Ukraine Just Offered Russia A Way Out

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Ukraine just offered Russia a path to end the war, saying effectively ‘we can do this the easy way, or the hard way’. While I wouldn’t expect Putin to agree to this, it shows something that’s being picked up in Russian media: for the first time in the war, Ukraine would be entering negotiations from a position of strength and could demand more than ever before. Again, not my words, but Russia’s

But also great timing for the first Ukraine aid package to pass the US House of Representatives in two years, more on that at the end of today’s video.

Sources
https://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/...
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/04/us...

Conntact: [e-mail]

Follow along using the transcript.
Preston Stewart

So, Ukraine just offered Russia a path to end the war, saying effectively, "We can do this the easy way or we can do this the hard way." Now, while I wouldn't expect Putin to agree to this, it does show something that's being picked up in Russian media. For the first time in the war, Ukraine would be entering negotiations from a position of strength and could demand more than ever before. Again, not my words, but Russia's. It's also great timing for the first Ukraine aid package to pass the US House of Representatives in 2 years. And more on that at the end of today's video. Now, yesterday, Ukrainian President Zalinsky sent an open letter to the president of Russia of Vladimir Putin. The full text of that article or that statement will be in the description below. I'm going to pull out a couple key segments to give you the overall gist of the message that was being relayed. He said, quote, "Whatever you may say about NATO, geopolitics, or the Russian language, this war is your personal choice. A war without a real cause. That is how history will remember it. We can all see that Russians are finally becoming less comfortable with this reality with the fact that the war is bringing more and more negative consequences to Russia. They do not like our drones and missiles. They do not like gasoline shortages and constantly rising prices. They do not like the constant restrictions. They do not like your intention to launch a second wave of mobilization in order to expand the war into another direction in Ukraine or to use it against other countries neighboring Russia. They do not like the fact that there is no end in sight to your war. For what it's worth, we've been seeing more and more from the Ukrainian side talking about this second Russian mobilization that is kind of secretly in the works. We're hearing that a little bit from Russia as well, where more and more mill bloggers and war correspondents are saying that is probably being discussed at least more in the conversation now than it has been in years. So interesting that Ukraine's kind of hammering on that as well. A big component of that is the idea that as soon as Putin has to mobilize more kind of average Russians, there's going to be more push back across the country for this war and essentially more of a demand to bring it to a close. Zalinsky says, "Ukraine has preserved its independence and it will preserve it despite all predictions to the contrary. We have united many around the world to stand with Ukraine and against you. We found the weapons and the financing we needed. We received support. you receive
sanctions and this will continue until there is justice for Ukraine, the justice we seek and the justice that can be achieved. And Zalinsky did lay out kind of a a a big picture view of what this path to the end of the war could look like. He says, quote, "Ukraine proposes ending this war through direct direct negotiations between us and you, direct talks between Putin and Zalinski." He says that he proposes a meeting in Switzerland, Turkey, or the countries of the Arab world, many that are able and willing to host such a meeting. And he said he suggests they set a clear date for that meeting between the two leaders of the nations. He said Ukraine is ready for a full ceasefire for the duration of the negotiations as well as an all-for-all exchange of prisoners of war. He said this could become a good prologue to ending the war. So again, at a high level, what Zullinsky has offered Putin here is meeting face to face. And he does throughout the course of the letter say, "It doesn't make sense for me to go to Moscow and it doesn't make sense for you to come to Keefe. Let's just scrap that idea. Let's meet at a neutral party." That's where he throws out Switzerland, Turkey, and countries of the Arab world. But then notably saying, let's set a date for the meeting and while those talks are going on, a full ceasefire. Now, this is a bit of a trap that's being set for Russia in a couple different ways, and it's a smart move from Zalinsky. From the Russian side, I want to mention that we haven't heard anything officially yet. Pescov, the Kremlin spokesperson, says that Putin so far has no response. Honestly, I wouldn't be shocked if Putin doesn't acknowledge this at all. There's been very, very little mention of this open letter at all in kind of traditional Russian media. But in the blogger space, we've got kind of a mix of opinions, and that's what we're going to jump into here. Maxim Klitschnikov, a war correspondent in Russia, says, quote, "It is both an open challenge and an attempt to set up a political trap. If Zalinski's proposals are accepted, then Russia will not get the rest of the Daesk region. This would mean a loss of face to our leadership. If we refuse, Zalinsky will present himself as a peacemaker, shifting the blame to our leadership and intensifying the pressure of anti-Russian forces on Trump in the United States." As a conclusion, according to Kalishnikov, Ukraine intends to pressure