The Duran Podcast - Lavrov Rejects Ceasefire; Ratcliffe Steps Out of the Shadows

Episode Date: September 25, 2026

Lavrov Rejects Ceasefire; Ratcliffe Steps Out of the Shadows

All right, Alexander, let's talk about what is happening with Project Ukraine. We have the UN General Assembly meeting, which is taking place as we record this video. You've had many speeches from many, many leaders who are invested in Project Ukraine. Zelensky spoke. Makron gave his speech. We've had a declaration from the collective West foreign ministers. Kayakalas, Sikorsky, the guy from France, Noel Bado, I think is his name. All of the foreign ministers of Europe, along with the foreign minister of Ukraine, declaring that there is to be a ceasefire.

There needs to be a ceasefire. And we had a Rubio Lavrov meeting as well, where Rubio left that meeting. And he also talked about a Russia and Ukraine. interest in a limited ceasefire. Meanwhile, Lavrov, he is saying there's going to be no ceasefire, even if there is a negotiation that takes place, given what the Collective West has shown us in the past, we will not be allowing a ceasefire to take place because that is just a way for the Europeans to rearm Ukraine. So a lot of activity in and around Project Ukraine, especially now that we have the UN General Assembly meeting.

What do you make of all of this? Well, it is entirely predictable, and it is also completely inane at one at the same time. What has happened over the last few months is that first we had this enormous period of euphoria, if you remember, Ukrainian drone offensives, the Ukrainians winning on the battlefield, all of that sort of thing, then that's now completely dissipated. The Russians are smashing Ukraine to pieces every single day. We have drones, missiles, bombing. We have the black seaports closed. We have a massive, massive budget deficit in Ukraine. The Ukrainian army on the battlefronts is being pulverized. Though whether the Europeans fully understand the gravity of the,

of that is not clear. And of course, what they've now done is that from, you know, the euphoria of a few weeks ago, they've reverted back to their default position. We need to ceasefire. We have to get the Russians to stop. We're going to tell the Russians to stop. We're going to have meetings with the Russians via Rubio to tell the Russians to stop. Rubio, of course, is our friend in the administration. He's an archaulk, as we all know. So he comes along. He has a meeting with Loveroff. He basically lies about what Loverov and he talked about because there is no doubt at all that Lov would have completely and flatly rejected the idea of a ceasefire. So Rubio comes out and insinuates that a limited ceasefire is possible. When there is no possibility of that,

whatsoever. That's all they can think of, and that's all ultimately they have, because the Russians are not going to accept a ceasefire. They have never accepted an interim ceasefire at any time during the whole period of the special military operation. The most that has happened is that Vladimir Putin has accepted brief truces to exchange prisoners or to exchange bodies or during the period of religious festivals. Last year, he briefly agreed at Trump's insistent request to, I think it was a one-month ceasefire on missile strikes, which of course the Ukrainians ignored. We discussed this at the time. It probably didn't, in fact, affect Russian plans because it was unlikely the Russians were going to conduct strikes on Ukraine during that period. But maybe the Americans again misunderstood that and ceased on it as a precedent.

The Russians have consistently said they are not interested in ceasefires. They've been there. They've done that. They did that with Minsk 1. They did that with Minsk 1. They did that briefly in the early days of the special military operation, on the very second day of the special military operation. The fact which people forget, they announced, Putin announced a ceasefire, which the Russians quickly had to walk back when it became clear that the Ukrainians were not going to comply with it. So there is not going to be a ceasefire, but that is all that the Europeans can think of because,

Even though things on the battlefronts are going from bad to worse, they are not prepared to think beyond a ceasefire so that they can rearm Ukraine and prolong and restart the war at a time and moment of their choosing. And it's got to the point where Macron is also telling everybody that Putin is not telling the truth when he says that Russia is not going to attack the rest of Europe. He says that he believes he, in fact, he knows that Russia is planning to attack the rest of Europe. Of course, he provides no evidence to support this fantastic claim. But that is what he says. And, well, we know what the strategy is going to be. I think we know where Macron is getting this from, Ratcliffe, because we got the report that, I think this is from El Mundo in Spain, where they are saying that the CIA or US Intel has notified Mediterranean, southern European countries that Russia is planning some sort of a drone strike on France, Macron, on Italy, and or on. on Spain and they're going to use ships to launch these drones and hit at these EU European

countries in order to test NATO's solidarity and NATO's resolve. Stupid stuff like that. It's just such a dumb narrative. But there's no doubt, in my mind, in my mind, there's no doubt that it is Ratcliffe and the CIA that is writing all of these scripts. That's why the important meeting that took place recently. was not Trump meeting Zelensky. That was a skit.

