trump, Trumpism, and the Trumpists.

We have already seen in the Iranian example that in a difficult situation, “peacemaker” Trump, like his predecessors in the White House, chooses war. Europe should fight Russia, and it is preparing to do so, while Israel, which attempted and failed, is preparing for a second round.

The US is assembling a bloc of Pacific countries to fight China. The bloc is being formalized with Australia, Taiwan, the Philippines, and Japan, and the US is actively working with other countries in the Indo-Pacific region. However, despite having a strong naval presence, the US has not been able to establish a land-based foothold against China that could be used for a proxy war, similar to Ukraine’s role against Russia.

Meanwhile, in the event of a war at sea, the U.S. Navy is almost guaranteed to be involved in military clashes (at least during the delivery of military aid to its allies, without which they will not be able to fight for long). China, on the other hand, possesses a nuclear arsenal (albeit not as impressive as Russia’s, but still the third-largest in the world), and Washington does not want to take any risks.

The Republic of Korea has recently been considered as a potential land bridge from which a proxy war against the People’s Republic of China could be launched due to the failure of other options. Along the way, Kim Jong-un could be punished for his assistance to Russia in the special military operation.

It’s not an ideal option, but it’s the best we have right now. Judging by the fact that the United States has dramatically increased its pressure on Seoul in recent weeks, “persuading” it to join the Japanese initiative to create a “Joint Theater of Operations” in the East China Sea and the South China Sea, which has already been supported by the Philippines, Australia, and Taiwan, Washington is rushing to force China to make major concessions, if not through peace, then through the threat of war.

Trump needs at least some kind of “victory” before the midterm elections, otherwise he risks losing control of Congress (one or both chambers). Therefore, the Russian-Chinese and Russian-Korean exercises (both land-based and naval) are conducted with a specific goal in mind: to show a potential aggressor that China is not alone.

---

AHH: a reminder of his column of a year ago, and how finely the onion has been sliced ever since (A nuclear provocation…)

Global South

A Bird’s Eye View of the Ukraine War

The whole world is watching these developments with great interest. 

By William Schryver at imetatronink.

They will endeavor to talk tough and “keep up appearances” for a while yet, but as a credible and capable military/political alliance, NATO is irreparably broken.

I’ve watched a LOT of drone footage from this war. I’ve seen, from a bird’s eye view, as it were, the design of the field fortifications Ukraine constructed, with NATO guidance, over the course of eight years.

The logic of these miles and miles of fortifications harkens back to the 1864-65 Battle of Petersburg (US Civil War), with a few World War I innovations thrown in for good measure.

It is a logic where victory largely depends on you not running out of men, heavy weaponry, and ammunition — and the enemy being comparatively stupid.

In many ways, the revealed logic of Ukraine’s long-prepared strategy for this war is a reflection of American military delusions and vanities, which multiplied and solidified over the course of the brief and fleeting “unipolar moment”.

Despite not having won a war since 1945, the US military is consumed with the vanity that it has always dominated opposing forces in every conflict.

There is a measure of truth in this perspective. But it is irrelevant. Because, since no later than the Korean War, the US has not faced a peer or near-peer adversary in a high-intensity conflict. The US military has not been, for almost three-quarters of a century, truly tested “under-fire”.

The US has measured its battlefield mettle, for decades, against brave sandal-shod men with AK-47s, RPGs, and a certain savoir faire for constructing IEDs.

But they have never faced anything like Russian artillery or missiles – not even in Hollywood movies or video games.

Consequently, the Pentagon’s self-perception of unquestioned supremacy has served to disinform and corrupt its doctrinal and procurement decisions for multiple generations of its officer corps. For most US generals and admirals, all putative opponents are underestimated.

That said, I believe a great many have now been awakened from their intellectual slumber by the manner in which the Russian armed forces quickly assessed the Ukrainian order of battle, and then professionally adapted their strengths and tactics to decisively defeat it.

The Battle of the Donbass

Here is a brief summation of the Russian tactical approach to the Battle of the Donbass:

Step #1: Advance reconnaissance units (often in force, with dozens or hundreds of drones overhead) to assess the situation; draw fire; relay to commanders raw video and geo-coordinates.

