The Duran Podcast - Zelensky & Rutte FAIL to get invite to ALASKA

Episode Date: August 14, 2025

Zelensky & Rutte FAIL to get invite to ALASKA

All right, Alexander, let's talk about the European-Ukraine call with U.S. President Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance. Let's talk about what Mertz has said about the call. Macron also talked about the results of the call with Trump. Zelensky went to Berlin to be with Mertz, as they called Trump, which is kind of weird. But anyway, he did not look very good, Zelensky at the press conference afterwards. He looked very much in despair and very shaken. He was clearly out of it.

Then Zelensky got on a plane and he went to London to meet with Stammer. I believe he's in London today, isn't he? He is indeed. Anything to get out of Kiev, I guess. Absolutely. That's been the theme with Zelensky over the past couple of years. So anyway, let's talk about the call with Trump. What are your thoughts?

And Trump said some interesting things as well afterwards at the Kennedy Center. So we'll talk about that. He did it. He did. Well, I think we now are able to put together the pieces and work out what actually happened during that call and what we was really all about. Because it's clear to me that it was principally about getting Zelensky and Lutzer to Alaska. That was apparently what they asked Trump to do. and Trump said no. And we have this from the media, but that was the major purpose of the call.

In all other respects, the Europeans and Zelenskyy tried to tell the president of the United States what he should say to the president of Russia. And they were as nihilistic, as completely unbending as they have always been, even as the war is going decisively now against Ukraine, even as the media in places like Britain, the most fervid parts of the British media, for example, are now acknowledging that Ukraine is losing the war and losing it decisively. They still want to get the president of the United States. to follow their line, to follow their dictation, to go to the president of Russia, to threaten him with more sanctions, to threaten him with more tariffs.

Merth's apparently wanted him to, wanted Trump, to impose sanctions and tariffs before the meeting even took place. It leaves me speechless, but that's what these people were about. So they tried to get Zelensky and Ruta to Alaska, and they wanted to make sure that Trump sticks to what you might call the party line Ukraine. No concessions, no territorial swaps, unconditional ceasefires, no restraints on the size of the Ukrainian armed forces. and they're back to talking about the coalition of the willing, peacekeeping forces in Ukraine, all of those things. It really was astonishing.

One trillion dollars? One trillion dollars. All of that. It was all there. I mean, it was absolutely incredible. And my sense is that Trump and Vance were listening to it all. Trump, I think, kept his cool. And he went away.

and I think he humoured these people. He said to them what they wanted to hear. He said, I'm not going to make a deal with Putin on Friday, which he clearly isn't. I mean, this is clearly not what this is about at all. I mean, there's not going to be a signed agreement with Putin on Friday. He said the usual things about seeking a ceasefire and all of that. He was asked a question at a press conference about, you know, will there be tariffs and sanctions if the Russians don't agree to a ceasefire?

He said there would be very, very great consequences for Russia. But I noticed that he was careful not to commit himself to further sanctions and tariffs. But anyway, you know, I don't want to perhaps be over-optimistic in the way I interpret Trump's words. But I'm talking about what the Europeans were trying to do over the course of this meeting. And as I said, completely negative, completely hostile, trying to boy. Trump in and trying and failing to get Zelensky and Ruta to Alaska. The terms that the Europeans and Zelensky put to Trump, which is interesting in and of itself, the vassals are dictating terms to the United States. Okay. The terms that they

came up with, sanctions remain, Ukraine gets into NATO, a ceasefire on the on the current front lines, a freeze is what they want, more weapons to pour into Ukraine as well. And they want one trillion from Russia, a ridiculous set of terms, given everything we know today, which is that Ukraine is not losing. They have lost. Even Orban said it. Ukraine lost the war, he said. Yes. Robon said, Russia won. Previously, Orban would say Russia is winning, Ukraine is losing. No, Victor Abond says, said Russia won this. war. The terms that they put out there are meant to get Trump to keep the war going. That's the

reason that they put this ridiculous set of terms to Trump. And they're demanding that Trump take this to Putin because they know that if you presented this to the Russians, they would just walk away. They would laugh at these terms. I mean, everyone knows it. Everyone knows that these terms are meant to be rejected by the Russians. So the war can keep going. not because the Europeans or even Zelensky care about a just peace, as they always talk about a just peace. They always use those words. They don't care about ending the war.

