Snitz calls the China thing. Ergo the last piece to nudge Putin.

Below from today's WSJ. As I said over a year ago (occassionally I get it right) China along with the US are the two players that can persuade Ukraine and Putin to cut a deal. We have the purse strings and the weaponry to keep Ukraine in the game, China is paying for Putin's war. Ergo, without China's purchase of fossile fuel, Putin's finances would dry up.

If the US brings a good deal to the table and China endorses such (ergo veiled threat) Putin will play ball and as I've predicted from day one, come out a big winner.

Why would China support our joint effort. They need the US to buy their goods and besides we have the ability to ship them oil and natural gas to replace what Putin's doing. Vlad knows that.

In an unusual diplomatic move, China’s leader Xi Jinping initiated a phone call with President Trump on Monday to discuss Taiwan, a flashpoint that has surged to the forefront in recent days as Japan takes a more assertive stance on the island’s autonomy.

While Taiwan was Xi’s focus, Trump steered the conversation to Ukraine, said people familiar with the matter, as Washington-Kyiv peace talks appear to make progress and Trump tries to decisively end Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The two issues—Taiwan and Ukraine—are both sensitive for U.S.-China relations, but they are rarely linked in discussions between the two leaders. Xi made the outreach, people close to Beijing said, turning the high-level communication into a rare diplomatic overture from China.

During his call with Trump, Xi said, “Taiwan’s return to China is an important component of the post-war international order,” according to an official account of the conversation by China’s state media. In a pointed historical parallel, Xi also asserted that since China and the U.S. “fought side-by-side against fascism and militarism” during World War II, they should now work together to safeguard those achievements. The statement indicates that China is grounding its claim over Taiwan in historical treaties, rather than just its own narrative.

For his part, Trump affirmed that the U.S. “understands the importance of the Taiwan issue to China,” Chinese media said.

In a social-media post Monday, Trump didn’t mention Taiwan nor the diplomatic crisis between Beijing and Tokyo—an omission that likely will rattle U.S. allies in the region already concerned about wavering American commitment. Trump said he and Xi discussed the war in Ukraine, fentanyl and soybeans, among other things. Trump said he had accepted Xi’s invitation to visit Beijing in April, adding that Xi would visit the U.S. later next year.

“Our relationship with China is extremely strong!” Trump wrote.