The Duran Podcast
Zelensky gets US endorsement. Ugledar encircled
All right, Alexander, we are here in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and we are going to talk about Zalenski's trip to the United States. He met with Biden, he met with Harris. By the time this video goes up, he's going to be meeting with Trump as well. It's a 945 morning meeting with Trump. You'll get into why Trump has agreed to meet with him because yesterday he said he's not going to meet with him. And Zalenski, in classics and Lenski fashion, the first thing he did when he arrived to the United States is that he insulted Trump and he insulted JD Vance. But we know what Zalenski wanted when he was traveling to the United States. He was pushing his victory plan. Not money, weapons, long-range missile strikes, and entry into NATO, but he will probably leave the United States with money and with an endorsement from all three politicians. Current President Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and Trump. Anyway, let's get into Zalenski's trip to the United States. Yeah, this has been an astonishing trip altogether. And he went there, bringing with him a victory plan. The victory plan has been looked at by U.S. officials. We're getting reports about it from the Wall Street Journal that they're not impressed by it. It's just a wish list. We've discussed in previous programs that the real reason Zalenski went to the U.S. was to get the backing of the Americans for himself so that he could remain in post until, for the next couple of months, face off the opposition in Kiev. If you reduce the purpose of the trip to that one narrow issue, then I think that it's been successful purely from Zalenski's point of view. If you're talking about Ukraine, about the Wall, I don't think this is going to make any difference at all. So what does Zalenski achieve? So firstly, he's met Biden. He's also met Harris, and he's going to meet Trump. Now, let's talk about Biden first. He had this meeting with Biden. It was massively talked up in the weeks leading up to it, not least by Zalenski himself. But when the meeting actually took place, the media in the United States and in Britain barely covered the meeting at all. However, there has been a readout from the White House, and by the way, it also reads out from the meeting that Zalenski afterwards had with Kamala Harris. And those two readouts say two things. Firstly, they say three things. Firstly, they support Zalenski. So he's got that. He's got the endorsement from Biden and Harris, but they continue to endorse him. It also says that they discuss Zalenski's plans for victory. They said absolutely nothing about long-range missile strikes or anything like that. Instead, the readout of the meeting with Biden spoke of yet another meeting that's going to take place in October with other Western leaders being present. And they're going to discuss more plans and the execution of more plans so you can see how they're kicking the can down the road on every conceivable thing. But last but not least, he's come away with a lot of money, around $8 billion. Apparently, this is money that had already been allocated by Congress. Not what it seems, but of course, it is being rushed through now. So in case the other side, i.e. Donald Trump wins the election. He won't be able to stop it because the Ukrainians are going to get it all front-loaded. And last but not least, the readout of the meeting with Biden speaks about Biden himself being determined to help Ukraine win. Actually, he uses the word win. Now, bear in mind that the official policy of the United States has not been about Ukraine winning. It's about putting Ukraine in a position, a stronger position, so that he can negotiate a better deal with the Russians. We shouldn't date that seriously. But anyway, this readout actually talks about Biden being keen to help Ukraine win. But of course, he's only going to be president for a few months. So he is making commitments, which cannot, by any definition, be long-term. But it is an endorsement of further endorsement of Zelensky himself, because of course, he is talking about a victory. Now, the readout of Zelensky's meeting with Kamala Harris does not include the words about her wanting to help Zelensky win, Ukraine win. So we have a New York Times article, let me read it to you, Alexander, that was put out the other day with the title, "U.S. Intelligence Stresses Risks in Allowing Long Range Strikes by Ukraine." So we've been saying for a while now that the Pentagon is opposed to long-range missile strikes. I think they've made it very clear that they think this is a bad idea. Our guess, my guess, I think your guess as well, is that the State Department, they're the ones pushing for the long-range missile strikes. And now you have the intel agencies. I look at this as about as public a statement as you can get from the intel agencies by the New York Times, telling Biden not a good idea. Am I reading that correctly from the New York Times? I think that's absolutely correct. I mean, these kind of articles when they appear in the New York Times are indeed in the U.S. media in general, but especially the New York Times, they are clearly official leaks from the intel agencies. They've clearly received, I'm going to make a guess here. I think there's been direct contacts between the Russians and the Americans about this. And I think the Russians have made very clear warnings to the U.S. to the intel agencies that they're still speaking to and to the Pentagon that they will respond if this happens. Exactly, to Burns, and there's even a claim somewhere that Lloyd Austin actually had a direct meeting, a one-to-one meeting with Biden, in which he made it absolutely clear that this is a terrible idea and that the Pentagon strongly opposes it. So my own personal view is that this idea is dead. I think that when both the intel agencies and the Pentagon oppose