On the 13th of February 2025, BBC Headline reads: “Trump-Putin call lowers the temperature but at Ukraine’s expense”, a report by Frank Gardner.
From the report:
Pete Hegseth laid out in crystal clear terms where the US stands on peace for Ukraine, in words that will no doubt be welcomed by Moscow.
No US troops for Ukraine in any future security arrangement.
No likelihood of Ukraine joining NATO.
No realistic possibility of returning to its pre-2014 borders, when Russia occupied and annexed Crimea and backed insurgents in the Donbas.
These were all clearly stated goals made by President Volodymyr Zelensky and his government and they come on top of a dire situation on the battlefield, where Russia’s superior numbers are enabling it to slowly push deeper into Ukrainian territory.
Hi, my name is Terence and I’m your host for the Daily Monsoon, a podcast where I connect current events to matters of faith. And today, we go to Ukraine.
One day in the future, people will look back and talk about the war, I wonder what will first come to people’s mind.
Will it be how the US warned everybody that Russia was going to attack and everybody, including Ukraine, thought US has gone bonkers?
And despite the US sounding the alarm, Russia still went on to attack. And it attacked, thinking that people would greet them with flowers, that was a mistake. And many packed dress uniforms to march in the soon to be held victory parade.
Would people remember the huge surge of patriotism, how the Western nations stood together, “We are all Ukraine” feels went global. Russia went through the worst sanctions ever. All the businesses left.
And people thought Russia was done for because NATO was united against it. Russia even managed to persuade Finland and Sweden to join NATO. Though it rejected the country that desperately needs it, Ukraine.
For while the international news was full of Snake Island, nuclear power plants under threat, war crimes, lightning counter attacks, drone warfare, and we all got a livestream access to a war in a place far, far away.
Do you remember Wagner Group? Prigozhin. Man, that was a weird time in the war. For a moment, it seemed as if Prigozhin was going to march through Moscow and dethrone Putin. Then he stopped. And he got on a plane.
I don’t understand this part. Of all people, Prigozhin would know what sort of a man Putin is. What made him think he would be safe to fly in a plane? Maybe it was a double. Maybe Prigozhin is alive somewhere sipping cocktails by the beach.
Later on, Ukraine attacked Russia. Talk about guts. And again, for a time, it looked like the war might be over soon. If only Ukraine could get into a position to negotiate and force Russia to accept terms.
Sadly, Russia is just too big for tiny Ukraine. Even with help from Europe, it just doesn’t seem able to repel the invaders. In a war of attrition, Russia seems to be the winner, despite many people saying that just a bit long and Russia will run out of men, money or weapons.
Today, we hear that Trump had a cordial phone chat with Putin. If Trump can secure a peace deal for Russia Ukraine, he would make many Americans happy. Americans who just want out of the war.
I don’t think Trump’s conditions are that bad for Ukraine. And if Ukraine thought it would be different, then they are deluded.
Why would Zelensky think that there would be:
- US Troops
- Ukraine would join NATO
- Borders will reset to pre-2014?
If Ukraine was winning, sure. But they are not. Russia is still as committed as ever to grind them down.
They should be happy that Trump didn’t blurt out that Russia should just keep whatever land they got and just make peace.
I was playing Civilisation 5 the other day, I know Civilisation 7 just came out, but I like Civ 5.
In Civ 5, you can attack another country. The country may not be able to repel you and you may not have enough soldiers to conquer them straight out. So the country may propose a peace deal, and as a sweetener it offers a city for you to annex. You take it.
And get this, peace deals are only valid for 10 turns. Within 10 turns, you can’t declare war, you can’t attack them. But after 10 turns, you can. And you attack. They offer peace, and you get another city. You repeat this, over and over, until the country is just a small shadow of the power it once was, and you round up your army and march to the capital.
Russia took Crimea. It also took the Donbass region of Ukraine. It tried to take Kyiv and failed. But now it has occupied parts of Ukraine, which in a peace deal, Ukraine might be forced to surrender. It has to surrender if that is the will of the US and the rest of NATO. Ukraine can’t fight the war on its own.
I just wonder whether 10 turns later, whether Russia will declare war again. And maybe it will chomp on more Ukrainian soil, or maybe even, finally conquer the capital.
Only God knows what will happen next.
And it’s true, only God knows.
And to prove that he knows, God gave Daniel a prophecy which is recorded in the book of Daniel chapter 11.
One website describes it as the most detailed prophecy in the Bible. And it is. It describes the war between the North and the South across generations. The prophecies so closely match what actually happened that some historians would declare the book of Daniel to be written after these events have occurred rather than admit prophecies are real. And ignore evidence that Daniel was actually written much earlier.
Prophecies are hard, maybe impossible to understand, until it happens, then it becomes obvious. Even the prophet Daniel didn’t understand and he was the one recording it.
In Daniel 12:8–10 (ESV), Daniel said:
I heard, but I did not understand. Then I said, “O my lord, what shall be the outcome of these things?” He said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end. Many shall purify themselves and make themselves white and be refined, but the wicked shall act wickedly. And none of the wicked shall understand, but those who are wise shall understand.
Nobody knows what is the outcome of the Russia-Ukraine war. Not Putin, not Trump, not Zelensky, not any of the experts and certainly not pundits like me. The only one who knows is God.
And if Trump or Putin were to ever come to me for advice, I would tell them, “Whatever you decide, you should consider this: no matter how powerful you are today, you will one day grow weak and old, even a child would wrestle you to the ground. One day, you will stand before an all-powerful and righteous God. What would you have before Him? Blood-soaked hands or a peace-maker’s hands?
This is the Daily Monsoon, a podcast where I connect current events to matters of faith. Slava Ukraini is the war cry for Ukrainian soldiers. To that I say, Slava Isuzu Christo, Glory to Jesus Christ. Thanks for listening, bye bye.