Unfortunately for Putin, the former Comedian cum President accepted his offer for such talks. This was not, it certainly appears, what the Russian President wanted. What would have suited Putin would in all probability have been Zelenskyy making up a tirade of excuses why he could not attend. This did not happen, and it was Putin who, on 16th May, refused to attend the talks. Instead he sent what has been described a ‘low-level’ delegation to the talks held in Ankara, Turkey. Zelenskyy then said, foolishly in certain respects, that if ‘Putin was not going’ then neither was he. This was a golden opportunity for the Ukrainian leader to take the moral high ground in the eyes of the rest of the world and he blew it. He should have gone and stated, loudly, ‘look I’m here where is the Russian President’? Instead he threw a tantrum ranting about Putin not going, then he wouldn’t attend either. In the background and laughing his ageing balls off is US President – of sorts – Donald Trump. Trump said about the meeting while he was aboard Airforce One; “Look, nothing is going to happen until Putin and I get together.” He voiced no disappointment with the fact these two supposed leaders, Putin and Zelenskyy, have between them – Putin taking the lion’s share of the blame as talks were his suggestion – blown a chance to end hostilities in Ukraine. He was more concerned about promoting his own self-importance in this tragic situation, his own ego and self-perception. Note, the US President said “Putin and I get together” not ‘President Putin and I’ giving the impression he has little regard for the Russian leader and perhaps even less for Zelenskyy! The Russian leader reportedly said he wanted to start where the 2022 talks ended. These talks demanded the Ukrainians surrender their right to exist as an independent nation state. Obviously, no Ukrainian leader would be prepared to begin serious negotiations on such a basis. Volodymyr said he would not attend if Vladimir was not going and Vladimir said he would not attend if his mate, or so he thinks, Donald was not going to be there! How fucking childish over such a serious situation can these imbeciles get?
Let us revert back to when we were kids. A fictitious situation arises where two mates, let’s call them Sean McAnn and Finbar Finnegan, who had been friends since they were six years of age. Now aged eleven, the two mates were still ‘thick as thieves’ with each other. Sean and Finbar were brought up on a corporation/council estate and their parents were from the working-class, the majority in society. Sean’s father worked for the local Bus Company as a Driver and his mother worked nights cleaning the busses ready for the following day. Finbar’s parents were also from the working-class and his father worked as a Road Sweeper for the local corporation and his mother cleaned the corporation offices after the white-collar staff, the “neo-proletariat”(Andre Gortz), had ended their days toil. The two lads played football together and GAA, both Hurling and Gaelic Football. They went on the school summer camp and were often described as ‘inseparable’. This was grand until the private housing complex opened behind their estate. These homes of the bourgeoisie were separated from those of the ‘great unwashed’ proletariat by a six-foot wall.
Liam O’Donnel, the son of Eddie and Marie O’Donell, lived on the new private complex. Edddie was a Chartered Accountant and Marie was a Lawyer, State Council (SC) who commutes to Dublin for much of her work. Liam was spoilt, certainly by comparison with Sean and Finbar, and this was reflected in his everyday life where he fully expected to have all his own way. Lacking kids of his own age on his own housing area he decided to hunt the corporation housing estate for mates. He soon latched on to Sean and Finbar and it was not long before he started trying to assert his superiority. He soon drove a wedge between the two lads as he showed off some of his better standard toys. He had an electric scooter, which neither Sean of Finbar owned, and he would promise one or the other of them a ride on his machine if they told the other to fuck off. “Tell Finbar”, he told Sean, “you will be playing with me today and he cannot come”! Sean agreed to this, and Finbar felt let down by his former best mate. Liam soon dropped Sean like a hot potato – he had been told by mammy and daddy to “keep away from the council kids” – having divorced the two former friends from each other. Sean and Finbar soon started fighting each other, much to the spoilt Liam’s delight while peering over the wall and ignoring what his parents had told him, sporting a ghastly spoilt grin. The parents of Sean and Finbar, who should have known better, foolishly also fell out, one blaming the other for their son’s altercations. Sean then, in his own what had become self-righteous way, suggested a meeting between himself and Finbar. Finbar took up this offer of a meeting with Sean to try and mend their friendship. Liam, again ignoring his parents, had told Sean to tell the beleaguered Finbar; “if he wanted to be his friend again, he would have to hand over his toy soldier collection” which Liam secretly wanted. It was Liam pulling the strings with his toys behind the scenes telling Sean to demand this and that from Finbar planning then to have them himself! In return Sean might get a go on Liams electric scooter.