They want to keep the war going. That's what they want because it's all about keeping the United States in Europe. For the Europeans, that's their number one concern. They don't care about land swaps. They don't care about any of that stuff. They want the war to keep going because it's the war that keeps the war. the Americans in Europe. It's the war that keeps the money going to NATO. It's the war that keeps the money flowing to the EU or at least keeps the United States invested in the EU.

And for Zelensky, we've said it many times. For Zelensky, it's critical that the war keeps going because that's how he keeps his position. That's how he keeps his power. That's what this is all about. They thought that they're going to get Trump to accept these list of demands and that he was going to take this to Putin. They thought they would trick him and he was going to take this to Putin, then Putin would reject everything, and they can continue the conflict. Because that's what matters to them. I see absolutely correct. That is absolutely correct. And I'm going to say something else. I think now we can finally stop, we should finally stop this pretence that the Europeans have any interest

in preserving Ukraine or Ukraine survival or the interests and welfare of the Ukrainian people at all. Because going back to your point about what Orban was saying that Ukraine has lost and Russia has won, that is obviously true. Everybody, everybody who is observing the situation can see it. And yet they want this war to continue. I mean, they are so determined to keep the Americans in Europe, so determined to build up Russia as an enemy, that they're prepared to sacrifice Ukraine to that objective. I have to say, as I said, it left me speechless and it left me horrified. And I'm, you know, I'm not somebody who shocks easily now. And we have the man who claims to be the president of Ukraine.

And of course, he not only goes along with it, he wants it that way. He's talking about it. And he say ludicrous things, that the Russian advances a bluff, that Putin is bluffing, that there's no real offensive going on, that things are fine on the battlefields, that Putin is trembling ahead of the tariffs and the sanctions. Things which Zelensky himself must know are not true. If he has any connection to reality at all. So I have to say, the cynicism that we saw on display yesterday leaves me absolutely speechless. It is the moral bankruptcy of Europe. to speak about it now.

Mertz telling the media that the only acceptable outcome to the Trump-Putin talks would be for a negotiation to happen, but first there has to be a ceasefire on the current front lines. I mean, that's Mertz making demands of Trump, telling Trump how he should negotiate. It's absurd. Mertz saying that boundaries should. never be changed by a force. This is coming from Germany. From Germany. Really, Germany? Yeah. Really? Yugoslavia come to mind? Germany. Kosovo, recognition of Kosovo, Germany. I mean, the stuff that was coming out of Mertz's mouth was horrific and insulting. It was

insulting. Stuff that was coming out of Mertz's mouth. Zelensky looked awful. He absolutely looked awful if you go back to the video and see just. Yes. Facial expressions from Zelensky. You don't even need to hear him say stuff. Just look at his expressions, his face. He said that Russia is suffering. He said that Russia has a three to one advantage in weapons and artillery, but they're suffering three times more and more losses. Okay. Okay. Slensky. All of this was meant to trick Trump into going to meet with Putin and making a fool of himself and getting Putin to just walk out of the negotiations. I'll tell you this.

If Kellogg was sitting next to Trump, they might have had a chance. Yes. But Vance was sitting next to Trump. Yes. They have no chance. Exactly. Exactly. You put it exactly right.