The important meeting was Ratcliffe. Mating Zelensky in Ireland. In Ireland, exactly. And I think this is where Macron is, and all the Europeans, I think this is this is the, this is where they're getting, getting all of this stuff from. This is the CIA. This is the CIA war.

It is the CIA that he's now running this war. Some parts, not all, some parts of the Pentagon are, basically fed up with this whole business. There are, however, some generals in the Pentagon that want to keep it going. But it is the CIA that is committed to it. It is the CIA that he's conducting the drone war. It is Radcliffe who went to Moscow to try to get the Russians to stop and to threaten them if they didn't stop.

the Russians sent him on his way and of course it is the CIA and the Europeans because the Europeans are fully part of this who now are trying to get the Russians to stop and are trying to pile on the diplomatic pressure but are refusing even now

even as everything is falling apart they are refusing to make any move that might even just conceivably persuade the Russians that some kind of negotiation might be meaningful and might make sense. Now, can I just say something, by the way, about what Lov said. What Lov said that there is no reason why negotiations cannot. Basically, what he said was, there's no reason why negotiations cannot happen. not take place without a ceasefire. It's absolutely correct.

That is what happened in Vietnam. The Americans, the North Vietnamese, met in Paris for years and negotiated with each other, and there was no ceasefire. In fact, there was no talk about a ceasefire. So there is no objective reason why that that. cannot happen. This insistence that there must be a ceasefire tells you that there is actually no fundamental interest in negotiations. Because the objective is not a negotiated resolution of the crisis. It is just a ceasefire to get the Russians to stop.

speech at the Security Council. He really laid into the Europeans. He went through the whole history of the recent history of Project Ukraine, going all the way back to Maidan. He called out Sikorski, who was there in 2014. I think that's why we see so much panic with Sikorsky and so many dumb statements that he's making because he's one of the few, if not the only foreign minister, the current foreign minister, who was also part of the John McCain, Victoria Newland crew that took place in 2014. So I think he has an even added sense of desperation and panic. Anyway, Lavrov went through the entire history, Minsk agreements, Merkel, Hollande, Poroshenko, Zelensky. He went through all of it. But he was definitely putting

the blame of everything that has happened with Project Ukraine. once again on the Europeans. He avoided calling out the United States. How come Russia doesn't say maybe change their messaging a bit because it's obvious they don't want to blame the United States or the Trump administration for anything that's going on? Why don't they say, you know, this is a CIA proxy war? And the CIA is coordinating and working with the Europeans to push this war. I get to say something about that. I am actually deeply frustrated personally that they don't say this.

Obviously, the Russians are absolutely furious with the Europeans for joining in this war so enthusiastically. They are deeply, deeply angry by the things that the Europeans have been saying about them. Medvedev gave a fascinating interview to a Russian newspaper called Viedelamosti, which has been almost completely unnoticed, by the way, in which he says one of the reasons he speaks so coarsely now is because for years he's had to deal with the Europeans. He had to deal with them when he was president. He had to deal with them when he was prime minister.

He had to deal with them for years. He found their arrogance utterly insufferable. and he was bottling it up all the time. And now that the war has come, he feels finally that he can say what he really feels about these terrible people. So, yes, the Russians have great anger towards the Europeans. They feel that the Europeans have treated them abysmally. They also feel betrayed after all the efforts that the Russians made after the end of the Cold War. And indeed even before the end of the Cold War, to achieve some kind of detain in Europe.