Sean agreed with Liam that this “was not too much to ask for his friendship.” Liam, now in control of events, indicated to Sean he would attend the meeting with him. Sean was delighted that Liam from the private houses would be on his side. Finbar agreed to the face-to-face meeting in the home of a friend of Liam’s sister. Liam suddenly said he would not be going to this meeting, he had “far more important things to be doing” which had Sean almost in tears. Sean then said if Liam was not going then he wasn’t going either; this was despite him suggesting the meeting in the first place. Finbar, not to look stupid and friendless, then indicated that if Sean was not going then he would not be in attendance either even though it was a bit of an empty gesture!
The above is an imaginary situation involving three children not yet teenagers. The attitude of these kids and the incident above happens regularly in the everyday behaviour of children. Although for our purposes this is a story in the real life cut and thrust these attitudes appear to prevail in adults: adults who hold positions of power and influence. The home of Liam’s sister’s friend represents Ankara in Turkey (Turkiye) and Liam's Sister and her friend the Turkish Government. The toy soldiers represent Ukrainian territory. The attitude of the three kids is not dissimilar to that of Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Vladimir Putin and, represented by the rich kid from the private housing programme, Donald Trump. Vladimir won’t go if his mate, he thinks, Donald isn’t going and Zelenskyy will not attend if Putin does not attend. Zelenskyy, represented by Finbar in our short story, in real life had the perfect opportunity to take the ‘moral high ground’ in this conflict even if his counterpart, Putin, was not present. Instead he chose not to attend possibly because by doing so his position would look lesser in status than that of Vladimir Putin. If this is the case, and it looks that way to me, all three of these so-called world leaders have squandered, in defence of their own status, a chance to end the killing in this war of attrition. The meeting was facilitated by Turkey and lower-level delegations from Russia and Ukraine, minus their Presidents and high-ranking delegates, attended. Donald Trump was far too busy securing billion dollar deals with some Arab countries to bother with the minor detail of saving lives. Trump indicated, with an air of self-importance that nothing will get done until the Russian President and himself meet. If this was the case why allow this farce of a meeting to take place if none of the major players would be present? Tump, trying to boost his own ego and standing is implying, by his orations, Putin will go to a meeting when I say so. By this he means the Russian President is not directly asking for permission from the US leader to attend, but he is awaiting the company of the big man, his mate, or so he thinks, Donald Trump to attend with him.
For Putin, it is important to be seen holding hands with Trump - to show the rest of the world it is he, not the European Union and their threatened sanctions, not Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but he, Vladimir Putin, who has the ear of the US President! The ‘he’s my mate not yours’ attitude but be careful because your new mate, like the character Liam in our story, is a user and a manipulator. Recently in Rome while attending Pope Francis’s funeral Volodymyr Zelensky thought Trump was his mate when they met informally face to face. The world's media pissed themselves with excitement at the sight of Trump talking to Zelenskyy taking it for granted, a foolish thing to do with Trump, that the US President was now friends with the Ukrainian leader.
The families of the two boys in our story who argued over their sons falling out, engineered by Liam, represent the United States Congress and the European Union. One statement from the EU suggests a ‘package of sanctions’ from themselves and the US against Russia only to be scuppered in the next by Trump who has shifted again taking the side of Putin. The EU keep telling themselves, particularly after the Zelenskyy Trump meeting in Rome, that finally Trump has had ‘enough of Putin’ only then to find out this is not the case necessarily. This shifting by the US President, who, let’s face it, is having a fucking laugh, must cause tensions between the European Parliament and US Congress over sanctions.
No suggestion should be inferred that Putin and Zelenskyy were ever friends unlike the young characters in the short story because they were not. They were never ‘inseparable’ as were Sean and Finbar before Liam’s arrival in the story. What to me stands apparent is the behavioural pattern which Trump, Putin and Zelenskyy are showing which would be found in children, the I’m not playing if he’s not scenario! The difference is of course in children we come to expect such behaviour but in adults we demand more, particularly adults who hold the future of the world in their hands, as is the case with Putin and Trump. Maybe the term ‘grownups’ should not apply to these three!