Yeah. You have put it exactly right. So where do we go from here? Well, I hope there will be a meeting. There will be the meeting in Alaska. Mark Huta will not be there. Zolensky will not. not be there, maybe there'll be some sense coming out at that meeting now. I mean, there's

some, there'll be some point in that meeting. I mean, one of the most interesting things is that even as all of this drama is playing out in Europe, even as there's been this scramble to try to turn Trump against Putin again, the Russians have played it very calm. They've been careful to avoid involving themselves in these kind of discussions. There was a lot of a statement from the foreign ministry yesterday in which they said that, you know, the four territories, the four regions are part of Russia and that's it. So, I mean, they were careful to make that clear in advance of the meeting. But the Russians clearly are going to Alaska in the mood to talk, to have a proper discussion about the situation in Ukraine with the president of the United

States, who, as you absolutely rightly say, is the president. not just the superpower, but the country of which the Europeans are vassals. I mean, that they should be lecturing the president of the United States and telling him how he should conduct discussions and negotiations with the Russians. I mean, it is so insulting to Trump that they should approach him in that way. Again, as I said, it left me speechless. But anyway, that's what they did. So the Russians will go.

They will meet with Trump. and I think they will try to seek some way forward, not just about Ukraine, but the Russians have made it very clear about the overall relationship between Russia and the United States, which is extremely important. And they will probably be discussing arms control, the process of normalizing relations, ultimate economic ideas and all of that. But also, I think the other thing, and I wanted to say this, is the amount of misdirection, and misrepresentation that is going on, the amount of absurd claims and stories that are

floating around. It just makes your head spin. There's an article today in the London Times, which says that Wit Goff agreed with Putin that occupied Ukraine should be administered by Russia in the same way that Israel administers the West Bank. The White House has categorically denied it. They said that there is absolutely no truth, that nothing like that was talked about at all, but the story is still there. Even after that categorical denial by the White House, it is still up on the London Times' website. No, they're trying to sabotage the talks. They don't want normalization between Russia and the United States. Absolutely. They don't want. Even the telegraph put out an article saying that

Trump is going to offer mineral rights to Alaska. Really? Is he going to offer the mineral rights to Alaska in exchange for the rare earth mineral deal in Ukraine? It's just nonsense. It's nonsense. It's absolute nonsense. I mean, it's also being done, by the way, in order to, if the process proceeds,

to try to discredit it, to again say that. that Trump has fallen under the spell of Putin and he's making these concessions and that he's giving things away, ultimately in order to mobilize opposition to this process in Washington itself. And they're trotting out again, the old stories about the Helsinki meeting in 2018 and about how Trump's side was Putin against these intelligence agencies and all of those things, which wasn't true about what happened at the meeting itself, by the way, it's a complete misrepresentation of the things that Trump actually said. And it completely disregards everything we know about that whole issue, which was Russiagate, everything that we've learned since

from Mueller, from Durham, from Horowitz, from Gabbard, all of that might as well never have happened. Yeah, well, Russiagate is not going to work this time around. Not going to happen. Maybe that's why they're in such a panic because they don't have anything else to throw out there. No. They can't run with Russia gate again because that's already been proven to be a complete hoax. Yes. What can they possibly run with now to sabotage a reproshmo between the United States and Russia?

If we get there. If we get there, we don't know. We got a long way to go. A long way to go. And with Trump, you don't know. No. You don't know. You could say one thing one day and the next day you don't know.

But they're definitely in a panic, aren't they? Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. A panic. And as I said, it's a panic which is exposed also, the underlying cynicism of these people, which, as I said, even after everything we've known and been talking to, we've been talking to talking about for so many years about the European Union, the European leadership, the quality of the people who run the countries of Europe today, I have to say, I still found it horrifying

to see. Well, why? It's about self-preservation, isn't it? Yeah. I mean, at the end of the day, Alexander, these people, they understand that without the United States, they have nothing. Yes. understand that. And they also understand that without the United States, they are isolated

because the rest of the world doesn't want to deal with them. And that's just a fact. The rest of the world is not so keen to deal with the European Union. Russia was not very happy dealing with the European Union. We've talked about it in many videos from before the Special Military operation, how difficult it was to do business and deal with the European Union. Once the United States, if the United States were to walk away in one way or another, it would be devastating for the European elite. It would be an implosion comparable to what happened in Eastern Europe in 1989. The whole thing would implode probably as fast.

