Posted originally on the CTH on February 20, 2025 | Sundance 

As we walk in the deep weeds of how the Russia/Ukraine conflict and negotiated peace agreement (likely ceasefire) is unfolding, each granular step is worth reviewing.

President Trump’s envoy retired U.S. Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg and Ukraine President Zelenskyy had a meeting today. At the conclusion of the meeting a planned press conference and media availability was cancelled.

[…] The format of the press event, which was to include comments to the media by Zelenskyy and retired U.S. Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, was changed at the last minute so that the two did not deliver statements or field questions from journalists. The change was requested by the U.S. side, Ukrainian presidential spokesman Serhii Nikiforov said. (link) 

It appears that President Trump’s forceful, direct and brutally honest remarks about Zelenskyy caught many people off-guard.

President Zelenskyy’s announcement in Turkey where he changed plans and cancelled his trip to Saudi Arabia, aligns with this ongoing dynamic.  In the pretending version, Zelenskyy justified his change in plan because he felt slighted by a non-invitation to participate in the talks between the Russian team and U.S. team.

However, in the non-pretending review, we all know Zelenskyy cannot make an independent decision.  In the background of Zelenskyy’s decision making there are just too many interests.

Zelenskyy’s comments from Turkey were exceptionally obtuse.  The meeting between Secretary of State Rubio and Foreign Minister Lavrov was about organizing the communication channels for further discussion.  There was no reason for Zelenskyy to be in the room as Russia and the USA talked about how to structure their contacts.  Zelenskyy’s reasoning for cancelling his trip to Saudi Arabia was nonsense.

Following Zelenskyy’s remarks from Turkey, President Trump dropped the “dictator” hammer that captured all the headlines.  President Trump was in full non-pretending mode during all of his comments, including Trump’s repeated point about initiating a ceasefire and Ukraine needing to organize elections.  The latter point is extremely troubling for the IC elements who control Zelenskyy for obvious reasons.

Without doubt, President Trump caught everyone off-guard with the forcefulness of his remarks. Volodymyr Zelenskyy is now in the non-pretending crosshairs.  This is the dynamic to watch most, because the principals (Putin and Trump) are both well known for their brutal honesty.

I doubt Kellogg knew President Trump was going to hit Zelenskyy with such a direct confrontation.  Heck, I doubt anyone knew how forceful President Trump was going to be.  As a consequence, any press availability today -less than 24 hours since President Trump’s remarks- was going to be filled with questions to Zelenskyy about them, as well as questions to Kellogg.   Cancelling the presser was a smart move.

President Trump is being President Trump, navigating a complicated dynamic in search of an optimal solution; and as he is prone to do, his attributions and explanations for his opinion’s cuts through the Gordian knot of diplomatic pretending.

In the background, the elements who support, control and utilize Zelenskyy for their own goals and objectives, were likely also caught off-guard. How could they not be?

The principals (Trump and Putin) are talking, and soon they will likely meet.

Everything between now and then is structural filler.