TrumPilate

The biggest failure of the Trump presidency? The stalemate in the Russia-Ukraine war that on the campaign trail the tycoon promised to end in 24/48 hours. Almost five months have passed. Trump has sent his emissaries several times to Moscow. He spoke on the phone with Putin a few hours but did not get anything out of the deal. He only brought home a deal-capture to exploit Ukraine's raw materials.....And lost face. Much to the delight of Xi Jinping, who shows the world how weak the leadership of the West's leading power is

Then again, Trump got it all wrong. Instead of being vocal with Putin, he initiated a sympathy operation toward the czar, thinking that in return he would get the gift of a quick end to the war : that was the medal Trump wanted to attach to his chest. But Putin does not make up his own mind, and China has certainly opposed this gift from Russia to the U.S. : Beijing wants to weaken Trump's prestige so that it will have more weight in the strategic tug-of-war with Washington. 

Trump is now trapped. Putin won't concede anything to him, but the U.S. can't stop giving weapons to Kyiv if it doesn't want to appear as a de facto ally of Russia...And so not knowing what fish to catch Trump is going along with Putin's long timeline. Who hopes to deal a blow to Ukraine with the summer offensive and then decide himself whether and when to deal from positions of greater strength.

But in the meantime there are no potatoes in Russia and rubles are becoming waste paper. With inflation around 10%, the cost of money at 21% , the industry now all war Moscow imports everything and pays very dearly for it .Foreign exchange reserves are getting thin. The only unintentionally hostile thing Trump has done against Putin is to ask Saudi Arabia for increased oil production to lower the oil piece and reduce pressure on U.S. inflation. Oil below $70-80 is a huge detriment to Russia's half-empty coffers, which 

sells gas below cost.

In the conflict between Moscow and Kyiv Trump, like Pilate, although he has the power to decide rightly decided to wash his hands of it. For now ,the real loser in this war is him.