To Russia with a Promise

US President Donald Trump has taken the first step towards fulfilling his hyperbolic promise of ending the war in Ukraine within 24 hours—or struck the first Western blow in throwing Ukraine under the bus. In a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, February 12, supposedly lasting an hour-and-a-half, Trump and Putin reportedly agreed on the need to end the war soon and for the two countries to work together, as well as a presidential visit to Moscow. Trump also had an hour-long conversation with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky. But earlier, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth had said a return to Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders as well as its bid to join NATO were unrealistic. Trump reiterated this but added the provision of aid—in return for Ukraine’s rare earths—that would boost Kyiv’s negotiating power when peace talks open.One phone call won’t end the war nor upend diplomacy but Trump has just brought Putin in from the cold. But, Russia insists on peace on its terms, which precludes exchanging Ukrainian-held territory in Kursk for a little of Russian-held territory in eastern Ukraine. Even as the Gaza ceasefire threatens to fall apart, can talks on ending the war in Ukraine keep Kyiv out?

Becoming Led Zeppelin

Rolling Stone called Jimmy Page the “pontiff of power riffing” and ranked him regularly among top 3 most influential guitarists. Robert Plant has often been voted the greatest rock voice of all time. Bassist John Paul Jones and percussionist John Bonham were poets of rhythm. But Led Zeppelin have never been easy to define, partly because of their extensive influences and part­ly because of their output that covered hard rock, blues, folk, Latin and Afro-Asian grooves and a lot else that could just be called innovative. Now, film­makers Bernard MacMahon and Allison McGourty (of American Epic fame) offer the “untold story” in the band’s first authorised documentary, Becoming Led Zeppelin, made with archival recordings and comments from surviving band members (Bonham died in 1980). Not easy to do given their late manager’s refusal to let concerts be filmed; complicated by Page and Plant’s aversion to answering interviewers. The documentary will shape school curricula on rock. Not least because it leaves out the scandalous. Purists would say that takes away from the band’s legend but the film’s USP is ownership of the story. The consensus is that Led Zeppelin were the definitive sound of the 20th century just past middle age.

Bragging Right

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has set a teaser as precedent. Fort Liberty, the erstwhile Fort Bragg in North Carolina renamed by Congress in 2023 in an attempt to purge Confederate memorialisation from names of military installations, will revert to its old name. Well, not quite. While the original General Braxton Bragg was a slave-owning and rather incompetent Confederate officer, the name now honours PFC Roland L Bragg, a WWII veteran and hero of the Battle of the Bulge. Hegseth thus keeps Trump’s campaign promise but also keeps it politically correct, knowing that the MAGA rank-and-file won’t be able to tell
the difference.

Donald TrumpgeopoliticsRussia-Ukraine conflictVladimir PutinVolodymyr Zelensky