Xiao Xinxin, our special correspondent in Russia

¡°It is very difficult, or even impossible, not to attack the ¡®invaders¡¯, to win the war.¡± US President Trump suggested on social media on 21 that he was open to Ukraine launching more attacks on Russia. He said, ¡°It¡¯s like a good defense team, but it¡¯s not allowed to attack. There¡¯s no chance at all to win!¡± Trump also accused former U.S. President Biden of ¡°incapacity,¡± because the latter ¡°does not let Ukraine counter-attack, but only defend.¡± Bloomberg said Trump suggested that Ukraine should proactively attack Russia, pressuring Russian President Putin.

In a subsequent post, Trump posted two photos. One was of him pointing at Putin's chest after meeting him in Alaska on the 15th; the other was a photo of Nixon, the then US vice-president of the last century, making a similar gesture to the then Soviet leader Khrushchev. The report believes that the United States is trying to increase pressure on Putin to agree to a separate meeting with Ukrainian President Zelensky. Trump appeared to use this to show a tough stance and refute criticism that he was too accommodating to Putin in his meeting with Putin. According to the report, Trump held a meeting with Zelensky and a number of European leaders at the White House on the 18th. After that, he instructed US government officials to coordinate with Russia and Ukraine to arrange a meeting between the leaders of Russia and Ukraine, followed by a trilateral meeting between the leaders of Russia and the United States. However, Russia has not yet made a commitment to the Russian-Ukrainian leaders' meeting, and the date and venue of the meeting have not yet been determined.

Photo by Trump in the post.

Speaking of the Ukraine issue, Trump said in an interview with a U.S. radio station on Monday that "in about two weeks" we can somehow know the outcome, after which the U.S. "may have to take other tactics."

According to a report by the British "Guardian" on the 21st, U.S. government officials revealed that Trump intends to temporarily withdraw from negotiations to mediate the Russia-Ukraine conflict and will not directly participate in it, but will let Putin and Zelensky arrange bilateral meetings on their own. Trump recently told advisers that he planned to hold a trilateral meeting between Russia, the United States and Ukraine after the first meeting between the leaders of Russia and Ukraine. A senior U.S. government official said that Trump is "wait-and-see" about whether a meeting between Russian and Ukrainian leaders can be arranged. There has been little substantive progress in recent days, and the White House does not have a list of possible locations for meetings.

Russian Foreign MinisterLavrovIn an interview with NBC on Tuesday, Lavrov said Putin was preparing to meet Zelensky when the agenda was ready, but "the agenda was not yet ready." Lavrov said that Putin made it clear that he was willing to meet as long as the meeting had a precise agenda, i.e. "a presidential agenda." Lavrov also suggested that U.U. was a factor in hindering the progress of the peace agreement. He said that Trump put forward some Russian identical views at the first US US meeting and that Russia was willing to "show some flexibility" on some issues.

According to the Ukrainian News Agency, Zelensky said in an evening video speech on the 21st that pressure must be put on Russia to force it to end the war. "Putin only understands force and pressure." Earlier, Zelensky said that Ukraine is ready to hold bilateral meetings between the leaders of Ukraine and Russia and trilateral meetings between the leaders of Ukraine, the United States and Russia, but if Russia refuses, Ukraine will ask the United States to impose new sanctions on Russia.

Bloomberg said on the 21st that in view of Russia's attitude, the West's efforts to provide security guarantees for Ukraine "encountered difficulties almost immediately," and doubts about the security plan are increasing day by day. According to reports, several senior European officials and diplomats said Lavrov seemed to "downplay" the prospect of a meeting between Putin and Zelensky. Russia's resistance to security guarantees actually "broke down negotiations between Russia and the United States" and it tried to delay the process. Russia may now try to persuade the United States to give up promoting security guarantees for Ukraine and downgrade the meeting between Putin and Zelensky to a meeting of lower-level officials to circumvent new U.S. sanctions against Russia.

The Russian side opposes the deployment of NATO troops in Ukraine, which is the principle position of the Russian side. The statement of Europe's attempt to send troops to Ukraine does not help the Russian-U.S. leaders to start the Russian-U.S. negotiation process after the meeting. The Russian "National Network" said on the 22nd that due to the opposition of the Russian side, the current stage of discussions on the deployment of European troops in Ukraine "seems meaningless", because this will be included in the agreement framework to end the conflict, and also requires the consent of all parties including Russia.

Further reading

Cow playing the piano: accusing Russia of being an "aggressor country" Trump has changed his face again

Source: The Playing Bull

Heraclitus, the Greek philosopher, once said, "Nothing lasts forever, nothing moves."

Only in Trump, this circulation seems to accelerate into a dizzying rhythm.

Trump has changed his face.

People who are paying attention to the situation in Russia and Ukraine suddenly have a new discovery: Trump has changed his face again?

On August 21, Trump suddenly posted two posts in a row, hinting on urging Ukraine to attack Russian mainland.

It should be known that less than a week ago, in Alaska, he also spoke with Putin; even when Zelensky and European leaders visited the White House, his thoughts were not shaken.

Here's what Trump said:

It is very difficult, if not impossible, to win the war without attacking the aggressor country. It's like a good team in sports, with excellent defense, but not allowed to attack, has no hope of winning at all! Such is the case with Ukraine and Russia.

He then said:

Dishonest and incompetent Joe Biden didn't let Ukraine fight back, only allowed it to defend. What was the result? In any case, if I were President at the time, this war would never have happened - the chances are zero. The future is full of hope!!!

Finally, three symbolic signs; signature: President Donald Trump.

