Ukraines’s 44-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky rejected a suggestion by recently reelected 44-year-old French President Emmanuel Macron that Ukraine find an off-ramp for the crisis, even if it includes ceding territory to Russia. After all, Ukraine was not in possession of the Peoples Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk plus the Crimean Peninsula before the Feb. 24 invasion. Since the invasion and all the U.S. war support, Zelensky rejected any idea that he would accommodate 69-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin’s requests for independence of Donetsk and Luhansk and outright Russian ownership of the Crimean Peninsula. Zelensky has got too big for his britches battling the Russian Federation with U.S. weapons and cash. Putin offered to end the conflict if Zelensky recognized independence of Donetsk and Luhansk, and Russian sovereignty over the Crimean Peninsula.
Zelensky thinks because the U.S. has given him a blank check to fight the Russian Federation, he can reject any peace overture, including making the concessions necessary to end the Ukraine War. With Russia controlling much of Ukraine’s Donbas coastline, Zelensky has no leverage to make outrageous demands of the Kremlin. “Maybe, Emmanuel [Macron] knows more [than I do]; I know he wanted to achieve something by mediating between us [Ukraine and Russia], but he failed not because of our position, but Russia’s,” Zelensky said. “It’s inappropriate for world leaders to suggest I should make certain sacrifices in terms of Ukraine’s sovereignty, in order to Allow Putin to save face,” Zelensky said, not admitting that he’s already lost much of his Black Sea coastline. So when Zelensky thinks there’s no reason to compromise with the Kremlin, he’s kidding himself with how much Ukraine has already lost.
Macron’s attempt to find a way to Istanbul is not about finding an off-ramp or face-saving way out for Putin. It’s a way of saving Ukraine from more infrastructure damage, now estimated at over $63 billion. Zelensky is dead wrong about world leaders not having a vested interest in ending the Ukraine War. No one in Europe or elsewhere wants to see the current conflict morph into WW III, where other EU powers start sending troops to defend Ukraine’s sovereignty. “I think it’s completely unjustified. It’s a waste of time,” said Zelensky, showing the kind of fake bravado all stemming from the U.S. cash and weapons. Biden has created a monster in Zelensky, thinking that Ukraine has unlimited resources, when, in fact, U.S. taxpayers subsidize his war effort and pay government salaries because KIev is broke. Zelensky doesn’t get that all Western powers have a vested interest in ending the war.
Zelensky’s hostile attitude toward Macron and recently Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi who said Biden and Putin must end the war, stems from the oodles of cash and arms given to Kiev. Without the U.S., Zelensky surely knows Kiev would have collapsed, unable to battle the Russia Federation. “Emmanuel [Macron] should refrain from making certain diplomatic gestures; I welcomed his [recent] reelection,” Zelensky said, ignoring the urgent necessity of moving the conflict to Istanbul. Zelensky won’t admit that Russia controla much of Ukraine’s Donbas coastline, leaving Ukraine with far less governable land than it had before the war. Zelensky wants to lecture Macron but he doesn’t want to face Ukraine’s losses under his wartime leadership. Zelensky refuses to accept that his war effort against the Russian Federation has resulted in losing much more sovereign territory in Ukraine.
Instead of lambasting Macron, Zelensky should work feverishly on a peace deal in Istanbul before the entire Black Sea coastline is lost. Zelensky’s too entrenched in battling the Russian Federation to admit his losses to the Russian Federation. “History, however, does not forgive sidesteps; if you seek to take back what’s yours, there is only one way to go—forward,” Zelensky said. Zelensky efforts to reclaim Donestsk, Luhansk and Crime have only lost more Black Sea coastline in Ukraine. Taking out his frustration is inappropriate by Zelensky, knowing, at his own hands, Ukraine has lost nearly 6 million citizens, thousands of deaths, and untold amount of infrastructure, all because Zelensky wants to battle the Kremlin. No one says that “history” requires Ukraine to get all its lost land back. Russia has it’s own security issues, requiring Putin to demand buffer zones in Ukraine’s eastern-most provinces.
Whatever war crimes Zelensky thinks have gone on in Ukraine since Feb. 24, no one has forced him to battle the Russian Federation, knowing the risks to Urraine’s infrastructure. World statesmen like Macron and Draghi want an end to the Ukraine war regardless of what compromises Ukraine must take to bring it about. It’s not appropriate for Zelesnky to tell Macron and Draghij to mind their own business, when the EU has an enormous stake in the outcome of the war. No one in the EU wants to see the Russian Federation battle the EU. Macron and Draghi have every right to put pressure on the U.S. and Ukraine to end the conflict, knowing the risks to the EU. Macron and Draghi have a vested interest in ending the Ukraine War, even if it means Ukraine must lose sovereignty over certain areas of the country. Zelensky didn’t have control before Feb. 24, and he doesn’t have control now.
