We know why the think tanks and university faculties supported by the military/security complex are upset–their incomes are at stake.  But why the Democrats and Europeans?  The answer will have to wait until another occasion.  This column addresses readers' questions about the many varied conflicting reports about a Trump-Putin deal.

What are my expectations, readers ask, for the Trump-Putin meeting about the conflict in Ukraine?  I am pleased that readers think I have been sufficiently correct over the years for my analysis to be of interest.

The outlook for the resolution of the conflict and for a final end of the Cold War is good, but never forget the adage that "there's many a slip between cup and lip."

First of all, neither leader wants the war.  Putin did everything he could to avoid war.  He devised the Minsk Agreement which kept the breakaway Donbas republics in Ukraine. He begged for a mutual security agreement and was cold-shouldered.  He was forced to intervene in Donbas by Washington, a conflict for which Russia was unprepared. Putin has fought the conflict in the least effective way possible in order to counter the Western propaganda that he had "invaded Ukraine" and Europe would be next.