Good morning readers; #Kyiv remains in #Ukrainian hands.

[timkmak@journa.host]

Good morning readers; #Kyiv remains in #Ukrainian hands.

Steven Moore and I agree on at least one thing: we want Ukraine to win.

But what divides us is that Steven thinks Trump is critical to Ukraine winning, while I think we need to abandon the illusion he will help Ukraine. https://www.counteroffensive.news/p/debate-is-trump-a-viable-mediator

[timkmak@journa.host]

Steven Moore and I agree on at least one thing: we want Ukraine to win the war.

[timkmak@journa.host]

I am a former U.S. Army medic and longtime journalist who has been in #Ukraine since Feb 2022. And the founder of The Counteroffensive.

[timkmak@journa.host]

Steven is a former chief of staff for a GOP member of Congress. He went to #Ukraine on the fifth day of the invasion, and has been a leading force in getting #Republican lawmakers and officials to support Ukraine.

[timkmak@journa.host]

The thing we two friends argue about most is the degree to which #Ukraine needs Donald #Trump. We’ve had so many interesting, illuminating and passionate discussions privately. And then it struck me: why not share it more widely to sharpen our arguments?

[timkmak@journa.host]

Here’s the issue which we’ll be debating:

Resolved: The Trump White House is a viable mediator for a just peace in the Ukraine-Russia War.

[timkmak@journa.host]

I will be arguing in opposition to the resolution. Steven, thanks for doing this. One of the most interesting things about our friendship has been our disagreements over the degree to which #Ukraine needs to engage with #Trump.

[timkmak@journa.host]

My position is that we should skip to the inevitable betrayal, dispense with the pretense that the United States is interested in a just peace for #Ukraine, and try to do as little damage as possible while recognizing that reality.

[timkmak@journa.host]

The same strategy made no demands of #Russia whatsoever other than that they do us the favor of being welcomed back into the fold of civilized nations with no accountability for the looting, killing, raping and murder they've committed.

[timkmak@journa.host]

The U.S. #peace process -- which I consider a theater -- is to my mind an ego-driven venture so that Trump can say he established an end to the war, no matter how unjust and no matter how tenuous. It is an unserious process of coercion by unknowledgeable men.