May 15, 2025 (EIRNS)—Direct talks between Russia and Ukraine are set to begin Friday, May 16, for the first time since April 2022, offering a potential pathway to bring this unnecessary conflict to an end. After much drama and chest-thumping, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy finally agreed to send a delegation to Istanbul for negotiations, after remarking how “disrespectful” it was for Russian President Putin to not be there personally to receive him. He is being coached by many in the trans-Atlantic war party to attempt to paint Russia as the “obstacle to peace,” as part of their last-ditch effort to stymie this promising development.
Russian President Putin’s special envoy Kirill Dmitriev summarized the hopefulness of the situation: “President Donald J. Trump, J.D. Vance, Steve Witkoff, Secretary Marco Rubio, & key Trump allies just made the impossible possible. Against all odds/fierce resistance—the first direct Russia—Ukraine peace talks in 3 years are set to begin. If not derailed last-minute, this could be a historic step to peace.” Thus far, President Trump and his team have not been fooled by these abovementioned antics, and the Russians have clearly taken note of this.
In Southwest Asia, on the other hand, the situation is not as hopeful. Israel continues its blockade of Gaza, and the alleged preparations for a new “U.S.- and Israel-approved” humanitarian aid organization look to be more show than substance. There are reports that U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff has been on the phone repeatedly with Prime Minister Netanyahu over the previous days in the hope of reaching a hostage and ceasefire agreement, but the Israelis are determined to continue the war at all costs and are resisting. It’s unclear whether Trump’s massive $4 trillion in economic agreements signed with the Persian Gulf states will tip the scales on the situation in Gaza, or will merely boost U.S. financial markets. However, given the fact that most of Israel’s weapons and ammunition comes from their U.S. sponsors, the genocide could be ended with one phone call.
The stakes the world faces today are extremely high. On the one hand, the post-World War II order is coming to an end, presenting a tremendous opportunity for realizing a new architecture that delivers justice to the corners of the world that have long been denied it. On the other hand, the moral and cultural decay that has increasingly characterized the West threatens to resist or even sabotage such a transformation. This is the reason that the only qualified leadership today is creative leadership. The stupidity and immorality of the West can not simply be denounced, it must be intervened on—creatively. And it is through such a commitment to uplift and transform a backward culture that true political leadership is born.
Lyndon LaRouche said in a late December 2008 interview:
“Development [of an individual] always occurs in terms of a response to an historical process. And it may be a response to a past part of history, in the sense that you’re trying to bring it back. It may be a response to current conditions, to present an idea, which is necessary. But always, it’s an attempt to convey real ideas, and in this time, the problem is, we live in a period of complete sophistry…. Today, you have people who can not express ideas; they express a jumble of words, or they make sounds, like chimpanzee grunts and screams, which they call ‘music.’ So, it’s lost!
“And the first purpose, is to develop the ability to express ideas. Express them, yes, in a persuasive way, because that’s important, but also to get people to suddenly see a vision of an idea. It’s what the great poet does, and the great musician does, the great composer.”
Mankind must shed its failed axioms and discover the bounding principles for a new system. This Friday’s meeting of the International Peace Coalition on May 16 will take up this task, as will the May 24-25 Memorial Day weekend conference of the Schiller Institute, “A Beautiful Vision for Humanity in Times of Great Turbulence!”
