The Duran Podcast - Russia Rejects Vatican and CIA Ceasefire Demands

Episode Date: August 29, 2026

Russia Rejects Vatican and CIA Ceasefire Demands

All right, Alexander, let's talk about the diplomacy that is trying to happen with Project Ukraine. We had the Vatican in Moscow. We had CIA Director Ratcliffe in Moscow. And we now have some statements from Foreign Minister Lavrov. More about the meeting with the Vatican official than with Ratcliffe. But what did Lavrov say? Well, it was interesting because I think the... two dovetail together. We did a program some days ago, which we discussed Radcliffe's visit,

and we said that it was basically on the topic of Ukraine. If you read through very carefully what Lavrov said, he all but confirmed it. And he discussed obviously in some detail what Galaher said, but Galaher being, of course, the Vatican official, who, were sent by the Vatican to Moscow. I don't know any coincidence that the Vatican representative was there at the same time as Radcliffe was there. One was there to provide, if you like, the ethical push, the other, the more sort of, you know, hard line push, trying to get the Russians to stop, as we said. But the point was that Lavrov said, appears to have said to both, look, we've tried to go We've tried negotiations to settle this conflict going back all the way to 2014.

There's been no shortage of goodwill in the past on our side. Goodwill has now gone because Western policy, Western diplomacy, is based on deception. And that is the key word. A lot of people have focused on the fact that he was asked whether the Russians gave Rad, some kind of ultimatum about U.S. assistance in Ukrainian strikes against Russia. And Lavrov said, no, we didn't give them an ultimatum because we discussed it and we discussed it in every meeting. But I think more important is this point about American Western foreign policy being

based on deception. Because what it basically says, what Lavrov is saying, what the Russians are saying, is that negotiations are hopeless, because negotiations can only be based on trust, and there is no trust, and that is now the formal stated position of the Russians. So the only outcome now is going to be military, and it is going to be decided on the battlefields. Lavrov, in effect, says that both the Vatican official and the CIA director, we're given the brush off exactly what we discussed in the program that we did discussing Radcliffe's visit a few days ago. Yeah, Lavrov said that the Vatican official had no counterarguments either for Lavrov's statements. No. He was just basically telling Labrov, come on, just agree to the ceasefire. That was the message that I got from

of Lavrov's statements. Can I just quick, quick, and Lov went through the deception. He went through the deception of anchorage. Absolutely. All the talks that Russia had. Exactly. The Vatican provided no pushback,

and their argument was just, please, agree to a ceasefire. Exactly. Exactly. By the way, one person we didn't mention in our last program is Lula, the president of Brazil, because he too has been enlisted into all of this.

Trump and Lula had a telephone. conversation a couple of days ago. Lula and Trump both agreed that there needed to be an immediate end to the fighting in Ukraine. Lula, who's got a difficult election coming and clearly is nervous about what the Americans might get up to in Brazil. And probably anyway, doesn't like Putin for all kinds of reasons we don't need to get into in this program. Anyway, he too has been pressing the Russians to agree a ceasefire. And he said that, you know, that strong leaders, are leaders who make peace, not leaders who continue wars, the kind of cliche that when people fall back on tells you

that they've got no real substantive points to make. But the point is that the Russians are slamming the door on everything. They simply say, look, we can't negotiate. Everything is based on deception. We've been tricked far too many times to let ourselves be tricked all over again. That's what they said to Galaher, the Vatican Envoy. That's what Putin said to Lula. Lula actually telephoned and spoke to Putin.

And that's what Lovov says is telling us, basically, that the Russians said to Racklin. Yeah, the deep state is activating everybody, even BRICS members. They're even recruiting and activating BRICS members. Absolutely. But the door was slammed by the collective West onto Russia, not Russia, to the, to the collective West. Lavrov even said as much. He said that we've given so much goodwill over and over again. And we've given the West the benefit of the doubt so many times. But he said the end has already come when it comes to negotiations. His exact words, the end has come. The end has come. Exactly.

So you cannot argue with that any longer. And I think this is the other thing to say is that there is a fundamental absurdity now in the whole Western negotiating strategy, put aside that is all delusional, you know, that's talking about a war and some kind of a ceasefire in a situation where there's supposed to be some kind of, you know, balance between the forces and which we know there isn't. And all the talk, you know, about Ukraine regaining the initiative, which we know they haven't, and about Russia being under enormous economic pressure, which we also know it is. And put all that aside, these people are trying to persuade a government, the Russian government, which they sought to overthrow something that government knows perfectly well.

They're trying to persuade that government to stop. Why would a government that knows that at this point, when it is a government, any position of overwhelming advantage, choose to stop. They are not going to stop. And I think that is the lesson we must take from this. Where the Russians stop in Ukraine is where they choose to, not where the West tells them. Yeah, the West keeps on telling us that Russia is losing. Keith Kellogg told us the other day that Ukraine is winning Russia is losing. Alexandra Stoop said that Ukraine has already won. That is what he said. three, four weeks ago, then why are you begging for a ceasefire if Ukraine has already won?

