Notes and Essays -- John Brown

From Space highlights Witkoff and Kushner were made to wait three hours for Putin — and the five-hour meeting produced nothing Knowledge Engine 🚂  ·  Follow Posted by  DRP   Dec 3 Trump’s associate Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner were kept waiting in the Kremlin for three hours before Putin finally appeared. And when the meeting finally started, the marathon five hours of talks led absolutely nowhere. According to multiple sources, there was zero progress on the so-called “peace plan.” Russia is sticking to its maximalist demands — the same unrealistic conditions that Ukraine and the West have rejected from day one. No compromises were found, and there are no plans for a Putin–Trump meeting. Ukraine, for its part, has made its red lines clear and is not stepping back from them. Any real negotiation will be a long, exhausting diplomatic process — not a quick fix delivered by unofficial envoys. For now, the war continues 💔 [...]

Analysis by Lauren Kent  CNN Business , Updated Dec 20, 2025, 2:37 PM   Russia's economic turbulence is unlikely to persuade President Vladimir Putin, pictured here at his annual end-of-year news conference, to negotiate an end to the war.   Alexander Nemenov/Reuters The Russian economy has been dealing with growing headwinds this year: unruly inflation, a ballooning budget deficit – due in part to massive military spending – and shrinking revenues from oil and natural gas.   Economic growth has also slowed sharply. But the gathering economic storm is unlikely to bring President Vladimir Putin to the negotiation table anytime soon to end the war in Ukraine. Analysts say the Kremlin could weather it for many more years at the current pace of fighting and with existing Western sanctions in place.  “If you look at the economy itself, it’s not going to be that ultimate straw that breaks the camel’s back,” said Maria Snegovaya, a senior fellow for Russia and Eurasia...

The Ukrainian leader cited progress on security guarantees, even as Russia bombed Ukraine overnight, indicating that it is prepared to continue fighting. Workers clearing debris from the roof of a heavily damaged residential building following a drone strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Tuesday. Credit... Roman Pilipey/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images By  Constant Méheut Reporting from Kyiv, Ukraine The New York Times , Dec. 23, 2025,  5:49 a.m. ET Russia unleashed an overnight barrage of missile and drone strikes against Ukraine on Tuesday, hours after President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said that the latest American-backed proposals for a peace deal between Kyiv and Moscow looked “quite solid,” even as he hinted at obstacles ahead in the talks. “There are certain things we are not prepared to accept,” Mr. Zelensky wrote on  social media  late on Monday about the peace proposals. “And there are things — of that I am sure — that the Russians are not prepared to accept...