In 2022, Biden pledged to defeat Russia. But today, Russia is winning the war. Americans love winners, and hate losers. Had Biden defeated Putin, he’d now be a national hero.

Ukrainian officials maintain an optimistic, bipartisan approach to the US, but in private, many Ukrainians are pessimistic about an increasingly bleak war and the US role in it.

Putin gave a keynote speech at the annual Valdai Summit where he laid out his latest version of his “multipolar” world view.

One must admit – when many expected turbulences, accusations of cheating, lawsuits, and even outright violence, Trump’s sailing to victory was pretty smooth. However, what comes next is still unpredictable. After recovering from the shock, Harris called Trump to congratulate him and emphasize the importance of accepting the election results. She added that the White House administration would facilitate a peaceful power transfer to aid the transition process. Biden, in turn, has invited Trump to a traditional post-election meeting at the White House, and both President and Vice-President will attend the inauguration ceremony.

Newspaper headlines and television pundits are screaming that Donald Trump’s election is a threat to “our democracy.” A strange charge following an election when a clear majority of voters chose the winner. Isn’t that consistent with the very definition of “democracy”?

For the past several decades, as the leader of a unipolar world, all diplomatic pathways to peace went through Washington. Any negotiated settlement had to be an American led negotiated settlement. But enforcing hegemony means not being impartial. It means rewarding one side with weapons and diplomatic support and coercing the other with sanctions and the threat of war. Dreams of being an immortal hegemon have resulted in policies that led to the death of diplomacy. All diplomatic pathways may have gone through Washington, but few, if any, have arrived at peace.

This is curious. The Washington Post is reporting a phone call between U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation.

The proposals all depart from President Joe Biden’s approach of letting Kyiv decide when peace talks should begin. They also all recommend freezing the war where it stands, geographically.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller reiterates Biden Administration’s unconscionable lack of interest in pursuing negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.

By a strange coincidence, two ballet productions of Crime and Punishment are being shown at the same time—Helen Pickett in New York (American Ballet Theater) and Boris Eifman in St. Petersburg. I saw the American production at Lincoln Center and the Russian one in a video recording.