It couldn't keep itself going. But yes, look, I understand the motivations. understand the calculations. But still, it's a wall. People are dying. Ukraine, as I said, it's being destroyed. Apparently, these are all things that can be allowed to continue. In fact, they just want to allow it to continue. They want to continue it in order that they can preserve their own positions and keep, as you said, the money flowing to them personally from the United States. I mean, as it makes it very clear. I mean, money is now. the big taxpayers money is going to be flowing from Europe to the United States.

But American taxpayers money is going to continue to flow. That's what they want, to continue to flow to the institutions, NATO, the European Union, and all of the rest, which keep them happy. So that's what this is all about now. A predatory, parasitical, cynical, morally exhaustedly. So what do you think about the federalization of Ukraine? I've seen that floated out there in a couple of reports about what Putin and Trump could be talking about when it comes to a Ukraine after the...

the conflict or how to properly end the conflict so that there is a Ukraine that's left, and it's a Ukraine that Russia can coexist with. The Russian foreign ministry has made it very clear the oblasts that Russia considers to be part of the Russian Federation. It's in the Russian Constitution, and those are non-negotiable. at least that's the statement that came from the Russian foreign ministry yesterday. Yes. So if we start from that point, we then have to talk about what's left of Ukraine and how do you create a

situation so that the United States is okay with whatever deal and Russia can say we're good as well with this negotiation, with this outcome. Could it be a federalization structure? Yes, it could be. And can I just say something? Federalization was first suggested back in 2014, immediately after the Maidan takeover, revolution, coup, whatever you want to call it. It was actually proposed by Germany.

I remember it. Well, the Germans spoke to the Russians at the time, and they said, you know, You've just taken control of Dombas, of Crimea. But, you know, in terms of Dombas and other regions in Ukraine, why not consider federalization? And the Russians were very interested. And then a meeting happened in early 2014 in London. I actually, I was actually there. I was actually close to the building where.

the meeting took place. And it was a meeting between Lavrov and John Kerry, who was then the US Secretary of State. And they discussed federalization. And they issued a joint statement, which was a joint US Russian statement. This is the Obama administration, remember, in which they endorsed federalization. They said at the time that this would be a good way to move forward, to separate the Ukrainian crisis once and for all. And the protesters, because that's all they were at that time, in Donbass, in Donetsk and Lugansk, what they were seeking at that time was federalization. They weren't yet going for full secession from Ukraine. Now, what then happened was that the Maidan people, Poroshenko, all of them, they rejected federalization out.

outright. We can guess why. I mean, they want a unitary Ukraine, which will follow their own cultural and nationalist ideas. And of course, they got support from the European Union, from the central institutions of the European Union, and from NATO, because they needed a unitary Ukraine, because only a unitary Ukraine, would be able to join NATO and would be able to join the European Union, because if Ukraine federalized, the various regions would have a say, and they would probably say, no. So they wanted a unitary Ukraine. And that whole idea died. And there were no negotiations about setting up a federalized structure in Ukraine, as Kerry and Lavrov had agreed. And instead, what happened was that the Ukrainian government,

launched what it called the anti-terrorist operation, which is basically a military operation, to suppress the protests in Donbass. And out of that, the whole Ukraine crisis started. Now, we covered this extensively at the time. At the time, of course, we were a website rather than a channel, but we wrote about it at the time. I remember articles. We did a video on federalization.

