Trump was absolutely correct that Zelensky doesn't have any cards, but as of the fall of Kursk, neither has Trump. It's not his fault, but it is what it is.
- Weapons? Useless.
- Sanctions? Not very effective.
- Direct military reinforcement? Out of the question.
- Kursk? Fallen.
The only thing Putin has to lose is more of his men in the course of the war, but I'd guess the majority of Russian soldiers and civilians believe the fight is worth it at this point. Russia will whoop on Ukraine some more and eventually there won't be anything to negotiate with.
Trump should ally with Russia and declare war on Ukraine.
Please?
It would be hilarious.
"Fine, you convinced us Zelenskyy™, we're sending 100,000 ground forces to Kyiv." - Trump.
In a different timeline, imagine if we opened up our arms to embrace Russia in 1991. They had a huge manufacturing base, access to three oceans, and were desperate for investment. They had lots of energy, but no innovation. We craved energy, and had lots of innovation to share.
Instead we decided to make our future worst enemy ultra-trillionaires and let them have a nuclear program even though they literally sent their own actual soldiers to kill ours in at least two wars on the Pacific Rim.
Early in his presidency, Putin actually floated the idea of Russia joining NATO to Clinton, who was initially supportive of the idea. Unfortunately, Clinton later told Putin that it wouldn't work out, which led Putin to think POTUS wasn't in charge of the West after all.
I don't want to invade but, if Trump has the absolute balls for it, peaceful relations with Russia, in the face of recent global(ist) convention, would be huge.
We don't have to - and shouldn't - invade Ukraine, but we could and should pull support, and get the minerals from Russia. Would be hilarious indeed.
We should not* ally with Russia but we should still invade Ukraine