The more interesting story, I think, to all of this. I mean, the Vatican is interesting. I agree with that. That's an interesting revelation from Lavadov. But I think there's a more interesting story, which comes from the New York Times' latest reporting on Radcliffe's trip to to Moscow. The narrative has changed now, Alexander. Ratcliffe did not go to Moscow in order to warn the Russians about going after Latvia, because as we all know, Latvia, Estonia, the Baltics are very, very important to the United States and the U.S. will do everything in their power to protect the Baltic countries. And so that's why Ratcliffe was in Moscow. Nope, that's not the story anymore. Now the narrative is that Ratcliffe went to Moscow in order to help.

help Putin in order to persuade Russia that the war is going bad, badly. Putin is not getting the correct intel, the correct information. He's being deceived. And Ratcliffe wanted to get the right information to Putin. So he was there to actually help Putin, to help Russia. Because if Russia continues with this conflict, then it's going to collapse. The economy is a mess. the military is in a stalemate, it's not doing well. And Radcliffe had to get the information, the right information to Putin. And the thinking, the calculus, according to the New York Times is reporting, the calculus from the Trump administration was that, you know what,

best to not send a diplomat or someone like Rubio, let's send an intel guy like Radcliffe, because Putin, a former intel guy will take notice of the fact that we sent Radcliffe to Moscow, and maybe, just maybe, he'll pay attention to Radcliffe and listen to what Ratcliffe has to say. I'm not making this up, by the way. No, I know, I know. This is the New York Times is reporting. There are so many accounts and reasons given that.

Actually, let me just read you because people may think I'm making this up. No, no. But let me just read you the title from the New York Times. CIA Chief delivered bleak assessment of Russia's war and secretive Moscow visit. John Ratclis meeting this week with the Russian Intent. intelligence official was aimed at pushing the Kremlin to pursue a peace deal with Ukraine. Yeah, yeah. Well, I mean, put aside all of the nonsense, though, doesn't that again corroborate our analysis that it was all about trying to get the Russians to stop? Now, whether really, you know, Radcliffe came along and told all that nonsense. And by the way,

noticed that he didn't actually meet Putin. He didn't need Lavrov. He met the intelligence people. So he met the intelligence people, people like Naryshkin, who supposedly are deceiving Putin. And Bornykof, the FSP of the FSP. So, I mean, they're the people who are supposedly deceiving Putin. Right.

This is, this is. So he keeps telling them, you know, I'm here to give you guys, you know, I'll tell you, tell you what is really going on in the war. I mean, you may be the intel people who are spinning all these deceptions to Putin, but Putin needs to be told by you that he's actually losing the wall. Again, it's, it is so fantastic. It is, anyway, but strip all the nonsense away, strip all the absurdity of it away.

this tells us exactly what we said in our program a few days ago, that this was an attempt to get the Russians to stop. The idea that the Americans would go to Moscow, send someone like Radcliffe to Moscow, to persuade the Russians to stop because the Russians are losing and that the situation for them is bleak. and is going to get worse is a fantastic one. Since when has the United States,

since when the CIA held out a helping hand to the Russians? All the time. All the time, exactly. But anyway, I mean, that's what the CIA does. That's what the CIA does, exactly. I'm sorry. You're absolutely right to be, you know, sarcastic about this, because sarcasm is the only way to deal with this.

The simple fact is he went to Moscow to persuade the Russians to stop. We've now had an article in the New York Times, which confirms it. Trump is getting the wrong information. Take this article and turn everything around. And it's Trump that is being misled by his officials. Exactly. As to what's going on in the conflict. Exactly.

Look at Iran. How was Trump's information on Iran? How did that work out for the United States? all the amazing intel that he got on Iran. And just one weekend would lead to Iran crumbling. One weekend of strikes and decapitation of Iranian leaders. That would lead to the complete collapse of Iran. How did that intel work?

Exactly. Now Trump's stuck. Now Trump stuck in Ukraine as well. Exactly. Exactly. And Donbass was soon full. And the Russians are close to capturing O'Rejov in Zs, La Porosje, and Ukraine has been pounded every day, and the US is out of air defense missiles,

and the situation, it is the situation for the United States that looks bleak, not the other way around. And by the way, if you want confirmation of this, you go to the various telegram channels, the Ukrainian telegram channels, the good ones, and they're telling you exactly that. And if you don't want to do that, go to that substact site, events in Ukraine, which acts as a site aggregator very effectively and puts them all together. Well, go to Reuters. Don't even go to those sites. Go to Reuters, which is now reporting that Zelensky and Drapati, the new commander,

they're going to send the Azov guys to the front lines in Dombas, close to Kramatarsk, Slavian, yeah, Klamato Slaviansk. Yeah. Close to those front lines in order to try and stop the Russian advance. Indeed. This is Reuters is reporting. So now they're having to actually send the Azov guys who they've been trying to not send those guys for various political reasons.

