It was never a secret deal though? Russia's terms were always open and clear. I guess the western media has to try and sneak in a "conniving, sinister enemy" narrative into this.

Apparently it was Germany that told Putin that if he wanted Ukraine to be able to sign the agreement that they had just negotiated he should first pull his troops from Kiev. Like a complete idiot he believed them, and this after they had just spent seven years dicking him around with the Minsk accords that they never had any intention of making Ukraine abide by.

Say what you will about the West but they would never fall for this kind of shit. They wouldn't get fucked over due to being so naive as to believe that their interlocutor was negotiating in good faith, because they themselves never act in good faith, are always lying and looking to screw the other side over and so assume everyone else does too.

Russians are like naive children sometimes. They really want to believe that they are dealing with rational, normal people in the West and they get fucked over for it every time. I hope that the Ukraine saga has finally taught them that the West is incapable of doing anything but lying and cheating and will never ever cease trying to destroy you if you don't bow down to them and let them rob and enslave you.

And i hope China has been paying attention and learning this lesson as well.

I love the serial downvoters on these ones. Where it's an article in the western press saying something we've been saying the whole time, and some lib comes in and can't handle it, so they give a downvote to every comment. Peak lib praxis.