“The image posted by Yermak, a retro-style drawing of Donald Trump grabbing a defeated Vladimir Putin by the feet, about to throw him to the mat WWE-style, reflects the current state of the Western world, as it waits for Donald Trump to destroy Russia. The childishness of the drawing may also be representative of that way of thinking.”

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Diplomacy of force (Original: Diplomacia de fuerza)

Posted by @nsanzo

“Peace through strength,” the head of the President’s Office, Andriy Yermak, wrote Friday night, adding an emoji of a flexing bicep, in one of his many displays of triumphalism this week. These days, the Ukrainian government has been struggling with having to backtrack on one of its flagship measures in response to international orders, but, faced with the humiliation and complete lack of sovereignty that comes with a phone call from Brussels that can change laws in Ukraine, Kiev has also received confirmation that it is about to find itself in its dream scenario. The peace through strength that Ukraine has always hoped for is the language of ultimatums, with unbearable sanctions against Russia, massive arms supplies capable of attacking Russian territory in depth, and a ceasefire offer on Ukrainian terms, in which Moscow has no say other than to accept the diktat. That was the Victory Plan that Zelensky announced when he still believed that the 2023 ground counteroffensive would put Russia between a rock and a hard place, and it remains so today, with his army unable to recapture territories under Russian control, recruitment problems increasing, and his government questioned for the first time since the Russian invasion by its most important audience: the foreign partners who must continue to finance the state.

In the division of labor, Kyiv relies on the European Union to sustain Ukraine, but it needs the United States to destroy Russia. On Thursday, a few hours after Trump gave Vladimir Putin a week to accept the ceasefire, Volodymyr Zelensky stated his belief that “Russia can be pressured to end this war. It started it, and it can be forced to end it. But if the world doesn’t intend to change the regime in Russia, that means that even after the war is over, Moscow will continue trying to destabilize neighboring countries.” Clearly, when it comes to regime change, Ukraine always looks to the United States, which it assumes has the capacity to destabilize the country to the point of a coup or collapse. What the United States has successfully done in Iraq and Libya, with the consequences for those countries and their neighbors, is what Zelensky is now openly suggesting. The Ukrainian president is shielding himself by arguing that Donald Trump’s position is increasingly indistinguishable from his own, allowing him to continue pushing for even more than the large quantities of weapons expected to arrive shortly, or the sanctions already being advocated by the White House.

“President Trump, of course, understands leverage better than anyone. And I think his statement about introducing what I would call devastating tariffs and sanctions against Russia on August 8, in the absence of a ceasefire, is a serious step. Because how does Russia finance this war? How can it pay a conscript, a private, who will likely go to the front and die two weeks after minimal training?” the US ambassador to NATO said this week, projecting onto Russia the problems—recruitment, lack of decent training, and short life expectancy on the front lines—that Ukraine also suffers. “The bottom line is that Putin needs to sell oil. He sells it to China, India, Brazil. And now these countries will face serious consequences for doing business with Russia.” Russia will have no friends, no trading partners, and its ability to finance war will cease,” he added. Yesterday, Andriy Yermak boasted of India’s plans to abandon Russian oil, while The New York Times, which claimed that “Indian officials said they will continue buying cheap Russian oil despite the threat of sanctions from President Trump, the latest twist in an issue New Delhi thought it had resolved,” quoted the foreign ministry spokesman as confirming that the country has not given any orders to stop purchasing Russian oil.

“We will apply sanctions against him, and he is very good at managing them. He knows how to avoid them,” Donald Trump declared this week, sparking media headlines that have cast doubt on the US intention to apply truly harsh sanctions against Russia and its allies. Those who still claim that Vladimir Putin ordered an operation to help Donald Trump reach the White House in 2017 insist on the closeness of the two presidents and question the US president’s words and actions at this time. However, for several months now, Trump’s anger has been directed solely at Moscow. There have been no repeated scenes of rebukes toward Zelensky. The brief suspension of arms deliveries to Kyiv was the work of the Pentagon and not the presidency. It is clear that both the State Department and Donald Trump himself are guided by information relayed by Keith Kellogg, a man very close to the Ukrainian leadership.

“I was just informed that almost 20,000 Russian soldiers have died this month in this ridiculous War with Ukraine. Russia has lost 112,500 soldiers since the beginning of the year. That’s a lot of unnecessary DEATH! Ukraine, however, has also suffered greatly. They have lost approximately 8,000 soldiers since January 1, 2025, and that number does not include those missing. Ukraine has also lost civilians, albeit in smaller numbers, when Russian rockets hit Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities. This war should never have happened; this is Biden’s war, not “TRUMP’s.” I’m just here to see if I can stop it!” he wrote on his personal social media account on Friday, in a message in which, like Rubio a few days earlier, he claims that Russia has lost more than 100,000 soldiers killed this year, while providing a ridiculous figure for Ukrainian casualties. Curiously, the US president does not mention Russian civilian casualties [Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts].