But ultimately, this is a CIA American war. It is a war that the deep state in the United States instigated. It was the Americans who played the central role in the events in Maidan in 2014. Victoria Newland, who was there handing out the cookies. It was the Americans who played a central role in the events of 20, later in 2014. It was Biden who chaired the cabinet meeting in Kiev, as I remember shortly before, the Ukrainian army started its attack on Dombas in the spring of 2014. It was the Americans who played a major role in sabotaging the Minsk Agreement and made it very clear.

that the Minsk Agreement was unacceptable. I remember that after the Minsk agreement was agreed, Newland, who was leading the American delegation to the Munich Security Conference, made sure that the Americans weren't even talking to the Germans at that time. So why do the Russians continue with this fiction that is all the Europeans,

when ultimately, we all know who is really behind all of this. It is maybe not the entire government of the United States, maybe not Donald Trump himself, but ultimately the origins of this is with the CIA, with the deep state, with all of those people in Washington, with the neocons and all of those in Washington. The assumption I have,

because obviously the Russians know all about this is that they have to maintain a dialogue with the Americans because they understand that the further west the Russians go the closer Ukraine comes towards collapse the more dangerous the situation is becoming I mean the war talk in Europe now is absolutely almost out of control So maybe the Russians are saying to themselves, well, we need somebody to maintain to exercise some restraint over the Europeans in this situation. And if it's not going to be the CIA, well, there are other cooler, wiser heads in Washington, Trump himself maybe.

Some people at the State Department, some people in the Pentagon, they might be able to do it. for us. And maybe, maybe when it's all over, we have to come to some kind of understanding about the situation in Europe. And maybe it is the Americans who can help us to do that, too. I think that may be what they're saying to each other. But it is a fiction. And again, you know, they are placing too much weight and hope in what the Americans eventually do. That's my own view. I think you're right. I think they're attributing too much blame on the Europeans.

Yeah. Yes. I mean, the Europeans are going to do what the U.S., specifically what the CIA tells them to do. Exactly. Right? I mean, the whole speech from the Ukraine foreign minister with all the European foreign ministers there was obviously a completely scripted. pre-arranged, pre-programmed event. And it looked straight out of a CIA type of playbook, right?

I want all of you foreign ministers. Ratcliffe is telling them, I want all of you foreign ministers to get together and to make this statement. This is all part of the plan that I'm cooking up, which eventually, my fear is that eventually all of this is about some sort of a way to provoke or create a false flag

so that you can get some sort of a hot war between the European part of NATO and Russia, which will eventually bring in elements of the U.S. military into this conflict, overtly, not covertly, overtly bring in elements of the U.S. military into this conflict. I mean, I think that's the ultimate goal of the CIA. That is the ultimate goal full storm. There is no other way. There is no other way now that the situation in Ukraine can even theoretically be saved. Exactly. At least that's what they believe. They believe that they can't. Exactly. I mean, Ukraine cannot defeat the Russian army. Even the U.S. is not going to make that difference. No. The CIA probably believes that they can. Yes. But it's not going to make the difference. But you said that

that it was about restraining the Europeans. The Russians believe that maybe there's someone in Washington who will, as things get worse for Project Ukraine, that we'll be able to put some restraint on the Europeans. But wouldn't it be better if Russia approached this as trying to find people who can put restraint on the CIA? Or is that even possible? Is it even possible to restrain such an organization? Well, that's a very good question. I think the advantage of doing that is that it would be a more realistic thing. If I could, let me put it like this.

It would address the reality. It would address the reality that there is a very, very powerful faction in the United States, centered on the CIA, centered on parts of the U.S. intelligence community, centered on some people in Congress who are linked with it, and of course to the think tank world and to the neocons, and that it is they who are the ultimate drivers. Calling them out, I think would, I mean, it would be straightforward because it would be true. And sometimes saying what is straightforwardly true is the best and the most effective strategy. I think what makes the Russians hold back from doing this is probably they say to themselves,

well, if we do that, if we simply say it's the CIA and those people who are behind this wall, Firstly, people will accuse us of fettling fantasies and engaging in overcomplicated stories and indulging in our own paranoia about the CIA, which we don't want to seem paranoid in that way. And secondly, it's more likely to result in the American's closing ranks, all parts of the American government, in other words, including Trump. uniting against us. I have to say, these calculations are exhausting and pointless to me. I think the better policy of all now would be for the Russians to simply tell the Americans, look, we reached an agreement in Anchorage. You know what that agreement was. We know what that agreement was, don't call us until the moment comes when you want to implement it. That is the simplest most straightforward strategy of all. And if you are thinking at any time of getting involved in the

war, remember that you haven't so far been able to defeat Iran. And we are orders of magnitude, more powerful than the Iranians are, and we're in nuclear power as well. Yeah. I mean, I agree in that, you know, maybe the Russians are saying we don't want to antagonize or provoke or have the U.S. institutions close ranks, if we do call out the Intel services. But I think that seal has already been broken with Radcliffe's trip to Moscow. Yeah.

