The Lead

As Trump Moves Toward Peace in Ukraine, Global NATO Goes Berserk

by Stewart Battle (EIRNS) — Aug. 19, 2025

When Russian President Vladimir Putin stepped out of his plane in Anchorage, Alaska on Aug. 15 to greet U.S. President Donald Trump, he told the American leader: “Good afternoon, dear neighbor. Very good to see you in good health and to see you alive.” After four years of catastrophically poor relations between the U.S. and Russia, and many more antagonistic ones before that, a more apt and clearer message could not have been made to a U.S. President, who himself has been targeted for assassination and slander—likely by some of the same networks that are hell-bent against Putin. And it’s unlikely that Trump missed its significance. In one instant, Putin upended many years and billions of dollars spent in cultivating an anti-Russia narrative.

While much fur and fury is flying on the part of the mainstream media and political commentators, the fact of the matter is that the real issues of importance regarding Russia, Ukraine, and Trump’s attempt to mediate between the two have nothing to do with Ukraine as such. As Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told an interviewer on Aug. 19: President Trump and his team, particularly since the Alaska summit, “have adopted a far more substantive approach to resolving the Ukrainian crisis, recognizing the imperative to address its root causes.” Indeed, Trump’s change of emphasis over the past few days, that no ceasefire is necessary to begin negotiations, that Ukraine must accept land concessions, and that Ukraine will never be allowed to join NATO—all of which were incessantly argued by his European counterparts—indicate that Putin’s message was heard in Alaska. Further, it indicates that the danger of global nuclear annihilation has been partially ratcheted down.

Nevertheless, the situation is far from settled, and the British, along with their NATO allies, are trying everything they can to sabotage this. Their growing demands for Ukrainian security guarantees, European boots on the ground, and even a type of “Article 5” for Ukraine, meaning a sort of collective defense clause that would make NATO nations a tripwire for a future war, are not intended to achieve peace in Europe, but the opposite. They are unacceptable to Russia and threaten to unravel the entire process if blindly followed through. Will President Zelenskyy decide to break from this war-crazed faction and take the olive branch of peace? Planning between these groupings is continuing over the coming days and must be carefully watched.

The hysteria of these circles only underscores the importance of what is now underway, even if just in its earliest stages. In Asia, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi just completed a very successful trip to India, where he met with various top Indian officials, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi. These two giant nations, which themselves have had a near-freeze in relations over the recent years, are making steady steps in the direction of re-establishing friendly relations. As Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval told Wang, in the current turbulent situation, a strong India-China relationship matters for “the peace and development of the world.” As can be seen, today’s crisis is creating new opportunities for breaking out of the British-created trenches that have kept much of the world divided for years.

The LaRouche movement’s mobilization must now increasingly take center stage. Circulate the call for Presidents Trump, Putin, and Xi to hold a heads-of-state meeting, in particular at the upcoming Sept. 3 Beijing commemorations of the end of World War II. Signatures are being added to the call each day, and the appeal should be sent out far and wide. The old, disheveled, and immoral structures of the present neoliberal world are collapsing, and the time is ripe to join hands with those parts of the world that had artificially been divided and now work to create a renaissance in economic development and peace globally.

Contents

Strategic War Danger

• Trump Insists, We Don't Need a Ceasefire To End the War (↓)
• Lavrov Contrasts Trump's Approach to Peace to Europe's Drive for War (↓)
• Russia Sees No Unity Between Trump and Europeans on Ukraine (↓)
• NATO-Like Security Guarantees for Ukraine? (↓)
• Rubio Report to Fox News on White House Visit of Seven European Leaders and Zelenskyy (↓)

New World Paradigm

• Indian-Chinese Relations Improving: Good for Both, Good for the World (↓)
• India's External Affairs Minister Heads to Russia (↓)

Collapsing Imperial System

• Hamas Says It Agrees to 60-Day Ceasefire Proposal (↓)
• Israeli Forces Demolishing Gaza City Neighborhood (↓)

Harley Schlanger Update

Watch The Daily Update with Harley Schlanger, a short video update available every weekday morning from The LaRouche Organization.

In-Depth