Op Spiderweb Fails To 'Trump-Proof' The Ukraine War

Ukraine and its Western supporters, sensing the imbalance vis-à-vis Russian weaponry and firepower, vulnerability to large-scale Russian missile attacks, and acute shortage of trained fighters, face the spectre of a World War I implosion sooner or later

- M K BHADRAKUMAR

detects NATO's footprint —MI6, in particular—was an inflection point in the Ukraine conflict that could disrupt peace talks, compel President Donald Trump to disengage from President Vladimir Putin and derail US-Russia normalization, but in the 11 days that followed, nothing of the sort happened.

Diplomacy will continue; Trump remains engaged with Putin, and he shows no enthusiasm for 'Biden's war.' A face-to-face meeting at the Oval Office on June 5 between Trump and visiting German Chancellor Friedrich Merz could only paper over their differences. Merz later said he told Trump privately that "he is the key person in the world who can really do that [bringing peace]—by putting pressure on Russia". However, Trump was unmoved.

New facts on the ground will keep shaping diplomacy, a phenomenon endemic to major wars (e.g., Korea or Vietnam). Last weekend, a Russian tank division entered Dnipropetrovsk province in the direction of the Dnieper River for the first time in the war, while a northern thrust is rapidly advancing toward the strategic city of Sumy, which is now only 25 km from the frontline—and 200 km from Kiev.