At this juncture of the situation in Russia and Ukraine, what is Trump doing?

From this post, there are still a few new trends.

1. He accused Russia of being an aggressor country. All in all, this is the first time that Trump has characterized Russia in this way.

2. He rarely complained about Ukraine, hinting that he would provide Ukraine with offensive weapons and attack the Russian mainland.

3. He reiterated his consistent statement that if he were the president of the United States at that time, Russia and Ukraine would not be able to fight, and Biden is to blame.

He also vowed to mediate the conflict between Russia and Ukraine; The back foot fired fiercely again, encouraging Ukraine to attack Russia?

Does this represent a major shift in U.S. policy towards Russia?

Just in the suspicion of people, the impatient Trump posted two comparison photos.

At the opening ceremony of the American National Exhibition in Moscow in 1959, U.S. Vice President Nixon and Soviet leader Khrushchev held a fierce debate on the ideology of the West, as well as the nuclear war.

Because the two were standing in front of the kitchen utensils booth at that time, it was called the "kitchen debate".

Nixon pointed his right index finger at Khrushchev's chest, naturally showing his tough attitude towards the Soviet Union.

Trump should take it for comparison. Therefore, another picture he put is a picture of his right index finger pointing to Putin during the meeting in Alaska.

We often say that a picture is better than a thousand words.

But on the dissemination, we are more vigilant, with images and videos, and sometimes easier to deceive people.

Between appearance and reality, there is often a deep undeniable divide.

Trump handed Putin, showing his strength.But let¡¯s be more clear, a few days ago, he also laid on the red carpet and personally welcomed Putin at the airport.

Not to mention, Putin also pointed to Trump.

Trump personally welcomed Putin at the airport

Putin, are you strong or close?

But no matter what, the meaning of Trump's two photos and two tweets should be very clear.

At least three meanings.

The first one was handed over to Putin.

It should also pressure Putin that if he does not agree to a ceasefire, the consequences will be serious.The United States does not rule out providing offensive weapons to Ukraine, allowing Ukraine to attack Russian mainland.

As for the ¡°aggressive country¡±, it doesn¡¯t have to be too much.

Trump has a big mouth, and he even described going to Alaska as going to Russia.

We don't have to take it too seriously.

In international politics, words are often, as Nietzsche put it, "There is no truth, only interpretation", and everything depends on who is reading and why.

The second volume, passed to Europe and Ukraine.

Don¡¯t worry too much, I¡¯m not inclined to Russia; you see, I¡¯m not calling Russia an ¡°aggressor.¡±

Moreover, Biden was too bad to bind the hands and feet of Ukraine; if I launched, any offensive weapons could be provided.

Germany, why don't you also provide Taurus missiles!

The third is to be passed on to Trump critics.

Didn't you criticize me for being too polite and weak to Putin, and too overbearing and snobbish to Europe and Ukraine?

I have to say, many western cartoonists like to draw best now, that is, Trump is too attentive to Putin.

But look, there are people like me, Trump, who are tough on Putin.

It can be completely comparable to Nixon's versus Khrushchev.

And I have a lot of backbone, not excluding providing offensive weapons to Ukraine.

If you want to fight, then fight.

Of course, in Europe, you have the money ready to buy American arms first and then deliver them to Ukraine.

I always felt that these two tweets also showed two very distinctive features of Trump.

The first characteristic is his volatility and uncertainty.

The only thing we can be sure of in this world is Trump's uncertainty. Anyway, the one who can overthrow Trump will definitely be Trump in a few minutes.

We think the day-to-day change is a governing taboo; but for Trump, it¡¯s a regular meal.

There is a joke that said: Trump attended a meeting and finally made a decision, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief; but when Trump went out, he chatted with the doorman for a while, and he changed his mind again, making people go crazy...

The second characteristic is that he likes to show strength, but he is actually extremely smart.

Therefore, looking at his social account, he really criticizes the world.

Whether it was Macron, Stammer, or Merkel and Trudeau at that time, they were all scolded by him, not to mention Biden, who was picked out as targets by Trump every day.

Biden was helpless. Who said that in American politics, the one who misses him most is Trump.

But don't underestimate Trump's emotional intelligence.

Who to scold, how to scold, and when to scold is still very particular.

Machiavelli said in Monarchy that real power lies in the precise moment of showing power and compromise.

Some friends will analyze the above two tweets, even if the fierce criticism of Russia has even thrown off the unprecedented hat of "aggressor country", but Trump is not willing to name Putin, but will target Biden.

Biden, in the end, you are too incompetent.

There are comments joking that the above picture is "the six gates of the siege of the light top", and the below picture is "the seven great guys of Europe to the White House to listen to class."

Also, the seven European bosses went to the White House to collectively stand for Zelensky. In addition to letting them sit in small chairs and listen to his lectures at the White House, Trump avenged the "six major factions besieged Guangming Top" that year.

Looking at Western media reports, and also at this White House meeting, Von der Leyen spoke a lot about the disappearance of children, Trump was very unhappy, and even once asked Von der Leyen "to meet", because he wanted to talk to the real leader of the country.

A little tofu and a little water.

Aunt Feng, Aunt Feng, I wonder if there is such a thing?

Finally, back to the question at the beginning, has Trump changed his face?

His words changed, but he really didn't feel like he didn't. He just fired a few more empty words and made the headlines a few more times.

And even if it really changed, it will definitely come back in two days.

A 180-degree turn, and even a 360-degree 720-degree fox dance, for others, it is a big deal, but for Trump, it is not possible to take the hand.

What do you say, Putin?