Meanwhile working-class people from Russia and the Ukraine will continue killing each other while their two leaders play cat and mouse with each other and the leader of the USA ramps up his own ego. It would be great if the combatants of both sides threw down their arms or, better still, turned them on government buildings in Kyiv and the Kremlin. This would be a sensible thing to do by both sets of combatants. Turn on their own leaders, arrest Zelensky and Putin, and put them in a field to fight it out themselves! After these two have half killed each other tell them it no longer matters because the ordinary people of both Russia and Ukraine are now friends and these two had better fuck off quick as families of soldiers slayed in the battlefield created by Putin and Zelenskyy want revenge for their loved ones! Oh, if only, dreams are nice but, alas, they are exactly that, dreams!
Let us revert back to when we were kids. A fictitious situation arises where two mates, let’s call them Sean McAnn and Finbar Finnegan, who had been friends since they were six years of age. Now aged eleven, the two mates were still ‘thick as thieves’ with each other. Sean and Finbar were brought up on a corporation/council estate and their parents were from the working-class, the majority in society. Sean’s father worked for the local Bus Company as a Driver and his mother worked nights cleaning the busses ready for the following day. Finbar’s parents were also from the working-class and his father worked as a Road Sweeper for the local corporation and his mother cleaned the corporation offices after the white-collar staff, the “neo-proletariat”(Andre Gortz), had ended their days toil. The two lads played football together and GAA, both Hurling and Gaelic Football. They went on the school summer camp and were often described as ‘inseparable’. This was grand until the private housing complex opened behind their estate. These homes of the bourgeoisie were separated from those of the ‘great unwashed’ proletariat by a six-foot wall.
Liam O’Donnel, the son of Eddie and Marie O’Donell, lived on the new private complex. Edddie was a Chartered Accountant and Marie was a Lawyer, State Council (SC) who commutes to Dublin for much of her work. Liam was spoilt, certainly by comparison with Sean and Finbar, and this was reflected in his everyday life where he fully expected to have all his own way. Lacking kids of his own age on his own housing area he decided to hunt the corporation housing estate for mates. He soon latched on to Sean and Finbar and it was not long before he started trying to assert his superiority. He soon drove a wedge between the two lads as he showed off some of his better standard toys. He had an electric scooter, which neither Sean of Finbar owned, and he would promise one or the other of them a ride on his machine if they told the other to fuck off. “Tell Finbar”, he told Sean, “you will be playing with me today and he cannot come”! Sean agreed to this, and Finbar felt let down by his former best mate. Liam soon dropped Sean like a hot potato – he had been told by mammy and daddy to “keep away from the council kids” – having divorced the two former friends from each other. Sean and Finbar soon started fighting each other, much to the spoilt Liam’s delight while peering over the wall and ignoring what his parents had told him, sporting a ghastly spoilt grin. The parents of Sean and Finbar, who should have known better, foolishly also fell out, one blaming the other for their son’s altercations. Sean then, in his own what had become self-righteous way, suggested a meeting between himself and Finbar. Finbar took up this offer of a meeting with Sean to try and mend their friendship. Liam, again ignoring his parents, had told Sean to tell the beleaguered Finbar; “if he wanted to be his friend again, he would have to hand over his toy soldier collection” which Liam secretly wanted. It was Liam pulling the strings with his toys behind the scenes telling Sean to demand this and that from Finbar planning then to have them himself! In return Sean might get a go on Liams electric scooter.
Sean agreed with Liam that this “was not too much to ask for his friendship.” Liam, now in control of events, indicated to Sean he would attend the meeting with him. Sean was delighted that Liam from the private houses would be on his side. Finbar agreed to the face-to-face meeting in the home of a friend of Liam’s sister. Liam suddenly said he would not be going to this meeting, he had “far more important things to be doing” which had Sean almost in tears. Sean then said if Liam was not going then he wasn’t going either; this was despite him suggesting the meeting in the first place. Finbar, not to look stupid and friendless, then indicated that if Sean was not going then he would not be in attendance either even though it was a bit of an empty gesture!
