America’s abandonment of Ukraine is shameful

Imagine you’re getting divorced.

Your ex, their lawyer, your lawyer, and the judge are all meeting. You aren’t there. You weren’t invited. You don’t know what they’re saying. You don’t know what they’re deciding. You have no idea what the future holds for you.

That’s the situation Ukraine faces with the shameful meeting between the United States and Russia in Saudi Arabia right now.

Basically, America and Russia are carving up Ukraine, just like Britain, France and Germany carved up Czechoslovakia in 1938. It’s the Munich Agreement, 2025 Edition.

After they’re done with Ukraine, then what. Are the Baltic States next? Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, which by the way are members of NATO. If Putin sends his tanks into the Baltic States, will NATO fight back, especially if it doesn’t have the backing of the United States, which it probably won’t.

What about Poland? If Putin moves into Poland I know the Poles will fight, but will NATO help them?

Maybe this is what Donald Trump wants. Maybe he wants a conflict between Europe and Russian, which would weaken both parties and leave China as the only serious obstacle to American global hegemony.

I’m just speculating here, just spitballing. But in one possible scenario, the world could be rendered in Donald Trump’s image.

That scares the hell out of me.

About the author:

Del Stone Jr. is a professional fiction writer. He is known primarily for his work in the contemporary dark fiction field, but has also published science fiction and contemporary fantasy. Stone’s stories, poetry and scripts have appeared in publications such as Amazing Stories, Eldritch Tales, and Bantam-Spectra’s Full Spectrum. His short fiction has been published in The Year’s Best Horror Stories XXII; Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine; the Pocket Books anthology More Phobias; the Barnes & Noble anthologies 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories, Horrors! 365 Scary Stories, and 100 Astounding Little Alien Stories; the HWA anthology Psychos; and other short fiction venues, like Blood Muse, Live Without a Net, Zombiesque and Sex Macabre. Stone’s comic book debut was in the Clive Barker series of books, Hellraiser, published by Marvel/Epic and reprinted in The Best of Hellraiser anthology. He has also published stories in Penthouse Comix, and worked with artist Dave Dorman on many projects, including the illustrated novella “Roadkill,” a short story for the Andrew Vachss anthology Underground from Dark Horse, an ashcan titled “December” for Hero Illustrated, and several of Dorman’s Wasted Lands novellas and comics, such as Rail from Image and “The Uninvited.” Stone’s novel, Dead Heat, won the 1996 International Horror Guild’s award for best first novel and was a runner-up for the Bram Stoker Award. Stone has also been a finalist for the IHG award for short fiction, the British Fantasy Award for best novella, and a semifinalist for the Nebula and Writers of the Future awards. His stories have appeared in anthologies that have won the Bram Stoker Award and the World Fantasy Award. Two of his works were optioned for film, the novella “Black Tide” and short story “Crisis Line.”

Stone recently retired after a 41-year career in journalism. He won numerous awards for his work, and in 1986 was named Florida’s best columnist in his circulation division by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors. In 2001 he received an honorable mention from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for his essay “When Freedom of Speech Ends” and in 2003 he was voted Best of the Best in the category of columnists by Emerald Coast Magazine. He participated in book signings and awareness campaigns, and was a guest on local television and radio programs.

As an addendum, Stone is single, kills tomatoes and morning glories with ruthless efficiency, once tied the stem of a cocktail cherry in a knot with his tongue, and carries a permanent scar on his chest after having been shot with a paintball gun. He’s in his 60s as of this writing but doesn’t look a day over 94.

Contact Del at [email protected]. He is also on Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, tumblr, TikTok, and Instagram. Visit his website at delstonejr.com .