Why would I believe any side is in full control of a multi-sided military conflict? That's not what I said. I said Russia appears to be setting the pace in negotiations, and that this implies some aspect of availability of room to maneuver, whereas someone who was in danger of collapsing imminently wouldn't have the luxury of that kind of time.

I don't need to talk about any of the other topics you mentioned. The article is talking about Trump being a Russian asset despite Trump presiding over and directing some of the harshest anti-Russian sanctions and my assessment of why he's offering to let up some of that pressure, none of which would return Russia to pre-Trump sanctions, is because the US is being forced to by the conditions of the situation. We all know how the US behaves when it is not being forced - it strangles it's targets to death. It's doing it with Cuba as we speak. The fact that Trump applied maximal pressure and is now offering to ease some of the pressure is a clear negotiating tactic, and given the man's clear slide into dementia, he is most likely not the one driving the negotiation strategy and the strategy is being produced by multiple US factions arriving at their best compromise position given the facts on the ground.

Yes, I want the bloodshed to end. All wars end in negotiated peace. So negotiated peace is how it will end. The question is how soon, and the answer to that question is a question between the USA and Russia. Ukraine is a proxy of the USA, and just like all other US proxies in history, the USA decides whether the proxy keeps fighting or not.

I want the war to end immediately with no more loss of life. Most of the "Trump is a Russian stooge" camp want the war to end after Ukraine has fought more and lost more.