The above is an imaginary situation involving three children not yet teenagers. The attitude of these kids and the incident above happens regularly in the everyday behaviour of children. Although for our purposes this is a story in the real life cut and thrust these attitudes appear to prevail in adults: adults who hold positions of power and influence. The home of Liam’s sister’s friend represents Ankara in Turkey (Turkiye) and Liam's Sister and her friend the Turkish Government. The toy soldiers represent Ukrainian territory. The attitude of the three kids is not dissimilar to that of Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Vladimir Putin and, represented by the rich kid from the private housing programme, Donald Trump. Vladimir won’t go if his mate, he thinks, Donald isn’t going and Zelenskyy will not attend if Putin does not attend. Zelenskyy, represented by Finbar in our short story, in real life had the perfect opportunity to take the ‘moral high ground’ in this conflict even if his counterpart, Putin, was not present. Instead he chose not to attend possibly because by doing so his position would look lesser in status than that of Vladimir Putin. If this is the case, and it looks that way to me, all three of these so-called world leaders have squandered, in defence of their own status, a chance to end the killing in this war of attrition. The meeting was facilitated by Turkey and lower-level delegations from Russia and Ukraine, minus their Presidents and high-ranking delegates, attended. Donald Trump was far too busy securing billion dollar deals with some Arab countries to bother with the minor detail of saving lives. Trump indicated, with an air of self-importance that nothing will get done until the Russian President and himself meet. If this was the case why allow this farce of a meeting to take place if none of the major players would be present? Tump, trying to boost his own ego and standing is implying, by his orations, Putin will go to a meeting when I say so. By this he means the Russian President is not directly asking for permission from the US leader to attend, but he is awaiting the company of the big man, his mate, or so he thinks, Donald Trump to attend with him.
For Putin, it is important to be seen holding hands with Trump - to show the rest of the world it is he, not the European Union and their threatened sanctions, not Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but he, Vladimir Putin, who has the ear of the US President! The ‘he’s my mate not yours’ attitude but be careful because your new mate, like the character Liam in our story, is a user and a manipulator. Recently in Rome while attending Pope Francis’s funeral Volodymyr Zelensky thought Trump was his mate when they met informally face to face. The world's media pissed themselves with excitement at the sight of Trump talking to Zelenskyy taking it for granted, a foolish thing to do with Trump, that the US President was now friends with the Ukrainian leader.
The families of the two boys in our story who argued over their sons falling out, engineered by Liam, represent the United States Congress and the European Union. One statement from the EU suggests a ‘package of sanctions’ from themselves and the US against Russia only to be scuppered in the next by Trump who has shifted again taking the side of Putin. The EU keep telling themselves, particularly after the Zelenskyy Trump meeting in Rome, that finally Trump has had ‘enough of Putin’ only then to find out this is not the case necessarily. This shifting by the US President, who, let’s face it, is having a fucking laugh, must cause tensions between the European Parliament and US Congress over sanctions.
No suggestion should be inferred that Putin and Zelenskyy were ever friends unlike the young characters in the short story because they were not. They were never ‘inseparable’ as were Sean and Finbar before Liam’s arrival in the story. What to me stands apparent is the behavioural pattern which Trump, Putin and Zelenskyy are showing which would be found in children, the I’m not playing if he’s not scenario! The difference is of course in children we come to expect such behaviour but in adults we demand more, particularly adults who hold the future of the world in their hands, as is the case with Putin and Trump. Maybe the term ‘grownups’ should not apply to these three!
Meanwhile working-class people from Russia and the Ukraine will continue killing each other while their two leaders play cat and mouse with each other and the leader of the USA ramps up his own ego. It would be great if the combatants of both sides threw down their arms or, better still, turned them on government buildings in Kyiv and the Kremlin. This would be a sensible thing to do by both sets of combatants. Turn on their own leaders, arrest Zelensky and Putin, and put them in a field to fight it out themselves! After these two have half killed each other tell them it no longer matters because the ordinary people of both Russia and Ukraine are now friends and these two had better fuck off quick as families of soldiers slayed in the battlefield created by Putin and Zelenskyy want revenge for their loved ones! Oh, if only, dreams are nice but, alas, they are exactly that, dreams!
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| Caoimhin O’Muraile is Independent Socialist Republican and Marxist. |
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