Patrick Bishop and Roger Moorhouse discuss a familiar feeling of "deja vu" as the latest US peace mission to Moscow—led by envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner—ends with no substantial progress. They argue that Russian President Putin is deliberately "stringing Trump along" to keep the outside world waiting while Russia continues to make incremental gains on the ground.

The hosts also dive into a revealing Wall Street Journal article suggesting a "chilling" motivation behind the American peace efforts: charting a path to bring Russia's $2 trillion economy "in from the cold," positioning American businesses to beat European competitors to the dividends.

They also examine the widening corruption scandal in Ukraine and joining them to discuss this is friend of the show Askold Krushelnycky, who helps them look at the negative impact of the scandal on Zelensky's standing at home and abroad, and why Putin cannot afford to stop the war short of a total victory.

Finally, the hosts answer a listener's questions including one about Ukraine's "remarkably bold" and "symbolic" drone attacks on Russia's "shadow fleet" of oil tankers.

If you have any thoughts or questions, you can send them to - podbattleground@gmail.com

Producer: James Hodgson

X (Twitter): @PodBattleground

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L’Alchimista - Paulo Coelho #56