For Zelensky, he did not want to tap into the Azov and the Azov did not want to go. No. But now they're going to have to go. Absolutely. And if you want a further proof about who's deceiving him. Just go and see Zelensky's video outside the city of Zaporosje, where he turned up and you see, you know, the truck passing behind him and then sort of not appearing on the other side.

I mean, you know, even on the Ukrainian side, this video has been ridiculed. So, I mean, you know, this is the reality. But the key thing is, anyway, put all that aside, Trump perhaps is being deceived. Trump is being told fairy tales, maybe. about who is really losing the war and who's winning. But the fact is the United States sent Radcliffe to Moscow

in order to persuade the Russians to stop. And Lavrov says, no, it's all trickery, it's all deception. Our goodwill is exhausted. We've been here far too many times. Diplomacy now is at an end. Lavrov basically said it's a foreign policy of trickery. I think we've been saying on the Duran for a while now. Alexander, what is the situation?

You coined the phrase. You coined the phrase, yes. Alexander, what is it? We now have the ghost of Zapparoja as well, Alexander. The ghost is a truck. Anyway, what is the situation on the front lines? Will this move by Drapati? I think it's his first big military move.

move. Obviously, he's getting all the orders from NATO and US command, but as the new commander of the Ukraine military, this is his big play now to get all these Azov people to the front, to plug up the holes and to try and stop the Russian advance. What's happening there? Is this going to work? Is this going to buy Zelensky the time he needs? Will us be able to turn the Russian military back? What are your thoughts there? Well, he's certainly not going to turn the Russian military back. I mean, the Russians are tied to. their ring, their squeeze around the fortified towns. You remember, you know, we used to talk about the fortified towns,

the line of defense in Donbass, how critical it was. We were talking about this two years ago, three years ago, even at the start of the special military operation. Everybody's now talking about the fortified towns. Anyway, the point to understand about the fortified towns is that the Russians are to the east, to the north, to the south, and to the west of them. They are very close now to being encircled. When I say very close, I don't mean it's going to happen tomorrow or the day after tomorrow or next week,

but fairly soon within the next few weeks or months it is going to happen. And the Russians, according to the Russian military, themselves, they're already halfway through capturing the southernmost one of these line of fortified towns, a place called Alexevo Drusivka, they've entered another one, which is called Drusivka itself. And they are close to capturing a whole series of places to the west, a place called Dobropelia, which is now also looking incredibly fragmenting. And the Russians are capturing places to the north of Dobropelia in a way that could interfere with supplies being sent to this critical town. Dobropelia is captured by the Russians. Then the Russians are in a very strong

position to start to outflank the whole of this line of defense, the fortified towns. And then the Ukrainians have a very, very difficult decision. Do they stay in the fortified towns? Risk encirclement, risk being in a cauldron. And we're not talking about a cauldron, you know, of a few thousand men, because we're talking about a large, you know, a whole string of towns. So we would be talking about tens of thousands of men, the better part of the Ukrainian army, in fact, being surrounded in this place. Or do they retreat, give up Dombas, which would in effect mean giving up eastern Ukraine? Because if Dombas collapses, if the resistance of Dombas collapses, if the Russians capture these towns, then they're beyond the urban sprawl.

They're beyond the difficult topography of Dombas. There is nothing to stop them until they reach the river in its central sections. They can advance north towards Kharkov. They've already apparently got a large concentration of forces ready to move in. to Chernigov region in northeastern Ukraine. They can do all kinds of things, which would then be blows that the Ukrainians could not withstand. So what did the Ukrainians do?

Do they defend or do they retreat? At the moment, they've made the decision to defend. They're setting their best troops there. And if you know anything at all about the way that Zelensky conducts the wall, you will find that completely unsurprising. But it could set the scene. It probably will set the scene for a massive encirclement battle, which would be the decisive battle in the wall. And the Azov guys are going to be plenty pissed off at Zelensky if all of this thing, if all of this crumbles.

Well, indeed, yes. Absolutely. Well, I mean, quite likely they will pull back. I mean, remember, a group of them got encircled in Marupol. and they were very angry apparently about that. And the Russians let them go to the chiefs of them, let them go to Turkey. And Zelensky did a deal with Erdogan. And Erdogan broke promises he made to the Russians and let them return to Ukraine.

And many people in Russia were furious about this. And apparently Putin himself was very angry, but Putin, as he often does, put his anger to one side and just pretended that, you know, this wasn't a big deal. But there's already be, I mean, the point is these people, Azov, have a huge amount of political pull in Kiev. If they are, if there is an encirclement operation, if they're threatened, I think one thing they will probably retreat. They probably won't pay any attention to Zelensky's orders. I mean, the Azov brigades have repeatedly shown that they're allurent to themselves and they make their own decisions. And at that point, I think we could actually be looking at a political, a real

political crisis in Kiev. A confrontation between Azov and Zelensky is one that Zelensky is not going to survive. Yeah. All right. We will end the video there. The durand.orgas.com. We're on X-Rond Rumble. We're on telegram. We are also on substack. Go to the Duran shop, pick up some merch. the links are in the description box down below take care