Trump taps retired general to lead Russia-Ukraine talks – National & International News – WED 27Nov2024

Trump taps retired general to lead Russia-Ukraine talks.

Pakistan: supporters of jailed former PM end week of deadly protests.

Trump taps retired general to lead Russia-Ukraine talks

President-elect Trump has named retired Gen. Keith Kellogg to be his special envoy for Russia and Ukraine. Kellogg served on the National Security Council under Trump’s previous administration and had a 35-year career in the Army.

As special envoy, he will advise Trump on the Russia-Ukraine conflict and also serve as the top US negotiator to resolve the conflict. Earlier this year, Kellogg co-authored a policy paper with Fred Fleitz for the America First Policy Institute, a pro-Trump think tank. The paper outlines a strategy to bring Russia and Ukraine to the negotiating table.

The plan calls for the US to play hardball with both sides, using US military aid to Ukraine as leverage. As Kellogg explained to Reuters, “We tell the Ukrainians: ‘You’ve got to come to the table, and if you don’t come to the table, support from the United States will dry up. And you tell Putin: ‘He’s got to come to the table, and if you don’t come to the table, then we’ll give the Ukrainians everything they need to kill you in the field”.

Kellogg and Fleitz also favor barring Ukraine from joining NATO, which Putin has repeatedly said would be a precondition for any negotiation. However, they do favor “arming Ukraine to the teeth” to discourage any future Russian aggression.

Land for peace

“Our concern is that this has become a war of attrition that’s going to kill a whole generation of young men,” Fleitz said. Right now, the Biden administration is urging Ukraine to lower its draft age from 25 to 18. Ukraine has been facing a manpower shortage and is currently unable to hold off further Russian advances in the country, much less regain territory.

Kellogg and Fleitz’s paper does not foresee a final resolution to the conflict for as long as Putin remains leader of Russia. Nor do they see any prospect of Ukraine regaining control of the territories occupied by Russia in the near future. Instead, their goal is to “freeze” the conflict and prevent further losses of Ukrainian life and territory.

Kellogg and Fleitz do not believe that Ukraine would be be required to formally cede the territories that Russia has captured, even if they remain under effective Russian control for the foreseeable future. The hope is that Ukraine could regain their territories, or at least some of them, in a future diplomatic process after Putin leaves office.

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Pakistan: supporters of jailed former PM end week of deadly protests

Last week, tens of thousands of supporters of former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan marched toward the capital of Islamabad. Their intention was to occupy the streets and city center to demand the military-aligned government release Khan from prison, where he has been since August last year.

Khan was a popular leader, assuming office in 2018. Initially, he was friendly with Pakistan’s powerful military leadership, but those ties soon soured. In 2022, the country’s Parliament ousted Khan in a no-confidence vote- at the urging of the United States, according to Khan.

Since leaving office, Khan has been involved in over 150 court cases. These range from charges of corruption and leaking state secrets to a charge that he married his current wife before she had experienced three menstrual cycles following her divorce from her previous husband. All of these cases were either thrown out or verdicts against him overturned. He now remains in prison on a charge relating to a 2023 protest of his incarceration.

Crisis momentarily defused, not resolved

Many of Khan’s supporters, both those within Pakistan and those abroad have also faced persecution and violence. The current demonstrations, which have just been “suspended”, were met with an overwhelming and violent response from police and the military. In clashes on Tuesday, four security personnel and two protesters were killed. Many protesters, as well as journalists, were hospitalized. Thousands have also been arrested, several hundred just last night in a massive raid.

Organizers have withdrawn to regroup. Many of the protesters were angry with their leaders for withdrawing. However, more protests are sure to come. The last 18 months have seen repeated and growing waves of protests and ever-escalating violence by the state to suppress them. Still the anti-government movement continues to grow.

Pakistan’s military, once a revered institution and a stabilizing influence, has lost legitimacy among the populace. This is a troubling development for the region. Pakistan is not only an important ally of the US in the War on Terror, but also a nuclear armed state.

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