Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, 99, remarkably lucid for his old age, proposed a new Ukraine peace plan, immediately rejected by Kiev. Kissinger’s plan, not unlike 51-year-old billionaire Tesla, SpaceX and Twitter CEO Elon Musk, asks Ukraine to make territorial concessions for peace. Ukraine’s 44-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky stubbornly rejects any peace plan that has Kiev making concessions to 70-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin. Zelensky acts like he funds his government and war when, in fact, he receives the lion’s share of his funding from Washington. Zelensky demands, before any peace talks, that Russia remove all of its troops from Ukraine and vacate every inch of sovereign Ukraine territory. President Joe Biden, 80, has applied zero pressure on Zelensky to get real about a ceasefire and peace talks, expecting Biden to continue fund the Kiev government.
Kizzinger’s plan, already rejected by Zelensky, wants Ukraine to accept the pre-war on-the-ground reality that Russian troops controlled much of Donetsk and Luhank, including control over the Crimean Peninsula. Since Zelensky rejected Putin’s offer to end the war in March, he’s dragged Ukraine through a bloody war, with Kiev losing 25% of Ukraine’s sovereign territory since the Feb. 24 invasion. Ukraine complains about the inhuman Russian war efforts that destroyed much of Ukraine’s infrastructure, leaving the country without electricity, heat and water. Kissinger’s approach, like anyone with any common sense, knows that to end a bloody conflict that’s killed thousands and displaces 15 million Ukraine citizens to neighboring countries, there must be compromise. No matter how much Biden calls Russia’s invasion “unprovoked and unjustified,” the Kremlin had its rationale for the war.
Kissinger thinks any peace process should link Kiev with NATO, though, he didn’t say NATO membership. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg rejected Zelensky’s “fast-track” request to join NATO because no one wants to go to war with the Russian Federation. Kissinger’s about accepting NATO affiliation has already taken place, with NATO supplying arms and humanitarian aid to Kiev. Kissinger didn’t say a thing about what role Biden should play in applying pressure to Kiev to come to the peace table. Zelensky and his inner circle like receiving the billions in U.S. aid to run the bankrupt Ukraine government. “All supporters of simple solutions should remember the obvious, any agreement with the devil—a bad peace at the expense of Ukrainian territories—will be a victory for Putin and a recipe for success for autocrats around the world,” Zelensky said.
So, the world needs to accept Zelensky’s claptrap that Putin aims to takeover all of Europe or at least former Soviet satellites. When it comes to that kind of rubbish, where’s the U.S., EU and NATO push back. Kissinger and others have made reasonable proposals to end the Ukraine War, not only for Putin but for Ukraine’s beleaguered population, living in dire straits because Zelensky seeks to expel the Russian occupiers from every inch of Russian territory. Zelensky knows—and the world knows—that Ukraine did not have control of the Peoples Republics of Donetsk and Lubhank and of course Crimea before the Feb. 24 invasion. Why won’t Zelensky return to the pre-war conditions in Donbas and Crimea? Zelensky talks tough now because he’s subsidized by the U.S. Treasury, not because he had any control of Donetsk, Luhansk or Crimea before the war.
Anyone, like 44-year-old French President Emmanuel Macron, who suggests a peace plan is met in Kiev with acting as Putin agent. Macron knows that every day the Ukraine war goes on, it’s a greater risk of escalation, at some point dragging in the EU or NATO into the conflict. Whatever the risks of nuclear war, the real risk involves, as Stoltenberg says, of expansion to Europe. Biden’s plan to provide Patriot Missile Batteries to Kiev would be a major escalation in the war, not a step toward peace. Biden and Zelensky still fight the war to beat the Kremlin and degrade the Russian military to the point it can no longer wage war. EU and NATO leaders need to apply pressure on Biden and Zelensky that Brussels wants no part of any escalation in the 10-month old war. Kissinger and other smart people can make all the suggestions in the world but Biden and Zelensky must buy in.
Kissinger’s peace plan makes all the sense in the world except for the fact that Kiev gets billions in cash from the U.S. treasury and has no incentive to end the war. Zelensky and his inner circle are perfectly content to take the cash and continue the fight against the Kremlin. Zelensky thinks WW III has already started in Ukraine, believing his own claptrap that he’s holding the line against Putin’s advance on Europe. With that kind of rubbish, how can the U.S., EU and NATO prevail on the former comedian and TV personality? Zelensky’s run-way-ego is due to Biden giving him a blank check to continue battling the Russian Federation. Zelensky has already lost 25% of Ukraine’s sovereign territory for his vendetta against Putin. Kissinger’s on the right track, he just has zero support from Kiev. Biden must catch up with reality that there’s no military solution to the Ukraine War.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
