President Joe Biden, 79, and Ukraine’s 44-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky insist that Ukraine is winning the war, started by Russia invading Ukraine Feb. 24. Biden and Zelensky cite numerous reports that the Kremlin could not takeover Kiev in the first three-or-four days of the conflict, calling the Russian invasion a complete failure, questioning the effectiveness of the Russian military. But anyone looking at the map of Russian-controlled territory in the Southeast shows that Russia is firmly in control of Ukraine’s coastline. Everyday that’s gone by has seen Russia take more coastal territory from Ukraine, now fully in control of Mariupol and Kherson, both strategic Black Sea ports. Biden and Zelensky gambled and lost their bets that they could prevent Russian from seizing Ukraine’s strategic Black Sea coast, now giving Moscow all the leverage it needs in eventual peace talks.
Kherson is the first Ukrainian territory officially annexed by Russia since March 1, 2014 when Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula. Biden and Zelensky have been duping the U.S. and Western press on the amount of progress made by the Western Alliance. Ukraine has lost so much territory around the Black Sea that Russia has an unobstructed corridor to go from Kherson to Sevastobol, Crimea, home of Russia’s warm water fleet. Ukraine badly miscalculated militarily defending the northern city of Kharkiv and suburbs of Kiev that they couldn’t stave off the Russian army in the port towns of Mariupol and Kherson, both strategic Black Sea ports. Any future peace talks would now involve Ukraine seeking to regain lost territory, something Putin will be reluctant to give back, no matter what Washington’s demands. Biden turned the conflict into a proxy war between the U.S. and Russia.
Biden’s request for $40 billion in Ukraine allocation hit a roadblock in the U.S. Senate today, with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) demanding some kind of oversight. With billions flying out of the U.S. Treasury for Ukraine, Paul wants an Inspector General to check where’s the money’s going. Biden thinks it’s OK, given the battered U.S. economy, to give Ukraine a blank check. No one knows how the cash is being spent, it what could turn out to be one of the biggest boondoggles in U.S. history. Biden’s hyped the Ukraine War as the world’s struggle between democracy and totalitarianism, all because that’s the way Zelensky sells the war. Zelesnky sells the war to whomever listens, addressing at the time, including (1) saving democracy, (2) battling genocide, (3) stopping a European takeover, (4) preventing Putin for reinstating the old Soviet Union and (5) stopping the use of chemical weapons..
Zelensky got a cool reception in Israel when he tried to sell the Knesset [parliament] on Puin’s ethnic cleansing in Ukraine. When that backfired, Zelensky told the world Putin used biological and chemical weapons on Ukraine. When that didn’t work, Zelensky lambasted NATO for not granting admission, when it considered Finland and Sweden for entry. Every day that Zelensky continues the fight, Ukraine loses more infrastructure and citizens. Yet Zelensky and Biden refuse to join the Istanbul protocol to resolve the conflict. As Kherson decides to join the Russian Federation, Zelensky admonishes the Russian occupiers. “These marginalized people, who the Russian state has found to act as collaborators,” Zelensky calls pro-Russian separatists “cosmic stupidity.” Zelensky rejects any attempt Putin to incorporate Russian-speaking Ukrainians into part of Russia.
Zelensky shows he either rejects reality out-of-hand or has nothing but contempt for any Ukrainian citizen that wants no part of Kiev. “But no matter what the occupiers do, it doesn’t mean anything—they have no chance. I am confident that we will liberate our land and our people,” Zelensky said, showing he has no intent to resolving the conflict in Istanbul. As long as Biden continues to pay Kiev’s bills, including all its government salaries, and supply unlimited lethal weapons, Zelensky vows to continue the fight, regardless of how much land he looses. Zelensky rejects completely any “referendums” by Russia to determine what citizens want to do. Back in 2014, a referendum showed that an overwhelming majority of Crimean residents wanted to join the Russian Federation.. Zelensky says the no referendum means anything, won’t be accepted by the international community.
Biden, Zelensky and the Western press don’t accept the fact Ukraine continues to lose territory by the day, making Istanbul peace talks all the more difficult. With Zelensky losing nearly his entire Southeastern coast, Russia has a strong bargaining chip going into Istanbul. Zelensky keeps lying to the press, saying that he’s winning the Ukraine conflict. Losing the Donbas region has put the U.S. and Ukraine behind the Eight Ball. Biden and Zelensky have run out of disinformation to tell the public how well Ukraine has done in the nearly three-month old conflict. Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, former head of the European Central Bank [ECB], told Biden yesterday that he needs to meet Putin and end the conflict. As long as Biden continues to arm Ukraine, he sees more infrastructure destruction and carnage. Putin’s control over Ukraine’s coastline gives him all the leverage.
