Putin winning all the way

Whatever way you look at it, Vladimir Putin is winning the Ukraine war debate so far. The tewmporary partial ceasefire stopping attacks on energy facilities and the so-called ceasefire to end strikes on the Black Sea suit Putin as much as Zelensky and in return the Russian president is going to get more goodies, such as a lifting of some economic sanctions. Win, win, win. No details yet but it will be making Putin smile. And he has effectively been promised by Trump and his negotiators that if the war ends, Ukraine will never be a member of Nato and will be so reduced in size as a country that it will be like having a sovereignty-lite existence. Trump has now been in office for eight weeks and with two mini ceasefires under his belt, it could take months and months to finalise the end-of-war deal, if it's going to happen at all. But at least the show is on the road, even though it doesn't give Zelensky and the Ukrainian people much hope for the future. What we can't have is what is happening in Gaza, with full-scale war back again after the brief ceasefire and release of some hostages. More and more Palestinians are going to be killed. With the focus on the war in Ukraine, the efforts to stop the killing in Gaza seem to have run out of steam.