Ted Snider

On February 24, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine with a small force of around 142,000 troops. Not enough to conquer Ukraine, the invading force was sufficient to persuade Ukraine to the negotiating table. Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed that was the original goal of the military operation: “[t]he troops were there to push the Ukrainian … Continue reading “Ceasefire: Ukrainians Died in Vain”

Only days ago, the chances that Ukraine would agree to negotiate with Putin or agree to a ceasefire seemed very remote. A few days without U.S. military and intelligence aid changed that. On March 11, the Ukrainian delegation in Saudi Arabia, led by Zelensky’s powerful chief of staff Andriy Yermak, “expressed readiness to accept the … Continue reading “Ukraine Agrees to a Ceasefire. Could it Really Happen?”

The strife and war in Ukraine started with a U.S. supported coup eleven years ago. It might end, ironically, with a U.S. supported coup eleven years later. There is an embryonic chance that, if Vladimir Putin signs an agreement to end the war, it will not be Volodymyr Zelensky’s signature on the line beside it. … Continue reading “Will the US Push Zelensky Out?”

At the end of June, 2024, the world got its first glimpse at what Donald Trump’s plan to end the war in Ukraine in one day might look like. Retired Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg and former CIA analyst Fred Fleitz submitted a plan to then candidate Trump. In an interview, Kellogg revealed that U.S. leverage … Continue reading “Pausing Aid to Ukraine: The World Should Have Seen It Coming”

On February 28, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky got the meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump that he had been hoping for. It was an opportunity to sign their agreement on minerals and, more importantly, to improve relations and heal their recent fight. Instead, another fight erupted (you can see the whole discussion below). Much has … Continue reading “Zelensky Told Trump That Putin Cannot Be Trusted. But Who Killed Minsk 2?”

U.S. President Donald Trump says that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is “very low in Ukrainian Polls.” So low, in fact, that his approval rating is only 4%. Trump is wrong. But he may not be as wrong as mainstream media commentators have accused him of being. And the number he cited may be closer to … Continue reading “Is Trump Right About Zelensky’s 4% Popularity?”

Normally, it is the country that defeated you in war, and not the country that defended you, that pillages you after the war. Unfortunately for Ukraine, its biggest military defender is set to pillage its resources as the two countries have now signed a minerals agreement after Trump warned that a refusal to sign would … Continue reading “Trump’s Mineral Deal and Pillaging Ukraine”

There may come a day when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky regrets taking the bait and, at what may be the conclusion of three years of fighting Russia, being drawn into a verbal war with U.S. President Donald Trump. Over the last few days, Trump has called Zelensky a dictator who started the war, and Zelensky … Continue reading “Trump vs. Zelensky: Fact-Checking the New Ukraine War”

On February 18, for the first time since the war in Ukraine began, high ranking U.S. and Russian officials met to begin talks on ending the war. The U.S. delegation included Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump’s envoy to the Middle East and a favorite negotiator Steve Witkoff and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz. The … Continue reading “Trump Blames Ukraine: What The New York Times Gets Right and What The New York Times Gets Wrong”

When the United States, the UK, Poland and their NATO partners pushed Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky off the path of diplomacy and onto the road of war against a much more powerful country, Zelensky kept public morale high with tales of unlimited and unending Western weapons, recovery of the Donbas and Crimea, and eventual NATO … Continue reading “At the End of the War, Zelensky Is Confronted With Reality”