{"id":316916,"date":"2025-10-17T06:30:55","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T06:30:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=316916"},"modified":"2025-10-19T07:20:01","modified_gmt":"2025-10-19T07:20:01","slug":"ukraines-strategy-against-russia-escalate-and-provoke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=316916","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine’s strategy against Russia: ESCALATE and PROVOKE"},"content":{"rendered":"

Leo Hohmann \u2013 Leo\u2019s Newsletter Oct 16, 2025<\/strong><\/h1>\n

NOTE:<\/strong> If you appreciate these updates, please consider upgrading from a free to a paid subscription. This substack is how I make my living, working hard to provide independent news and analysis especially as it relates to war and peace and the growing technocratic surveillance system.<\/em><\/p>\n

President Trump announced plans today for another summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, this time in Budapest, Hungary.<\/p>\n

The meeting will take place at a date to be determined after \u201chigh-level advisors\u201d from the two countries meet next week, he said in a Truth Social post<\/a><\/strong> on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Trump expressed hope, after a phone call with Putin, that by meeting face-to-face the two leaders will be able to bring the bloody Russia-Ukraine war to an end.<\/p>\n

Thursday\u2019s 84-minute phone call \u201cwas a very productive one,\u201d he said, adding: \u201cI believe great progress was made with today\u2019s telephone conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n

The last summit between the two presidents took place in Anchorage, Alaska, in August. While both called that meeting productive, nothing of substance was ever achieved. In fact, relations between the two superpowers have deteriorated greatly since that August summit in Alaska.<\/p>\n

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday praised the Trump administration\u2019s diplomatic outreach and noted that it is the sole Western government that has made any effort to understand the fundamental causes of the Ukraine conflict.<\/p>\n

However, Lavrov said Moscow is still waiting for Washington\u2019s response to the roadmap presented by Putin at the Alaska summit<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Thursday\u2019s phone conversation came amid the backdrop of Trump threatening to send U.S. Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine for use against Russia. These threats by the Trump administration have played out in media interviews and over social media for the last two weeks. This is a strange way to conduct foreign policy, but that\u2019s the Trump style. Everything is geared for maximum theatrics.<\/p>\n

This penchant for the theatrical was on display during a press gaggle<\/a><\/strong> aboard Air Force One on Monday following a conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Trump said Ukraine needs Patriot missiles \u201cvery badly\u201d and would like to also receive the more offensive and deadly Tomahawk missiles.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019d like to have Tomahawks. We talked about that, and so we\u2019ll see. I don\u2019t know, I might have to speak to Russia, to be honest with you, about Tomahawks,\u201d Trump said. \u201cDo they want to have the Tomahawks going in their direction? I don\u2019t think so.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI might speak to Russia about that, in all fairness. I told that to President Zelensky, because Tomahawks are a new step of aggression,\u201d Trump added. \u201cI might say, \u2018Look, if this war is not going to get settled, I\u2019m going to send them Tomahawks.\u2019 I may say that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump described the Tomahawk missile as an \u201cincredible\u201d and \u201cvery offensive\u201d weapon.<\/p>\n

Putin reportedly told Trump during the phone call Thursday that Tomahawks won\u2019t change the battlefield situation, but will harm U.S.-Russia relations.<\/p>\n

Retired Lt. Col. Daniel Davis noted, in an interview today with former British diplomat Ian Proud, that Ukraine\u2019s progress in the war has been stopped cold over the last three or four months, while Russia continues its slow advance. Ukraine seems to have a two-pronged strategy \u2014 escalate and provoke. Each new escalation leads to a provocation that is designed to expand the war and draw NATO into direct conflict with Russia.<\/p>\n

If Zelensky gets his way and Trump delivers the Tomahawks, this would represent \u201ctwo steps up the escalation ladder,\u201d Proud told Col. Davis.<\/p>\n