and take advantage of both the growing systemic crisis in our country and Trump's increasingly precarious position in the United States. So, the way that Klitschnikov is laying this out is it's kind of lose-lose for Putin at this point. And again, it shows, and we're going to hear this directly from some Russian sources in a moment, that Ukraine has the upper hand. This is why they're proposing negotiations right now. Alexander CZ, another Russian mailblogger, writing an article uh and and CZ, for what it's worth, has become more and more just kind of like a mouthpiece for the Kremlin, which is not common across all mill bloggers, but CZ is is kind of taking the very very hardline Russian stance and is kind of one of the the the last holdouts of everything is fine. We are everything is on track. Ukraine is set to crumble any day now. So know that as a bit of background of K. He says, quote, "Moscow has repeatedly demonstrated a willingness to compromise while Keev has demonstrated a stubborn unwillingness to negotiate. This, in fact, is precisely what the Ukrainian furer uh demonstrated with his letter. It resembles less a.piece uh peace initiative than his famous piano solo, just as stupid and tasteless." Now, this is one where in Western media, by and large, what we've seen is that Ukraine has proposed and offered up a number of different ceasefires since especially since President Trump came into office and Russia has always had a reason not to go along with it. And they say, "Well, we'll do that if or maybe we'll consider it, you know, all these other things." That's pretty accurate, though. I mean there's you really have to stretch to say that Russia has been as C is saying here uh that Moscow has demonstrated a willingness to compromise. For what it's worth, I can't think of a single instance that Mosco has willingly compromised. The closest we can come is when uh Steve Witoff came back from like his first or second meeting in Moscow and he suggested that Russia might be open to giving up territory in Zaparisia and Heronne that they have occupied in exchange for all of the Netskin Lhansk. But Moscow pretty quickly pushed back on that and said, "No, you misunderstand. We are going to maintain the lines there. We're going to keep all of that territory. We're just going to focus first on Daesk." So, very hard to see at this point, and I'm open to uh push back on this, but it's hard to see any area where the Kremlin at this point has really uh shown a willingness to compromise with Ukraine. Now, Igor Girkin came out with, again, we can kind of expect this from him, uh, the most frustrating assessment from the Russian point of view. Girkin is a Russian nationalist convicted war criminal for shooting down a civilian airliner. He's currently under house arrest in Russia for his criticism of the Russian military. This is a man that wants to win the war and doesn't think that Russia is going far enough. He says, quote, "At present, any negotiations Ukraine will conduct from a position of strength. Our brave reports that we capture a village in a few days do not fool anyone at all. The front is actually standing still. The enemy is sharply increasing his strategic capabilities for strikes deep into our territory for inflicting critical damage on our communications, transport facilities, oil and gas complex facilities, and industrial and military production facilities. At present, the enemy is on the rise and our air defense forces are not able to repel these attacks everywhere. We are seeing that if you're paying attention to this war, and we've talked about it countles times in recent weeks, this middle strike campaign is inflicting significant damage on Russian logistics and their ability to conduct operations at the front. And every single day for I don't know how many months now, we are seeing deep strikes carried out inside of Russian territory against precisely what Girkin is talking about there. transport facilities, communications, oil and gas complex, military production facilities. That is noticeable and is not just noticeable to us in the West that are watching this play out on the news. It is arguably for the first time in the war, noticeable to the Russian people. All right? Some of these oil refineries that go up in smoke, you can't brush that under the rug and say nothing happened or everything was intercepted, especially when a specific facility is hit day after day after day after day. The fires get put out. The next day, more Ukrainian drones arrive. The Russian people, again, this is spreading. They're starting to notice that the war is coming home to them, and maybe all of the the, you know, the rosy reports they're seeing on the TV and hearing from the Russian Ministry of Defense, maybe don't line up with reality. Girkin says, quote, "In this situation, Zalinsky will be in an exceptionally advantageous position at the negotiations and will demand even more than he could have demanded a years ago when these negotiations did not take place. In order to talk directly with Zalinski, we first need to achieve victories. Then we will be able to talk to him at least from a position of strength. Now, if you go back to when President Trump first entered office and we saw what I would argue was a push from the Russian side to try to find some sort of negotiated settlement, they were very uh they were open to the talks is the best way to put it. But a lot of what they were asking for and and looking at was essentially a Ukrainian surrender. They wanted to accomplish their military objectives at the negotiating table which is a thing that happens throughout war and it's probably how this war is going to end as well. But at that time we saw the shut off of US aid to Ukraine there. There's uh reports that the US was shutting off intel sharing with Ukraine. So Ukraine is facing a shortage of