Houston?
We have a problem!
Things are going sideways back in America ABOUT the Ukraine….
Republicans are talking about cutting the amount of money and support President Biden has be sending to the Ukraine…(Other EU and NATO nation’s would surely follow suit)
Now?
A group of Democrats are saying that they want a reluctant President Joe Biden to step ‘past’ Ukrainian President Zelensky to make a ‘deal’ with Russian President Putin….
This IS gonna be problematic for Joe Biden ….
For NOW….
But in the end?
This dog agree’s that the American President, whether he likes it, or not?
IS gonna have to get involved in ending the conflict…
That does NOT mean dictating the terms….
It IS Zelensky’s country that IS getting bombed….
He DOES have the final word for his people…..
It DOES mean getting the parties to the table and YES helping set the ‘deal’ to save lives and suffering….
And helping the world and Ukraine and Russian economies recover from this which HAS to have a end game…It CANNOT go on for years…The reality is the West, The Ukraine and even Russia cannot afford it….
In the letter, the 30 Democrats led by Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, call on Biden to pair the unprecedented economic and military support the United States is providing Ukraine with a “proactive diplomatic push, redoubling efforts to seek a realistic framework for a cease fire.”
The Democrats are specifically concerned that the United States is not engaging in regular dialogue with Russia as part of its effort to end a protracted war that has caused thousands of deaths and displaced 13 million people. The Biden administration has been adamant that it is up to Kyiv whether and when to negotiate with Russia, arguing that Ukrainians as a free people should decide their fate.
Many Democrats fiercely pushed back on the letter, prompting Jayapal to put out a statement later on Monday “clarifying” the position the progressives outlined in the letter, stressing that they still supported Ukraine and Biden’s commitment to ensure Ukraine is represented in any discussions about its future.
“Let me be clear: we are united as Democrats in our unequivocal commitment to supporting Ukraine in their fight for their democracy and freedom in the face of the illegal and outrageous Russian invasion,” Jayapal said. “Diplomacy is an important tool that can save lives — but it is just one tool.”
Some Russia experts say Moscow will only negotiate with the United States, a fellow superpower. The lawmakers say that opening must be seized given the war’s spreading devastation, adding, “The alternative to diplomacy is protracted war, with both its attendant certainties and catastrophic and unknowable risks.”
The lawmakers also noted that Biden himself has said there will eventually have to be a negotiated settlement, though he has never said when.
“Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine. It’s their territory. I’m not going to tell them what they should and shouldn’t do,” Biden said in June. “But it appears to me that, at some point along the line, there’s going to have to be a negotiated settlement here. And what that entails, I don’t know.”
The liberal Democrats note that the war’s disastrous consequences are increasingly felt far beyond Ukraine….
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For now, their position remains a minority in the Democratic Party, which has overwhelmingly supported Biden’s denunciations of Russia and his spearheading of a global coalition to funnel massive support to Ukraine.
…
For now, Biden’s aides have ruled out the idea of pushing or even nudging Ukraine to the negotiating table, saying it is a matter of principle that nations get to decide their own fate. They say they do not know what the end of the war looks like or when it might happen, insisting that it is up to Kyiv.
But a growing number of lawmakers and foreign policy experts are challenging that position, arguing that Russia will not take any negotiations seriously unless the United States is at the table, given its leadership of the West and its investment in Ukraine’s war effort.
“The risk of the strategy is it has no conception of an endgame,”….
…
Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, said that neither Russian nor Ukrainian leaders are likely to agree to negotiated compromises right now. The United States has argued that Russia flagrantly violated the United Nations charter by invading its neighbor, which complicates any negotiations because it would put the burden on Washington to explain how any compromise respects the U.N. charter.
Still, Haass, who has held various high-level diplomatic positions in the U.S. government, said it is up to the United States to define what success could look like and to outline acceptable outcomes…..
Note….
Biden helping ending this conflict might erase some the hurt he has taken from the Afghanistan evacuation debacle ….
*Update……
House Progressives Withdraw Letter to Biden
“The Congressional Progressive Caucus on Tuesday announced it is withdrawing a letter to President Biden calling on him to couple military aid to Ukraine with a ‘proactive diplomatic push’ to end hostilities with Russia,” Axios reports.
“The letter appeared to indicate that some on the Democratic Party’s left flank were advocating a softening of U.S. policy towards the war in Ukraine, though several members who signed on now say that’s not their position
Sanders Says House Progressives Were Wrong
Sen. Bernie Sanders told Semafor that the Russian invasion of Ukraine “has to be resisted,” and that the Congressional Progressive Caucus was right to withdraw a letter that urged President Biden to negotiate an end to the war with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Said Sanders: “I don’t agree with that, and they don’t agree with it, apparently.”
Politicalwire