Right? I mean, I think now it's out in the open that this is, but mostly and mainly. a CIA proxy war. Yes. I mean, Ratcliffe went to Moscow. He made his demands. And then we have the article, which came out the other day, which says Ratcliffe is telling the Europeans that Russia is going to attack Europe with the drone, right?

So, I mean, it's obvious now. So if Russia was to come out with a statement, I don't think it would be a huge revelation anymore, right? I mean, it's out in the open now. And probably on purpose, I imagine that that Ratcliffe, they were probably tired of being in the shadows. Oh, I'm sure that's right. I think they're very delighted.

I mean, people like that are probably very relieved now to be talking straightforward. But, of course, the problem is... I believe Radcliffe even wanted to speak with... I think he really does want to be out in the open now and say, I'm running the show, not Wyckoff and Kushner. Forget those guys. I'm the guy that should be negotiating.

I'm the guy that wants to run. run the proxy. I think there was even articles or reports claiming that Ratcliffe wanted to be speaking with Putin. He was demanding to speak with Putin. There is absolutely no, first of all, there have been those articles. But as we said at the time, when Ratcliffe went to Moscow, the CIA director does not go to Moscow just to collect a couple of bodies and put them on the plane, as I'm saying, or just to speak to Russian intelligence. officers like Abornikov and Naryshkin, however senior they are, he can meet with them wherever he, in all sorts of other places in the world, you can meet with them in Ankara, or he can meet

with them in Karachi, or he can meet with them in Singapore. He doesn't have to go to Moscow. Radcliffe went to Moscow in order to meet with Putin. I mean, I have absolutely no doubt about that whatsoever he came making threats. Well, I say he came making threats. He would probably send it like this. He said, oh, you know, you know what these crazy people in Ukraine are like. They're going to attack your airports. We're doing everything we can to restrain them.

So you've got to work with us. Probably that's how it was done. I don't mean that he was there directly, Dina, to make that. But the Russians can see through that. of language. They didn't like it. And they said, you're not meeting with Putin. And they sent him on his way. So, yes, Radcliffe absolutely wants to run the show. But he has the need to do it, because he knows that the show in Ukraine is crashing down. He's trying to save, he's trying to save this thing before it finally goes up in flames around him. And of course, he's trying to save this thing. And of

Because Dratcliffe, who remember, is not a CIA veteran, even though I mean, I'm no doubt that he's totally assimilated into the CIA culture. And of course, he's played when he was a member of Congress. He was very close to the CIA, apparently. We mustn't assume that because he's a politician, he doesn't share the ideas and the philosophies that the CIA has. But Radcliffe, who also probably has political ambitions, of course, the risk he runs is that by coming forward and making himself visible in this way, when it all falls apart, it's going to be easier to point the finger at him and at the organization, the CIA, which he heads. Yeah, you're right about that.

I was thinking about what you were saying. It has the feeling of a CEO. Yes. Telling his subordinates, giving his subordinates a task or a project, and they've screwed the whole thing up. Yes. And that CEO calling in the subordinates and saying, okay, look, I'm going to be lead on this project now.

I'm taking over because you guys have bungled the entire thing. I'm going to take over. I'm going to make this a success. That's what it feels like. It has that feeling to it. I can see Ratcliffe and the CIA telling the Europeans and telling the UK and the MI6 and then the EU and even Trump, all of these people saying, you know what, you guys have completely screwed this all up.

Ukraine is crashing. We're the only ones that can fix it. Yes. Yeah. Exactly. And they're not going to be able to fix it. Not at all. They're going to make it worse.

Yeah. All right. We'll end it there. The duran. Dotlocals.com. We're on Substack and go to Durant Shop, pick up some merch. Those links to the description box down below. Take care.