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Negotiations and Eschatology
First, let’s start with where things are regarding negotiations. Realize that the present administration in Washington may agree because they want to blow up NATO. Also, when you start negotiations, you start with maximalist positions. However, this is a strategic goal of Vladimir Putin. He wants his empire back:
Putin wants NATO troops removed from the whole of the former Soviet empire. European officials believe Trump is likely to agree to withdraw US troops from the Baltics and perhaps further west, leaving the EU vulnerable to a Russian army that NATO governments warn is preparing for a larger conflict beyond Ukraine.
This is all the way to the former East Germany, returning that border to the Fulda Gap. If you want an amusing read on this, Team Yankee is a good novel. What if WW3 started in the 1980s? It’s told from the perspective of American tankers.
Will the Trump administration give Putin this gift? I am old enough to remember when he wanted to get out of NATO. This is but one of the many articles that point to that threat:
Donald Trump has threatened to leave NATO so many times — or has appeared to, anyway — that for many of his critics, it’s a question of when, not whether, he’d ditch the 75-year-old alliance if he’s reelected president in November.
In truth, Trump would be…