Tomorrow, we will learn whether Ukraine is ready for a diplomatic settlement and that the natural resources agreement, which President Donald Trump has described as a prerequisite, was not the main topic of discussion in Jeddah. Why? Because the deal will require further negotiations, time is playing against the regime in Ukraine and President Trump needs to think through his moves to play the UK. I'm not sure Zelensky's wish will come true: Release the prisoners and return the children from Russia to Ukraine as a confidence-boosting diplomatic effort. The massive drone attack on Moscow does not bode well. I don't rule out Oreshnik flying to Ukraine.
Yesterday
On Monday morning, March 10, 2025, the third session of the final meeting of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, China's top political advisory body, which I wrote about in posts Too late to chase the bull a Snippets from China, published in several Czech and foreign media and a paper written by for Chinese media company CGTN.
Yesterday's closing session at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing was presided over by Wang Huning, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, who delivered a speech. President Xi Jinping and other leaders also attended the session.
The meeting approved a resolution on the work report of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Communist Party of China, a resolution on the report on the handling of proposals by political consultants since the previous annual meeting, a report on the review of new proposals, and a political resolution on the third session of the 14th National Committee of the Communist Party of China. I will report on the results in more detail separately and after studying the materials.
Today
There is a lot at stake on the world's largest and least populated island. Today, Tuesday, the island holds elections to choose a new government. After the election, a vote on independence looms. Greenland's future is at a crossroads. Greenland's future direction is to be decided by its 40 000 voters in the most important election to be held here for decades. But today's politics is as much about the past as it is about the future, not just of the island, but of the island's relationship with Denmark, the US, the EU and NATO.
"The first thing parliament must do is affirm our sovereign nation, our rights, and then move forward, on our own foundations, not what US President Donald Trump wants us to do," he says. Pipaluk LyngeMP for the Inuit Ataqatigiit Party.
I remind you that the Greenlandic Parliament has 31 seats and those elected will have to take far-reaching decisions. As Lynge says: "We never asked to be Americans. We never asked to be Danes. We just want to be Greenlanders."I wish they would talk like that and really want to be Czech.
It was not always so. When Christian missionary Hans Egede landed in the 1720s and founded today's capital Nuuk, it linked the territory to Denmark and began a sometimes uneasy 300-year colonial relationship. The native Inuit, who are increasingly proud of their heritage, do not consider themselves Danes. Many now want a different future for the Greenlanders - and that could come from the U.S. president's transactional approach to diplomacy.
"We need Greenland for national security, and even for international security," President Trump said last week. "And I think we're gonna get it. One way or another, we're gonna get it."
Today I am convinced that the President will achieve his goal, just as he did with Panama. He got it under control with dozens of other ports for only a few hundred billion dollars without firing a shot.
There is a section of the island's electorate that is pushing for closer ties with the United States and trying to convince citizens that Trump is not a bad person. The US is now good, the US is now trustworthy. Many think Trump is good for world peace and is a leader who is trying to avoid war.
Caution is the mother of wisdom. That is why I remind optimists in the Czech basin that in Trump's second administration in the White House, it is probably too early in the election campaign to share such an assessment convincingly.
From a global perspective, Greenlandic politics has rarely matched the imposing grandeur of the island's landscape. Beneath the icy soil lies a potential bonanza of rare earth minerals. Whether the potential economic benefits are worth the potential environmental degradation is one huge question. The other question is who will really be in control of Greenland when Denmark is arming Ukraine, the EU has decided to go into debt to talk about defence, NATO has no chance of anchoring its ships on the island without US help, and the US is meeting today for probe talks with Ukraine in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
During the talks, US and Ukrainian representatives plan to discuss preparations for possible peace talks between Kiev and Moscow. Washington has previously said the purpose of the meeting is to lay the groundwork for a peace agreement and an initial ceasefire.
The American delegation is led by the Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The delegation includes National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Special Presidential Envoy for the Middle East Steve Whitkoff. Ukraine is represented by the Head of the Presidential Office Andriy Yermak, his Deputy Pavlo Palisa, Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha and Defence Minister Rustem Umerov.
For the record, President Zelensky visited Saudi Arabia yesterday, met and discussed with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman the possible mediation of Saudi Arabia in the release of military and civilian prisoners, views on formats for effective security guarantees for Ukraine and the Prince's intentions to invest in Ukraine.
Tomorrow
Tomorrow, we will learn whether Ukraine is ready for a diplomatic settlement and that the natural resources agreement, which President Donald Trump has described as a prerequisite, was not the main topic of discussion in Jeddah. Why? Because the deal will require further negotiations, time is playing against the regime in Ukraine and President Trump needs to think through his moves to play the UK.
I'm not sure Zelensky's wish will come true: "The release of prisoners and the return of children from Russia to Ukraine as a means of boosting confidence in diplomatic efforts." The massive drone attack on Moscow does not bode well. I don't rule out Oreshnik flying to Ukraine.
Tomorrow we could learn whether Trump confidant and special envoy Steve Witkoff will visit Moscow later this week to meet with President Putin. Until further notice, though, Secretary of State Rubio's words that the United States now "they listen more than they talkthat... the purpose of the initial talks with the Russian delegation in Riyadh was precisely to find out whether Moscow was interested in conducting negotiations rather than discussing specific positions," and that "similar negotiations are now underway with the Ukrainian side. This explains the pause in US aid: was created because we felt that the Ukrainians were not ready for a peace process, they were not interested in negotiations." And what the author of the post thinks can be read here.
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Jan Campbell
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