Trump plays by a different set of logic, because to a certain degree he is in this office for himself.  So, his shady dealings with russia, the defamations towards zelensky and now this is all part of the same big whole.  It's not that he isn't intelligent, it's that he's evil so therefore such things don't matter anymore.  I've lost all "benefit of doubt" that i've had towards trump and realize how difficult things are going to be with him and America's policy towards this issue.  

I never had any "benefit of the doubt" towards Trump. I knew who he was in the 1980s. He was a sleazy, opportunistic grifter back then, and incompetent at running casinos or developing real estate, which were the lines of business he was supposedly in. I wasn't surprised at how his first term fell apart, and I'm not surprised at anything he's doing now. 

YouTube channel MilitaryRated made a nice series of videos (9 parts of 15-20 minutes) about what it would cost the US to loose the EU (and by extension other NATO partners) as a market for their military equipment:

Just think about it: The US exported 1.4 Trillions worth of military hardware between 2014 and 2024. Even if the US were just to lose a fraction of that sum, that will still be a lot of billions less for US arms manufacturers.

Also, he points out that for most US equipment, there's at least one European solution that is at least equivalent, if not better than the US one, despite the US equipment always coming at a hefty premium, making investing in the US hardware even less attractive if not outright pointless.

several people agree, bro

So having seen the full comments by Rubio, sounds like he presented the draft deal (which would require Europeans to lift sanctions on Russia) to the Ukrainian delegation in Paris, which is taking it back to Kyiv for a Zelensky decision — and the threat of walking away is in fact primarily directed at Ukraine.

Yaroslav Trofimov on X:

"If it is, we're in. If it's not, then… we have other priorities to focus on as well," he added. "The United States has been helping Ukraine over the last three years, and we want it to end, but it's not our war," he said.

U.S. Will Abandon Ukraine Peace Talks ‘Within Days’ if No Progress Made, Rubio Says - The Moscow Times

"I'll end the war before I'm even elected" to "I'll end the war in 24 hours" to "Russia is mad, lets give them a few extra weeks" to "Russia is mad, lets give them a couple extra months" to "YOU'RE BEING SO MEAN. WE'VE BEEN HELPING UKRAINE FOR OVER 3 YEARS. IF YOU DON'T ACCEPT OUR SHITTY TERMS SOON THEN WE QUIT"

Brilliant message to send to all of America's enemies, their maximum tolerance for protecting allies and peace is roughly a little over 3 years. America is a weak coward. They can only cope with 3 years of a war they're not even directly involved in and were making money from. They will abandon their allies and let them be slaughtered if a war lasts longer than 3 years.

Invade a country, dig in like Russia has done, then wait America out and be rewarded.

Rubio says the EU should take a more active role in ending the war, suggesting that lifting European sanctions could be used as “part of a peace agreement.”

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— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) 18 April 2025 at 08:52

Lift all sanctions on Russia, allow them back into G7, surrender 15% of Ukraine to Russia, block Ukraine from joining NATO, is there anything else that America wants to give to Russia? Maybe demand that we all give Putin a reach around too? We'll all line up, Donald Trump at the start, and we'll all blow Putin's cock at the request of America. Is there anything, a single thing, that Russia is being told to give up? A single compromise that Russia has to make? America seemingly believes that Russia's compromise is "They aren't allowed all of Ukraine" Lol.

UN Resolution Condemning The Russian Aggression Against Ukraine (April 16 2025)

In total, only nine countries voted against the resolution:

• United States
• Russia
• Belarus
• North Korea
• Eritrea
• Mali
• Nicaragua
• Niger
• Sudan

US and Russia Vote Against UN Resolution Mentioning Aggression in Ukraine | RBC-Ukraine

I’d say US “abandoning peace talks” is a plus.

Yes, but if it means also abandoning support for Ukraine, it gets trickier, and I suspect it means just that even though it hasn't been said yet.