it, it's not going to happen. Yeah, it's not going to happen. Why did Trump change his mind? Well, that is a very good question. One level. He was insulted, I mean, so Lensky insulted him in Vance, especially Vance, pretty, you know, I mean, and Trump does not take kindly to insults. He doesn't take kindly at all, but then what happened, clearly, is that there was a major effort carried out by all sorts of people to try to get this visit cobbled together again. So the Ukrainians played their role. There's an article today in the FT, which says that there's enormous recriminations, a lot of dismay in Kiev, about the way in which the whole relationship with the Republicans has been so badly handled. Zelensky was persuaded by someone to write a cringing letter to Trump asking for the meeting to be reinstated. Trump, of course, then went ahead and published the letter. But I think that people must have also spoken to Trump as well, and they would have told Trump, look, we need to keep this guy in power, at least for the time being. We don't want him collapsing. We don't want the whole Ukraine thing collapsing in the next few months. You don't really want that either, because it's going to create a whole mess for you to deal with when you become president, so if you become president. So Trump was basically, I think, talked into it by people like Lindsey Graham and people like that. So he's agreed to the meeting, and it's going to happen in Trump Tower. We'll see what comes of it, but I doubt there's going to be any change. But what could really come out of it, other than Trump saying he supports Zelensky, but also supports, he also supports some sort of a resolution to the conflict, and he's the one that's going to deliver it when he is elected. That's pretty much what Trump is going to say. Absolutely. But again, for Zelensky himself, it serves his immediate purpose, because he can then show to people in Kiev. Look, I've come back with $8 billion. I've got meetings. Three endorsements. Three endorsements. I've got him from Biden, who says that he's going to help me win from Harris, who's also getting back me, and from Trump who's prepared to meet me. So you see, I'm the person you need to stick with. Don't mess around with Zeluzni, who's in problems, because they say he's involved with Nord Stream 2, or Poroshenko, who's already been thrown out before. Stick with me. I'm the one the Americans back. I'm the man who they trust. So don't rot the boat now in Kiev. And I think that's what Zelensky went to the United States for. And I think that's what he's called. Yeah. I think the Nord Stream thing, actually, is going to be used by the Biden White House and by Zelensky to keep Zeluzni at bay. Absolutely. I think they're going to use it, because just, I think, two days ago, I was reading an article saying that Germany has started issuing arrest warrants for the five, six guys that they claim blew up the Nord Stream pipeline. And then, of course, they always talk about Zeluzni whenever these articles come out there. And I think this keeps Zeluzni. It brushes him back from him trying to take over. That's exactly right. And there's also an article also, paired somewhere, which says that Zelensky himself, though he went along with the idea initially, then changed his mind, and that Zeluzni went ahead without telling him. Which, of course, conveniently takes the heat off Zelensky. So, you know, it's clear that, as I said, they're propping up Zelensky for the moment, and that's what he wanted, and that's what he's got. And Germany's helping. And Germany, of course. Of course, Germany's helping. Okay, so while Zelensky is in the United States, the front line is in a terrible shape for Ukraine. Uglidar, I think, is what many people are talking about. Of course, Zelensky's pushing Kursk for his own PR reasons. They tried another incursion into Russia, another PR stunt, and from what I understand, the Ukraine military got hammered by the Russians. But the big story on the front line as Zelensky is in the US pushing his victory plan, which many leaders, according to the Wall Street Journal, found unimpressive. But Uglidar is collapsing. And, you know, if this was happening last year, this would be a huge deal. But because there's so many cities and towns and villages that are collapsing at the same time, it's as if Uglidar is just not as important as it would have been a year ago if this very scenario was going on. And I want to ask you about, I think it's the 72nd that is trapped. Yes. Do you believe the story? It's just a story rumor, the states are rumor, that Zelensky gave the order. Do not leave Uglidar. Don't retreat. Don't abandon Uglidar. Wow, I'm in the United States. I do believe it, because it's coming from the Ukrainian military themselves, not from the general staff, not from Siersky. But one of the military units that is in the area, they actually published this on their website that they'd been told to stand and fight to the deaths in Uglidar. But to make sure that Uglidar did not fall whilst the visit, which means, of course, Zelensky's visit to the United States was underway. So you can imagine how a lot of the soldiers must feel about that, even if there's others? Presumably they do. I'm sure they do. There's an article, by the way, in the Times of London, which doesn't talk about Uglidar. It talks about fighting in another part of the front lines, but it has interviews with Ukrainian soldiers. They're very bitter. They have scathing things to say about, of course. They say it's made no difference to them. They're completely uninterested and unimpressed in Zelensky, in his victory plan, in his visit to the United States. And I think that reflects the general feeling in the Ukrainian army. About Uglidar, by the way, you're absolutely right. This is the Lynchpin town, the fortified position, that held together the whole of the southern Donbas, the Ukraine. Now