There's no such thing as a free lunch

^{https://pixabay.com/photos/meat-fork-food-eat-restaurant-569073/}

This is one of the most valuable premises there is. We can avoid some unpleasantness and many misunderstandings when we keep this idea in mind.

Any offer made to us by someone who is not part of our group of friends always ends up having a payment associated with it. We can even have lunch for free, on behalf of the person who invited us... But believe me, sooner or later the meal we've had will be much more expensive than if we'd paid for it out of our own pockets.

In the global context, just this week we saw the favors exchanged between the current US administration and the Kremlin. Of course, to the outside world, the official message is that they are doing everything they can to promote the establishment of a real peace agreement. But we can see that perhaps, contrary to what President Trump might think, he doesn't have Mr. Putin in his “hand”. Quite the opposite. It is Putin who is buying his American counterpart lunch, convinced that it is through his negotiating power that things are moving forward, when in fact what is happening is something quite different.

What is happening is that, from meeting to meeting, US diplomats are bringing increasingly favorable points to the negotiating table (and only with one of the parties), in line with Russian demands.

From possible Russian control of the oblasts that were seized by brute force and terrorists at Putin's behest. How is it possible for an agreement to begin with the exact starting point, a surrender of the territories taken by the aggressor force? And how is it that only what this oppressive, aggressor force says is taken into account? Many questions are being asked by all of us who are watching the dispute unfold, with no end in sight...

Is Russia really going to carry out its wishes by excluding Crimea and the Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporijia and Kherson oblasts from Ukrainian territory? Unfortunately, I don't see much political will on the part of the Americans, once the allies of democracies and the World Order, to prevent this from happening.

And how will the Russian people pay for all this thirst and political alignment between the two sides? I believe that the biggest cost will be Mr. Putin's leadership for another term, leading the Russian people to a decline in their living conditions, with higher inflation and lower purchasing power. But of course this will not be felt in the spheres closest to the Kremlin, as it has already been guaranteed that the USA will soon lift the embargo on Russian products and release the tariffs that have now been imposed on practically all countries that export to the USA.

A world run on a very short leash. I feel the worst is yet to come.

Thank you for your time. Have a great Sunday...

Cheers🍀

Free image from Pixabay.com