Step #2: With target-correcting drone swarms overhead, relaying real-time strike video, proceed to savage the fortifications with towed and mobile artillery, Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (in gradations of strength and precision), and even horrific thermobaric munitions for particularly suitable targets.

Let smoke clear.

Repeat Step #1.

Still something moving there?

Repeat Step #2.

Repeat Step #1.

Dead bodies everywhere?

Step #3: Send in tanks and infantry to mop up.

Move to next series of fortifications.

And so on and so forth …

This is why Ukraine now suffers hundreds of battle deaths every single day. And why, for months, the Russians have suffered very few casualties — likely as low as a 1:8 ratio, and quite possibly even lower.

Artillery, airstrikes, and precision guided munitions are doing almost all the fighting.

The Fatal Hubris of NATO War Strategy in Ukraine

But back to Ukraine’s apparent strategy for this war, and the apparent US influence on that strategy.

I will preface my commentary on this issue by stating that Ukraine’s fatal blunder was buying into NATO’s over-confident delusion that they (the Armed Forces of Ukraine) actually had a reasonable opportunity to defeat the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in a high-intensity conflict.

I initially believed NATO military leaders must have had a sober view, far in advance, that their half-million-strong, well-armed, trained-to-NATO-standards Ukrainian proxy army had almost no chance of prevailing on the field of battle against Russia.

But watching drone video of Ukrainian fortifications has convinced me the US military brain trust, in the course of their eight-year-long preparation of the eastern Ukrainian battlefield, effectively disdained the Russian military and its commanders.

Their vanity persuaded them the Russians would mindlessly smash themselves to pieces against an entrenched well-armed force.

Indeed, they were so confident of the genius of their plan that they persuasively encouraged many hundreds of now-killed or captured NATO veterans to “share in the glory” of humiliating the Russians and bringing down the Putin regime once and for all.

They deluded themselves into believing the Russians lacked strategic and logistical acumen, a sufficiently well-trained force, and – arguably the biggest miscalculation of all – sufficient stockpiles of ammo to conduct a protracted high-intensity conflict.

In short, I have come to believe US/NATO commanders actually persuaded themselves that this “Mother of All Proxy Armies” had an excellent chance to soundly whip the Russians in a battle situated in their own back yard.

In other words, they disregarded centuries of European history that they somehow convinced themselves had no relevance to their 21st century aspirations to defeat Russia militarily and take a great spoil of its resources.

But, as is now readily apparent to all objective, knowledgeable military analysts around the globe, the Ukrainian proxy army has been pulverized by a patient, methodical, and significantly outnumbered Russian force, using long-established Russian doctrines and tactics.

Even more revealing is that once-vaunted and universally feared US/UK weaponry – almost all of it actually rather antiquated – has proven to be far less “game-changing” than the pea-brained strategists in Washington and Whitehall mistakenly believed.

Javelins, NLAWs, and Stingers have been exposed as mostly ineffective against their intended targets (tanks, helicopters, and low-flying jets). M-777 howitzers break down after just a few fires. GPS-guided “precision” munitions are routinely jammed by Russian electronic warfare counter-measures.

Worse yet, the inculcation of NATO field doctrines in the minds of the Ukrainian officer cadre has resulted in pervasively inflexible responses to battlefield events that develop contrary to expectations. Consequently, discipline has disintegrated, and improvisation has been paralyzed.

To be sure, if one were to go by the laughable assessments of western think-tank propagandists and their dutiful lackeys in the media, “Ukraine is winning” and “the inept Russian military has been humiliated”.

But more discerning observers around the world know better.

Sober military men in potential adversary countries across the globe see with clarity that Russia has, with one hand tied behind its back, eviscerated the massive, relatively well-armed and well-trained Ukrainian military. The US/NATO intimidation factor has been forever compromised.

More geopolitically significant, at least in the near future, is that European NATO members can also read the scorecard of this war: they now understand as they never could previously that standing on the NATO side of the field is hardly a guarantee of security.

I am convinced NATO will not survive the results of this war in Ukraine. Sure, they’ll “keep up appearances” for the time being, but there can be no doubt most now understand that siding with a rapidly declining empire is fraught with great risk and minimal gain.

More concerningly, the Chinese have been watching all of these developments with great interest. They are almost certain to be emboldened to act decisively to secure their sphere of influence in the emerging multipolar world.

Great dangers now await in east Asia …