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Saturday, December 7, 2024

35 Minutes or Less


The meeting between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Paris, preceding the grand reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral, lasted precisely 35 minutes. A fleeting moment on the geopolitical stage, but one that carries enough weight to spark speculation and unease.

The photo op told its own story. Macron stood at the center, like a maestro, flanked by Trump and Zelenskyy on his right. Subtleties were not lost: Trump wore a blue suit with a yellow tie—a sartorial nod to Ukraine? Or merely a coincidence to bait conjecture? Either way, it warms the heart on a damp Kyiv evening, especially while awaiting another night of Russian bombing. Imagining Putin’s face as news of this meeting reached him—priceless. The symbolism alone must have felt like a thunderclap to the Kremlin.

And speaking of thunder, lightning had already struck Syria, where the cracks in Putin’s carefully constructed facade are widening. A meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy, without a single Russian intermediary? That’s not just a snub—it’s an existential insult to Moscow’s imperial delusions.

Trump, never one to shy away from grandiose promises, famously declared he could end the Russian-Ukrainian war in 24 hours. Critics dismissed it as bombast. Yet here we are, with whispers of a potential resolution crammed into 35 minutes. Did they discuss the war? It’s hard to say. But the absence of Putin in such a discussion is more telling than any statement. Could it be that the world is finally learning to negotiate around the Kremlin rather than with it?

For now, all we have are cryptic signals: rumors of a prior Trump-Putin call, Scholz reportedly playing telephone intermediary. But these breadcrumbs lead to an intriguing question: Can the fate of a war—of millions of lives and global stability—be deliberated in 35 minutes?

Not in detail, of course. But in principle? Absolutely. Sometimes, the most consequential decisions begin with a few bold strokes on the canvas.

So, we wait. Press releases will come, laden with cautious phrasing and diplomatic ambiguity. But in those 35 minutes, history may have quietly shifted.

Glory to Ukraine!



 

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