I was hoping for an upbeat conversation.
I was hoping that Mikhail Zygar, one of the few journalists who understands how Putin thinks, would come bouncing on to our live video chat and tell me that he was hopeful that, like Trump, he could see peace in Ukraine around the corner…
But sadly, no.
His read of the last four days is that Putin’s trip to meet Trump in Alaska successfully bought him exactly what he wants, which is more stalling time so he can continue the forever war.
And, that the European leaders who flew into DC to flank Volodymyr Zelensky in his meeting with Trump, came cynically just for the “photo opp,” to massage Trump’s ego, and, yes, also to bolster Zelensky, but without any expectation that the talks would get anywhere practically.
Further, Mikhail asks: what happens when we get to October? “I am really scared…”
That’s when the Norwegian parliament’s hand-picked committee meets to decide the winner of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. If Trump is selected, Mikhail asks, will he then walk away from trying to achieve peace in Ukraine?
And if he isn’t selected? Mikhail believes that might bring an even worse scenario.
Plus, listen to what Mikhail says about corruption among Ukrainian military elites who are driving Rolls Royces in vacation spots in Europe.
And his interpretation of the significance of the sweatshirt worn by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Alaska on Friday.
So, yes, I was hoping for a more optimistic conversation, but nonetheless I am always grateful for Mikhail’s no b.s. analysis.
“We should expect this war to continue,” he says.
“I am not happy. I feel pain and sorrow for the Ukrainian people….”
Hard to disagree with that.
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