And then we did subsequent videos on federalization. after we began the video, you know, after we started to do programs as well, and we discussed federalization, and we said that this would be a way forward, and it would enable places like Odessa, for example, with its particular identity, to coexist with the rest of Ukraine, but in a way that would also satisfy Russia, and that it might be the ultimate solution to the problems, the Ukrainian crisis. I still think that, I still believe that that is a possible way if you really want to find a negotiated way forward. But you can be absolutely certain that the Europeans now, the European Union, Ursula von der Leyen, all of those people will resist it every

inch of the way. And of course, the nationalist forces in Ukraine, Azov, Ida, all of these forces. which have now become far more powerful, will resist it also. But anyway, we will see. Yeah, it would mean a weaker central government, central government, right? Absolutely. And so if you're Poroshenko and these guys or Zelensky, you want a strong center because that's where all the focus and the money will go towards, right? That's important for them.

It's important for both sides. It's important for the globalists and for the Europeans to know that that. the money's going to the center and it's important for the center to receive that money. If you have a federal structure, well, then everything is kind of spread out. But didn't you have that with Crimea in a sense? Crimea was an autonomous republic within Ukraine. And did it Minsk one and two grant a federal structure at least to Donetsk and Lugansk? If it was adhered to, then my understanding of Minsk was that Donets and Lugansk, was that

Donetsz and Lugansk would be a type of federal autonomous republic within a unitary Ukraine. In fact, the text submitsch, slightly fell short of outright federalization, but it was heading in that direction. But of course, it was precisely because it envisaged a degree of autonomy for Dombas that the Ukrainians rejected it and why the European Union was so adamantly opposed to it and why the neocons in Washington was so adamantly opposed to it as well. And that's why Minst too never happened. So there will be attempts again, no doubt, to try to resist this. Because to say it again, a federalized Ukraine cannot join NATO, won't join NATO and won't join the European Unionizer. So given that the objective of those two organizations is to expand continuously,

And given that the objective of the neocons is to bring Ukraine to NATO because that's the way that they're going to move forward with their grand chessboard plan. And given that the Europeans want to see all that happen too, they will all work overtime to try and prevent this happening. Of course, if the United States and Russia not only agree but move forward with this plan, if that is the plan, then of course, it might happen nonetheless. Just to repeat again, if Trump and Putin were to agree or come to a consensus about federalization, and there will be all kinds of people who will say that this is a massive sellout by Trump to Putin, it's important to say that Obama and Kerry agreed to federalization also back in 2014.

I was there. I remember when it happened. I remember being outside the building and the meetings that took place in Regents Park, the American ambassador's residents in Regent's Park. I can remember how Kerry and Lavrov went out and had a walk and they talked about it all together. And the statement that appeared is a statement on public record. So you'll find it very, very difficult to locate a copy of it today, even. on the internet. Yeah. I don't understand why Americans would be against such a setup, given that you're pretty much emulating what the United States is, aren't you? Well, in a way, a state structure, right? Exactly. Exactly.

I mean, it would probably go further than that. Right. But having said that, let's say, it's modeled. It's modeled after that. Exactly. Why it should be so objectionable to the Europeans, this is difficult to understand. And as you correctly said, Americans should understand it and support it. Anyway, I've been reading a lot of reports and every now and then I see that term pop up in there, a federalization, that goes into the Constitution, something like that, a federal structure.

All right, I think that's all we can say. We wait and see now what actually comes out of Alaska. I mean, I doubt that we will have, just to quickly anticipate, I doubt that we will have any announcements of that kind after the meeting. The key thing is, if it's clear that Putin and Trump have got on and that they have some kind of sense that they're working together, then this process can move forward. And Trump, what says that he wants a follow-up meeting quickly, he's still talking about bringing Zelensky along. But I don't think the Russians will want that at this stage. But if they agree to me again, a quick meeting, yeah, a quick meeting. Do you think the

Russians would agree to that? I don't think at this stage they would want Zelensky. there. But if they agree to a quick meeting in Russia and that the atmospherics of the meeting are good, then as I said, the process is moving forward. And even if there's no concrete agreements, that will be a step forward in itself. But anyway, we'll just have to wait and see. All right. Well, in the video there, the durand.com. We are on telegram and X and Rumble and go to the Duran shop. We have a special 15 to 3.3.3. 30% of selected merchandise. So definitely go to the Durant Shop.

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