The military casualty data Trump is transmitting, undoubtedly originating in Ukraine, would imply a 14:1 ratio in favor of Ukraine, much higher than even Kiev has claimed in the past and which would undoubtedly have been detected by those, like Mediazona who track Russian casualties. The latest count up to August 1, 2025, recorded 121,507 Russian soldiers killed in the war in that database, a very high figure that should concern the Russian leadership, but inconsistent with the current casualty claims beyond all logic. The fact that Trump uses arguments that possibly come from Ukraine’s military intelligence office is relevant since his opinion has always been malleable and tends to be the same as that of the person who influences him most at any given time. It seems obvious from his argument that today that person is Keith Kellogg, whose plan is to increase the flow of arms to Ukraine if Russia refuses to negotiate.

In reality, Moscow has not rejected negotiations, although it has rejected the one demanded by the West and Ukraine. On Friday, Volodymyr Zelensky reiterated that “we know who makes the decisions in Russia, and that is why Ukraine once again offers to go beyond technical talks: not to exchange statements, but to actually meet at the leadership level.” Like European countries, Ukraine is seeking the ceasefire demanded by Trump, who at that very moment would claim victory and boast of having stopped another war that, like the previous ones he claims to have resolved, would not mean the end of the conflict. That is the only resolution a meeting of presidents can achieve in an eleven-year conflict in which there are thorny territorial, political, military, and humanitarian issues to resolve. Hours before Zelensky’s statements, both Sergey Lavrov and Vladimir Putin had offered Ukraine the negotiation scenario that Kiev seeks to avoid at all costs. “Three rounds of talks have already been held. In addition to important humanitarian agreements, we have put forward a proposal to create working groups on political and military issues. This could be a major step toward a lasting agreement,” Lavrov told reporters.

“It’s time for Russians to put aside empty words and living in a fantasy world and face reality: a leaders’ meeting is possible, but it’s Russia that doesn’t want it. Too many statements about “wanting peace” while missile attacks continue, and not a single real step toward peace from Moscow. Where is the ceasefire the United States proposed in March, the one we agreed to? The US president is doing a lot to achieve peace. President Zelensky shares the principle of peace through strength. It’s time for Russia to stop sitting on the sidelines and start being specific,” wrote Ermak, who, in a slightly more expansive manner, presented the path to resolution to which Ukraine continues to aspire: a ceasefire imposed by Donald Trump without future promises of a resolution that would have to be based on negotiations, which Ukraine could drag out as it did for seven years in Minsk. Russia’s way of being specific is not by offering concrete negotiations on specific issues, but by submitting to Donald Trump’s ceasefire order and accepting that subsequent negotiations would be based on Keith Kellogg’s roadmap, which is absolutely favorable to Ukraine on territorial and security issues, and even on the issue of sanctions relief, rather than Steve Witkoff’s, which is less detailed and offers more room for negotiation.

Creating conditions in which Russia is forced to accept a US-imposed peace—which Kyiv would present as imposed by its armed forces—requires weakening Moscow in all areas: economic, political, geopolitical, and military. Sanctions and threats against third countries with unilateral sanctions seek to isolate Russia economically and politically as well as undermine its ability to continue financing the war. This action fails to take into account that the greater involvement of a country like the United States could have a boomerang effect in which the Russian population feels attacked by the West and sees, as the Kremlin insists, that the war in Ukraine is existential. Added to these economic threats are military ones, some of them truly insane. These are no longer announcements of a sharp increase in military supplies to Kyiv, something that has been taken for granted since Trump got European countries to agree to pay all the costs, but rather the use of the language that inspires the most respect in Russia: nuclear.

The Medvedev factor

On July 22, Dmitry Medvedev, former president and prime minister of Russia, now vice president of the Security Council—a position that carries more publicity than decision-making power—harshly criticized the United States’ actions in the Middle East, specifically in Iran. Medvedev, once a liberal considered pro-Western but now a hawk with excessive use of social media, argued that the US attack had been counterproductive. In a longer thread, the former Russian president wrote that “Nuclear enrichment—and, we can now openly say it, the future production of nuclear weapons—will continue” in Iran, adding that “several countries are willing to directly supply Iran with their own nuclear weapons.” A minimal understanding of Russia’s stance on proliferation, or even a reading of the message, would have ruled out the suggestion that Dmitry Medvedev was suggesting that Moscow, which respected the UN Security Council arms embargo on Iran, took years to supply Iran with the air defenses it requested, and has offered no material assistance to the country while it was under attack by the United States and Israel, was preparing to breach its nonproliferation obligations. Even so, the tweet drew the ire of Donald Trump and forced Medvedev to respond. In a far more diplomatic style than usual, the former president wrote that “Regarding President Trump’s concerns: I condemn the US attack on Iran. It did not achieve its objectives. However, Russia has no intention of supplying nuclear weapons to Iran because, unlike Israel, we are signatories to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.” Medvedev’s partial reversal was merely a Twitter ceasefire that exploded this week after the former Russian president responded to a tweet from Lindsey Graham and another comment that Donald Trump tried to interpret as a threat.