ammunition likely a shortage of support especially from the United States. And Russia was on the move. They were on the verge of taking Prosk. I mean, I know they've been on the verge of taking across for a long time, but at that point, it looked like the city was on the verge of falling. Russia felt as though, and I I think it's safe to say, they had the upper hand. They were advancing on the battlefield. Ukraine was not. Ukraine was losing support in the United States, and and Russia felt like they had clear skies ahead. That's changed. And now that it's changed, Ukraine is the one proposing negotiations. Now, the timing of this is interesting because just yesterday, a few hours after President Zalinsky issued this open letter to Putin, the US House of Representatives passed the first Ukraine aid bill in two years. It's pretty notable. And I can't help but but think of the George Patton, General George Patton, quote, when seeing this. Patton famously said, quote, "Americans love a winner and will not tolerate a loser." And what we have seen over the course of the last few months is a change of the initiative. Ukraine has regained the initiative on the battlefield and it is now Russia responding to Ukraine trying to figure out how to stop these middle- range strikes, trying to find new ways to advance to the front because they aren't, at least not at any respectable cost. Uh how to stop Ukrainian deep strikes in places like the uh like Moscow and St. Petersburg at the start of the economic forum. It is Russia on the back foot right now. And a part of me wonders if American politicians are seeing this and saying the tide has turned. Let's make sure we get behind Ukraine while there's still time. The New York Times says, quote, "The House voted on Thursday to approve a new aid package for Ukraine and impose a fresh round of sanctions targeting the industries fueling Russia's war economy after 18 Republicans defied their leaders to join Democrats in support of a bill that runs counter to President Trump's agenda. They say the legislation, which passed 26 226 to 195, would provide $8 billion in loans to Ukraine and $1.8 billion in aid for military and security assistance. In addition to putting new sanctions on Russian affiliated businesses and officials, it would also punish foreign companies, organizations, and individuals that attempt to evade sanctions in an effort to support Moscow. They say the vote was the first time the House has approved significant financial support for Ukraine in more than two years. Now, a quick note here. This is not done. Far from it. It's a notable shift, seeing Republicans move over and uh support an initiative that for a while now has only seen support from the Democratic side of the aisle. It's also a push back against President Trump. It's a push back against Republican leadership. That is notable. However, there are still a few steps here. The this goes to the Senate. Now, that is likely going to be harder to pass, but expect a campaign there in the coming days. I don't know when the vote is set. If it were to pass the Senate, which is possible, not not uh too too far of a stretch, then it would need President Trump's uh signature. And right now, it looks like President Trump is likely to veto this legislation. The stance that President Trump has taken and the detractors in the Senate and the House have have uh stated in recent days is that adding arms to Ukraine, providing additional assistance to Ukraine and adding sanctions to Russia impedes President Trump's ability to negotiate a settlement to end the war. And I can understand that angle, but at this point it doesn't have any teeth. Personally, I just look, if the negotiations were active and ongoing and we felt like a peace deal was close, sure, I can see wanting to step back and say, "Let's not muddy the waters anymore than we are." That's not the case.Russia is not negotiating, has not negotiated in good faith. Uh the way to get Russia to come around and actually negotiate is, as we've argued for a long time on this channel, uh pressure. And the way the United States can inflict pressure on Russia is through sanctionand through providing intelligence uh military support to Ukraine. And that's what we're seeing the House of Representatives passed just yesterday.
So we'll keep an eye on that. Uh again, big big move, arguably the the biggest change in uh in US politics in regard to Ukraine in the last two years, but there is still a ways to go. But pretty notable that that does come right on the heels of Zalinsky offering Putin an easy way out of the war, as he put it. That's all we got for now. Thanks for watching and I'll see youall next time.

There. All better.

[maxsolomon]

1. What is it?

I'd rather not watch a video.

[marble falls]

3. Than go get the transcript.

[Jerry2144]

2. What's the sumary

I don't have time to listen to some knucklehead ramble on. Provide a summary

[marble falls]

4. If you're really interested watch the video or get a transript.

[Jerry2144]

5. Without a summary, I'm not wasting my time

Videos without context are something that should be trashed automatically

[Jerry2144]

6. Somebody finally posted the transcript

Interesting. Hopeful for the people of Ukraine.

[marble falls]

7. That was me. If you don't like clearly marked videos, maybe you should forgo them in the future?

[Jerry2144]

8. I usually do.

Most of the time when a video is posted, there is something useful written with it to tell you what it's about. I could just read and know what the key points are and actually retain information. Videos might as well be written in cuneiform since retention is so low in video or audio form.

If a video plays, I slip into the rainy-day-in-elementary-school-subsittute-teacher-runs-old-movie mode" and brain shuts off. Reading at least engages both of my brain cells.