U.S. and Ukrainian officials just wrapped up discussions in Florida (Florida?) over terms of a potential peace deal between Ukraine and Russia. The meeting — which focused on land swaps, elections, and security guarantees — was immediately declared “productive” by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Productive is the word of the century for President Trump and his team.
PLAY THE AUDIO BY PUSHING THE BUTTON BELOW
Whenever Trump ends a phone call with a foreign leader like Xi or Putin, he immediately declares it “productive.”
He also has frequently used the term “very good,” sometimes combining both value statements in one assessment, whether in a post on X or in an exchange with reporters.
Trump envoy Steve Witkoff, fresh from the Florida meeting that also included Secretary of State Rubio and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, will now fly to Moscow to meet with Vladimir Putin.
Now, all of this springs from Trump’s unveiling about 10 days ago of a 28-point Ukrainian peace plan, which basically awarded Russia everything it wanted, with a little more thrown in for good measure. European leaders immediately pushed back on the proposal.
Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy termed the plan a choice between his nation’s dignity and potentially losing a key ally, the U.S., if he rejected it.
Putin, having Trump right where he wants him, declared the proposal to be a good starting point. In other words, he has his eye on a bigger prize than just obtaining Donbas and a guarantee that Ukraine will never join NATO.
Stay tuned for how “productive” the Witkoff-Putin meeting is dubbed, and perhaps even what it truly amounts to (which may remain under official wraps).