it's about to fall. The latest reports say the Russians control around 40% of it. The 72nd Brigade that you mentioned, one of the best military units in the Ukrainian army, is trapped there. They're suffering terrible losses. There's no escape. There's no route to escape. The Russians control all of the roads. It is an absolute disaster, and it's just one disaster amongst many others. There's huge problems for the north, a place called Korakhovo, gradually being surrounded as well. The entire Ukrainian army in southwestern Donbas is gradually being obliterated. The Russians have reached about two kilometers now, apparently, from the outer suburb of Bakhrosk, which is called Mirnugrad. They're well inside Torezk. Some report yesterday suggested that Torezk might have already fallen. I don't believe that, by the way. The fact that people are talking in this way tells you how bad the situation is. And this is partly why we're not hearing so much about Uglidar, because, as you rightly said, it's a catastrophe everywhere. But I also think that the word has gone out in America, and in Britain, and in the western media, and wherever. Don't talk about Uglidar, because we don't want to rot the boat in Kiev at this time. Don't talk about a catastrophe. Don't talk about the Ukrainian army gradually disintegrating, because we don't want stories spreading that will damage the stability in Kiev, which we need to preserve for the next five to six to ten months. Don't talk about it as we give Zelensky $375 million and $8 billion in funds that have been budgeted to Ukraine. Frontload all of that. The American people probably would not like the fact that all this money is going to Zelensky as Project Ukraine completely troubles. Correct. It's not an election winner. It's not an election winner, but where in mind the money is the most important thing of all, because as we've discussed in many programs you give $8 billion supposedly to Ukraine. But of course, that money doesn't just go to Ukraine. It gets filtered through and goes to all sorts of other people. As you once discussed, it closes positions. It does all kinds of other things. So you've got to keep that money moving until finally the moment comes when you can stop doing so. So let me ask you a final question on Brazil. Is it the Brazil-China plan? They're attaching China to it as well. What's going on with Venezuela and why would Russia agree to this given the momentum? Well, they wouldn't agree to it. The reason people call it the Brazil-China plan is because back in May, and we're talking about months ago, Brazil and China published a joint statement setting up various common ideas that they each had. One was that the Ukraine and Russia need to start negotiations, that there needs to be a de-escalation by all sides, which was a hint that the West should stop sending arms to Ukraine, and that these negotiations should eventually lead to a ceasefire and then a peace conference bringing together all the various parties, including the stakeholders, including, by the way, China. And that would be the mechanism whereby peace in Ukraine would be found. Now, that was not a plan. That was just principles. Now, Lula has his own plan, and that plan appears to involve an immediate ceasefire. And he called together a meeting of global South countries of the UN, where he's diplomatic representatives apparently presented it. So he's going beyond what the Chinese have agreed to. Now, this is an important point, because there's a lot of confusion about this. The Russians are not keen on this at all. They do not want a ceasefire at this particular time, because from their point of view, they're winning the wall. Why would they want to give a ceasefire, which would give the Ukrainians a respite, because they don't believe that negotiations with a ceasefire in place would go anywhere? They want to return, in other words, to what the Brazilians and the Chinese agreed in May, first negotiations, and then if the negotiations start reaching a good point, then maybe you can consider a ceasefire. Lula has a different idea. Lula is doing this because he wants to establish himself as a major diplomatic player on the global scene. The Russians are not pleased. And from their point of view, this is difficult and embarrassing, given that Brazil is a BRICS country, and that the Russians are trying to put together a BRICS summit for October. But they have a really useful ally in wrecking Lula's proposal, or idea, who is none other than Zelensky himself. You can't allow a useful idiot. Because Zelensky has spoken scathingly about Lula's plan. He doesn't want a ceasefire. He doesn't want an end to the fighting. Because he doesn't want an end to the fighting, because if there is an end to the fighting, then his own position in Kiev might start to come under challenge. So, he has spoken in the rudest possible way about Lula and his peace plan. And as we see from his trip to the United States, for the moment at least, he is not going anywhere. He is going to remain in power in Kiev. So, oddly enough, as a result of all of this, another party that probably at this moment in time would be quite happy to have Zelensky still remain in office in Kiev as President is Russia. Because whilst Zelensky is there, diplomatic proposals, like the ones that the Brazilians are coming up with, which the Russians don't really like, are going to go nowhere. Because Zelensky is going to oppose them. Who is the worst diplomat? Zelensky, Blinken or Biden? Blinken is. Blinken is. I agree with that one. Zelensky is putting on a good show. We will leave the video there. We are on Rumble Odyssey, Bitchewed Telegram, RockFit and TwitterX, and go to the Duran Shop, pick up some merch like the Australia shirt that I am wearing today. And this time it's my turn, Dan Greek. Greek flag. Greek flag. You will find the link in the description box down below to our merch. Take care. [MUSIC]