FROM THE WILDERNESS

Ukraine War

Newsreel

 

The war moves slowly on toward its coming conclusion.  China meets with Putin, not to confirm that they support one another, as that’s already a given and has been so for some time.  China meets with Putin to figure out what a post-war Russia will look and act like with respect to its more powerful neighbor.  Meanwhile, Zelensky begins, as of the end of this week, going public to begin gaining support of business leaders in the U.S. to invest in business in the Ukraine in order to help rebuild it.

There would be no speculation about businesses in the U.S. doing any business in Ukraine unless there was a coming likelihood of a peace treaty and conditions for that peace being supported by everyone, including China.  Again, it was not difficult to predict this coming peace, as it is the only alternative that meets everyone’s needs.  As I’ve stated in past newsreels, the ‘stick in the mud’ has been Ukraine’s resistance to any agreement that doesn’t have a rebuilding of Ukraine in the bargain.  The executive leadership of the U.S. cannot promise that the U.S. government will pay for that restoration.

Russia has nothing.  Ukraine has nothing.  If the U.S. government cannot or will not step in, then who does that leave to foot the bill?

Private wealth and business interests in the U.S. are the last resort for the kind of money that it will take to rebuild Ukraine.  We are talking lower trillions here.  Remember, however, just how much wealth has been accumulated in assets by Americans.  The U.S. derivative market alone holds almost 66 trillion dollars in and offshore.  The offshore accounts of American’s are conservatively judged to hold a quadrillion dollars.  And so on. America can afford the price in order to prevent nuclear war, which is indeed, still on the table, although not much talked about lately. China does not send its leader flying around on good will tours.  Will the businesses and the wealthy owners step up?

That question won’t be answered until after the Davos, Switzerland meeting of billionaires to be held in mid-May of this year.  It should be interesting to see what happens there and as a result.