Graham and Russian strike jeopardize Trump's peace talks

Over the weekend, Donald Trump had a meeting set with Russian President Putin and then on Monday with Ukrainian President Zelensky. From what I have read, both sets of meetings went well, but the progress could be thrown off track.

I say that because of two things… A Russian strike against Ukraine and a move made by Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC).

Going well

Both meetings for Trump appeared to be successful if we read through the lines of Trump's comments afterward.

Trump left Alaska very upbeat, then immediately called for Zelensky to come to the White House for a meeting.

Zelensky brought a handful of European Union and NATO leaders with him, which I thought would blow up in his face, but it appeared to work out very well.

So well, in fact, Trump was calling for a trilateral meeting to get Putin and Zelensky at the same table to work out a peace deal.

Graham threatens bill

If there is one thing that could derail the peace talks, it would be legislation designating Russia as a state sponsor of terror.

Yet, that is what Graham just announced, pointing to a report that Russia has abducted more than 20,000 children during the war, allegedly adopting some of them out. Graham stated, “I intend to push the return of these children until I can’t push anymore.

“If they do not return these children to Ukraine, the 19,000, then I’m going to push legislation to make Russia a state sponsor of terrorism under U.S. law.”

I want to be clear that if this is true, I 100% agree with Graham, but it is just the timing of this measure that I question. I think Russia should be tried for war crimes, but that is an issue to be handled after the war is over. And yes, I understand the sensitive nature of the issue here, and it must be stopped, but does anyone really believe Graham can stop this with this legislation right now?

Russian strike

Just about the time that Zelensky was rolling up to the White House, Russia was carrying out another drone strike.

Early reports had “only” listed seven people dying, but the latest reports now have that number up to 14, and this could easily derail the negotiations.

Andriy Yermak, Mr. Zelensky’s chief of staff, said the quiet part out loud, stating, “That’s why Putin doesn’t want to cease fire. He enjoys shelling peaceful cities while talking about his desire to end the war.”

I have to be honest… It is tough to take Putin seriously when he carries out this strike, knowing he just had a talk with Trump, and Zelensky was about to do the same. This was nothing more than a slap in the face, and I would not be surprised one bit if it impacts the peace talks negatively.