Russia’s 72-year-old Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said today that Ukraine knows Russia’s conditions for peace talks, something 70-year-old Russian President said in March. Putin told Ukraine’s 44-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky that accept Donetsk and Luhansk as independent, recognize the Crimean Peninsula as sovereign part of Russia. Zelensky rejected Putin’s offer, making clear he would work with the U.S. to vanquish the Russian military and topple Putin’s regime. One month after the Russian invasion March 26, President Joe Biden, 80, told an audience in Warsaw, Poland that Putin should no longer remain Russian president. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, 69, followed up April 26 in Ramstein, Germany saying that the aim of the U.S. war in Ukraine was to degrade the Russian military to the point it could no longer wage war. Austin’s words confirmed U.S. intent.
Once the U.S. threw its lot in Ukraine’s war against the Kremlin, the military response to Moscow was no longer defensive in nature but a blatant offensive strategy to topple the Putin government. Kremlin officials recognized while Ukrainian troops fought with U.S. weapons, the U.S. role was one of a proxy war to use Ukrainian troops to fight a proxy war in Ukraine. “Our proposals for the demilitarization and denazification of the territories controlled by the regime, the elimination of threats to Russia’s security emanating from there, including our new lands, are well known to the enemy,” Lavrov said. Zelensky rejects the “denazification” of Ukraine as because he happens to be of Jewish ancestry. When it comes to “demilitarization,” Lavrov makes a good point about Kiev given unlimited cash-and-arms by the U.S. to fight a determined proxy war against the Kremlin.
U.N. Secretary-General Anthony Guterres, 73, said the Ukraine War presents a real risk of WW III or nuclear war on the European Continent. All EU countries should be concerned that the longer the Ukraine War goes, the greater the chance of miscalculation, mishap or error that could trigger a nuclear exchange. Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, 57, now head of Russia’s Security Council, said that the only thing that stops an all-out NATO assault is Russian nuclear deterrence. Whether that’s true or not, the EU and NATO should tell Biden that the Ukraine War has gone on for too long, especially promising to give Kiev more lethal weapons. Biden agreed to supply Kiev with Patriot Missiles, something designed to escalate the conflict, not lead to ceasefire and peace talks. EU and NATO officials need to tell Biden that things have gone far enough.
Lavrov made a point to Kiev that if Zelensky wants peace, he needs to take the peace process seriously, not set rigid conditions that would prolong the war indefinitely. Zelensky, with Biden’s cash-and-arms, still thinks he can break the Russian military, something not seen by any military expert. “The point is simple. Fulfill them for your own good. Othersise, the issue will be decided by the Russian military.” Lavrov wants Kiev to know that if they want the bombing to stop destroying Ukraine’s infrastructure and driving it population into exile, then the peace process is the way out. “The ball is in the regime’s court and Washington behind it,” Lavrov said, putting Kiev on notice that they can’t dictate the terms of any ceasefire and peace talks. Putin has said on more than one occasion that he’s ready to negotiate, just not accept Zelensky’s 10-point peace plan requiring Russian troops to leave Ukraine.
Putin serves notice that the Kremlin is reevaluating it “no first use” strategy when it comes to using nuclear weapons. Putin noted that the U.S. used a preemptive strategy when it went to war in Iraq. So, when it comes to using nuclear weapons, Putin said he’s considering a new first-use strategy to protect Russia’s homeland. Putin sees the Russian homeland as under siege by the U.S. and NATO and wants security guarantees in any peace talks with Ukraine. Kiev demands that Russia pay for all the damage done to Ukraine over the last 11 months, something Moscow rejects. Putin told Zelensky in March that he could avoid a drawn out war by accepting Donetsk and Luhanak as indpendent and Crimea as Russian sovereign territory. Zelensky wants Russia out of Ukraine or it will continue fighting until the last Russian soldier has been expelled from Ukraine.
Putin said the U.S. must modify its “preemptive strike” strategy or Russia will follow suit, whether it involves nukes or not. “They [the U.S.] have it in their strategy, in the documents spelled out—a preemptive blow, Putin said a press conference in Krygyzstan. “We don’t. We on the other hand, have formulate a retaliatory strike in our strategy,” Putin said, currently under review. “So, if we’re talking about this disarming strike, then maybe think about adopting the best practices of our American partners and ther ideas for ensuring their security,” Putin said. “We’re just thinking about it.” Guterres has heard enough from Putin and Biden, continuing to saber-rattle at the expense of European security. Guterres wants Biden to reconsider his proxy war against the Russian Federation and find a way to move the conflict from the battlefield to the peace table for the good of humanity.
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.
