Russian President Vladimr Putin, 70, said today that he’s interested in ending the Ukraine War, following 44-year-old Ukrainian President Voldymyr Zelensky’s Dec. 21 speech to a joint a session of Congress. Putin reacted swiftly to Zelensky’s Dec. 21 speech that asked the U.S. Congress for more cash-and-arms to fight the Russian Federation. Without U.S. government largess, the Kiev government would be bankrupt, out of cash, with no resources to prosecute any war, let alone against the Kremlin. Putin’s call for peace talks were promptly dismissed by White House spokesman John Kirby. “Our goal is not to spin the flywheel of military conflict, but on the contrary, to end this war,” Putin said. Kirby insists, repeating Zelensky’s talking points, that Putin has made no effort to pull Russian troops out of Ukraine, a pre-condition for Zelensky of any movement to the peace table.
Zelensky insists that Putin must pull all his troops from Ukraine, returning every inch of sovereign territory, even though Putin controlled parts of Doentsk, Luhansk and all of Crimea before the Feb. 24 war started. Kirby said Putin continues to fight his war in Ukraine, not demonstrating any movement to end the war. Putin has “shown absolutely zero indications that he’s willing to negotiate” and end to the conflict. Kirby, a clever propagandist, knows that Zelensky has set unrealistic conditions for ending the war. White House spokesman often speak for Putin, twisting his words to fit the White House narrative that he doesn’t want to end the war. Putin offered to end the war in March, asking Kiev to accept the independence of Donetsk and Luhansk and to recognize Crimea as a sovereign part of Russia. Zelensky, not Putin, rejected the peace overture, yet Kirby insists Putin refuses to negotiate.
Biden has fallen into Zelensky’s trap that has Kiev demanding that Putin pull out of every inch of Ukrainian territory and repay Ukraine reparations for the 10-month-old war. So when Kirby says Putin refuses to negotiate, he’s really saying the opposite. “Ouite the contrary,” Kirby told reporters. “Everything he [Putin] is doing on the ground and in the air bespeaks a man who wants to continue to visit violence upon the Ukrainian people” and “escalate the war,” Kirby said. Kirby blames Putin but he gives Zelensky a pass on moving the conflict to the peace table. Every American patriot can’t accept giving Zelensky a blank check to prosecute his war against the Kremlin. Allocating some $45 billion to Zelensky are staggering amounts of U.S. tax dollars, something that could be used to eradicate the U.S. homeless population or the gap in health care leaving many citizens subject disease and early death.
Zelensky’s Dec. 21 speech to a joint session of Congress was pure claptrap, designed to sell lawmakers on giving Ukraine a blank check to fight the Kremlin. Zelensky told lawmakers U.S. largess was not “charity,” it was an investment in defending the world for democracy. Imagine that, Zelensky thinks his bankrupt Kiev government defends the world against tyrants like Putin. Zelensky asked but was denied “fast-track” NATO membership because Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg wants no part of his war with the Kremlin. How Biden fell into Zelensky’s war with the Russian Federation is anyone’s guess. Kirby and other White House officials know that Zelensky’s demands to end the conflict are unrealistic. Neither Zelensky nor Putin are objective at this point, leaving the peacemaking business to experienced statesmen at the U.N. or in some other neutral framework.
Peacemaking is not something that Zelensky or Putin can prejudge, leaving it into the hands of experienced diplomats capable to crafting a ceasefire and peace plan. “I have said many times, the intensification of hostilities leads to unjustified losses,” Putin told reporters, signaling that he’s ready to move the conflict to the peace table. Kirby won’t admit that Zelensky wants to keep the war going, not giving up the billions in U.S. aid to pay for the bankrupt Kiev government. Zelensky’s demands that Putinleave every inch of Ukraine’s sovereign territory isn’t realistic. But the real question for the White House is how long can the U.S. continue to subsidize Kiev’s bankrupt government and war with the Kremlin. Kirby needs to tell Zelensky that U.N. peacemakers will take all of Ukraine’s demands into consideration. Ending the war is about moving the conflict from the battlefield to the peace table.
White House officials and U.S. lawmakers must recognize that the Ukraine War can’t go on indefinitely without severe economic conseqiemce for world peace and the global economy. Whether admitted to or not, Biden’s Russian oil embargo fueled the worst inflation in energy and other commodities in 40 years, wreaking havoc in U.S. and world economic markets. Today’s runaway inflation can be directly tied to the Feb. 24 Ukraine War. Unless there’s an end to the Ukraine War, the U.S. and global economy will suffer more damage. Zelensky’s so wrapped up with revenge against Putin he doesn’t see the damage the Ukraine War does to the world economy. Putin made his peace overture, now its time for Zelensky. Making unrealistic demands as precondition to ceasefire and peace talks is not acceptable. Zelensky must put his trust in U.N. peacekeeper to do the right thing.
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.
