There seems to be something approaching a real breakthrough in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The Ukrainian leader, Zelenskyy was joined by a large contingent of European leaders who had turned up at the White House to show support for the Ukraine. The Russians have long maintained that one of their ‘red’ lines was that Ukraine should not be allowed to join Nato and in this way ‘threaten’ Russia. But under the impact of the European leaders, Trump has agreed that the USA will assist in making sure that there are guarantees of support, similar to Nato but actually outside of it, that will ensure that if the Ukraine were to be invaded or threatened again, other countries including the European countries and the USA would lend their support to prevent this happening. One of the fears of Ukraine and one reason why they would hate to lose Donest to the Russians is that their last defensive line of cities would be gone and there would be nothing to prevent a future Russian invasion. The latest development is to be a tripartite meeting between Zelenskyy, Putin and Trump in a week or so’s time when he final details of a peace deal could be thrashed out. The meeting went much better for Zelenskyy this time around in sharp contrast to the ‘mugging’ that he received at the hands of Vance, the American vice-president, last February. Zelenskyy himself has learnt the art of flattery which is so important for the American president whilst he himself was flattered that so many European political leaders turned up at such incredibly short notice to the White House meeting. In practice, the presence of so many European political leaders in a ‘coalition of the willing’ was a strong signal to Trump that the security of Europe was at stake and guarantees had to be put in place that Putin be curbed in his desire to recreate a greater Russia starting with Russia and perhaps ending with other Baltic states that had formerly been part of the USSR. It is said of Trump that he always agrees with the last set of people surrounding him and one must fear that once the European leaders have departed, he surrounds himself with his coterie that secretly admires the ‘string man’ that Putin is portrayed to be. A popular expression is that ‘the devil is in the detail’ and there are a lot of details to be worked through but the European leaders have now get Trump on camera as pledging support or at least security guarantees for Ukraine. I very much doubt that this would be ‘boots on the ground’ but the Americans can offer a lot of logistical support in air defence systems, allowing the sale of up-to-date weapons to the Ukrainians, satellite surveillance and the like. To turn our attention to other matters, it now looks as wild fires are sweeping Galicia in north west Spain and some 2000 troops have been drafted in to assist the normal firefighters. Some towns that Meg and I knew and have visited are under threat and part of the famous ‘Camino de Santiago’ pilgrimage route has had to be closed. Only a good steady downpour of rain will assist in the long term but none of this appears to be on the horizon and, we too, good do with some good torrential thunderstorms to replenish our depleted water supplies.
My son popped around after his swim this morning and we breakfasted together. I gave him the file containing the Enduring Power of Attorney documents for he and his wife to sign after which they can be despatched to the Office of the Public Guardian) which happens to be here in Birmingham) We also made some final arrangements that we are going to have tomorrow when two lots of Meg’s cousins are meeting with my son, daughter-in-law and myself in a local gastropub after which I envisage that we shall pop back to our house for cakes and coffee, After that, a fairly conventional Tuesday ensued as I collected my newspaper and then made my way to have a coffee and a chat with a set of friends where we meet in Wetherspoons. When this little party broke up, I made my way to the back of the pub where I chat with another frind that I tend to see quite regularly on Tuesdays and Saturdays. On my way home, I bumped into couple of acquaintances that I know live down the Kidderminster Road and received a hug from the wife after she had learnt from her husband of Meg’s death (this sequence of events is quite common, actually). Then it was a case of attending my Pilates class and as last week I had been teased by my classmates for not turning up in shorts, I threw discretion to the wind and turned up in my shorts today. I displayed my operation scar (sustained after being run over by a car over fifty years ago now) and my not very knobbly knees were much appreciated. I only mention this because one of my fellow class members always turns up in shorts as does our instructor so we had our normal jolly time whilst doing our exercises. Next weekend is the Bank Holiday weekend so I have put a reminder on the planning board that there is no Pilates class next week.
Often at this time of day in the late afternoon, I contemplate having a quiet read although the other day I was tempted to do a ‘fiendish’ level Sudoku which I managed to complete fairly easily. One book I have pulled off my bookshelves is a Michael Moseley book detailing the techniques of ‘intermittent fasting’ or at least a 16:8 approach (all food consumed within an 8 hour ‘window’ and fasting for the other sixteen) This approach is not entirely nw to me and I did try it or at least a variant of it where I tried to have my last on a Sunday evening and hardly eating again until Tuesday morning (the theory being your gut has a chance to rest and your blood to purify itself) I think I may re-read the book slowly and then work out whether I feel I the right frame of mind to start an experiment. In these quiet periods, I generally have ‘ClassicFM‘ on in the background and it sometimes occurs that I can work out the identity of the piece being played after hearing only a few opening notes. But I have been listening to ClassicFM since its inception which I think was about thirty-two years ago now on 1992.