It all started with Dmitry Medvedev’s response to Donald Trump’s 50-day ultimatum on the day it was reduced to “ten or twelve.” At the time, he wrote that “Trump is playing ultimatum games with Russia: 50 days or 10… He should remember two things: 1. Russia is not Israel, not even Iran. 2. Every new ultimatum is a threat and a step toward war. Not between Russia and Ukraine, but with his own country. Don’t go the way of Sleepy Joe!” Although there was nothing offensive in the message, it was retweeted by Lindsey Graham, exulting in his success in convincing Donald Trump to return to the threat-against-Russia tactic followed by Joe Biden, who, as a US senator, gave himself the legitimacy to boss another country around. “To those in Russia who believe President Trump isn’t serious about ending the bloodshed between Russia and Ukraine: You and your clients will soon be sadly mistaken. You will also soon see that Joe Biden is no longer president. Go to the peace table,” he wrote, to which Medvedev responded with a tweet that offended Graham: “It is not for you or Trump to dictate when you sit at the negotiating table. Negotiations will end when all objectives of our military operation have been achieved. Let’s work for America first, Grandpa!” It was likely this last message that set the record straight. Without Lindsey Graham’s attention, Donald Trump would likely have ignored Medvedev’s tirade.

On Thursday, in a message calling the Russian and Indian economies “dead,” Donald Trump wrote, “Tell Medvedev, the failed former President of Russia, who still thinks he’s the President, to watch his words. He’s entering very dangerous territory.” In a style not unlike the US President—who, after his 2020 reelection failure, believed he was still President and has never mince his words—Medvedev responded with a longer message: “Regarding Trump’s threats to me on his personal network, Truth, which he banned from operating in our country. If a few words from the former President of Russia provoke such a nervous reaction from such an imposing US President, it means Russia is absolutely right and will go its own way. And regarding India and Russia’s “dead economy” and “entering dangerous territory,” let him recall his favorite movies about the “dead walkers,” as well as how dangerous the nonexistent “dead hand” can be.”

None of Medvedev’s messages, long removed from the circle of important decision-making, can be considered a threat. However, the accumulation of mentions about the possibility of a direct war between powers, the reference to zombie characters from American films or TV series (the walking dead from The Walking Dead), and the insult to Lindsey Graham have been enough to see in his words a threat of nuclear war. “Words are dangerous,” Donald Trump asserted on Friday, ready to use any argument to raise tension, increase pressure on Russia, and unnerve Moscow in order to force the Kremlin to fear the possible reaction of the American leader as early as August 8. Words may be dangerous, but apparently not the nuclear submarines that Trump claimed were mobilized because of Dmitry Medvedev’s statements, which Donald Trump described as “defensive.” “We had to do it… There was a threat and we didn’t think it was appropriate, so I have to be very careful. I’m doing it for the safety of our people,” Donald Trump argued on Friday night. Faced with speculation about whether he meant nuclear-powered or nuclear-armed submarines, or whether it was an order from the Pentagon or just words, Trump clarified yesterday that they are “closer to Russia,” a response that explains nothing but seeks to continue increasing the pressure. Trump, who likes to highlight his successes, can now boast of being the first president in history to mobilize nuclear submarines in response to a former president’s tweets.

Continuing with the television similes, showing the euphoria that Donald Trump, the president of peace, has crossed another red line, using the word “nuclear” in the context of the confrontation with Russia and with the arrogance of someone who expects their partner to achieve by force what they have not been able to achieve on their own, Ukraine remains exultant. “We all watched wrestling. In Ukraine, it was tremendously popular, when TV broadcast matches featuring Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, The Undertaker, and Stone Cold. All the kids were glued to the screen: it was a time of power and personality. And what Donald Trump did yesterday in response to Medvedev’s comments was a classic Tombstone Piledriver. Calm. Powerful. Confident. Just the way it should be,” wrote Andriy Yermak, referring to one of Donald Trump’s favorite shows, the wrestling company headed by Vince McMahon, husband of the current Minister of Education, which for decades has run this fake show, plagued by drug trafficking scandals and sexual and labor abuse, and in which President Trump has repeatedly participated.

The image posted by Yermak, a retro-style drawing of Donald Trump grabbing a defeated Vladimir Putin by the feet, about to throw him to the mat WWE-style, reflects the current state of the Western world, as it waits for Donald Trump to destroy Russia. The childishness of the drawing may also be representative of that way of thinking.

Related:

Mediazona

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Pussy Riot’ – A Grotesque Creation of the US State Department

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