Ukraine sustained a new round of Russian air strike today targeting key infrastructure in Kiev, Kharkiv, Lviv and other cities in retaliation for Ukraine hitting Dec. 26 a Russian strategic bomber airbase inside Russia. Ukraine’s 40-year-old Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called Russia’s air strikes “senseless barbarism,” refusing to acknowledge Ukrainian attacks in Russia. Despite widespread damage, Ukraine’s Defense ministry claimed to have shot down most of the Russian missiles, in more war propaganda. Kiev’s 51 year Mayor, former heavyweight boxer Vitali Klitschko, warned of power outages, urging Kiev residents to stock up on water and other necessities. “There can be no ‘neutrality’ in the face of such mass crimes. Pretending to be ‘neutral’ equals taking Russia’s side,” Kuleba tweeted. Kuleba asked the U.N. to broker a peace summit in without Russian participation.
Kuleba and 44-year-old Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky want Russia prosecuted for war crimes in the Hague’s International Criminal Court before they engage in ceasefire and peace talks. Zelensky and Kuleba don’t acknowledge and Ukrainian drone attacks at airbases in Russia, attesting to the psychological warfare going on by the Kiev government. Zelensky believes with U.S. weapons he can vanquish the Russian military and drive enemy troops out of Ukrainian territory. Instead of working toward a real ceasefire and peace talks, Kiev wants no part of any concessions on their mission to drive Russia out of Ukraine. So far, 80-year-old President Joe Biden has played along with Kiev, giving Zelensky unlimited cash-and-weapons to fight the Kremlin. When the U.S. House changes hands Jan. 3, 2023, Biden faces new hurdles with his blank check policy.
Growing numbers of House Republicans want to see progress on ending the Ukraine War, recognizing the risks to the European Continent of escalating the war. Biden thought early on that using Ukrainian troops, he could supply Kiev enough weapons to vanquish the Russian Federation. Biden said March 26 in Warsaw, Poland that 70-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin should no longer remain Russian president. No matter how much White House walk back, 69-year-old Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said April 26 in Ramstein, Germany that the aim of the U.S. mission in Ukraine was to degrade the Russian military to the point it could no longer wage war. If that’s not a declaration of war, then what is? Instead of letting Kiev battle the Kremlin, Biden joined the fight with a proxy war using Ukrainian troops. Biden’s proxy war has killed U.S.-Russian relations.
Kiev talks about Russia facing war crimes before it will participate in any kind of direct talks with Moscow. A few months ago, Zelensky insisted that Ukraine won’t negotiate anything unless Putin is removed from power. So, Kiev changes its position on negotiations still hoping it can expel Russian from Ukrainian territory. Putin offered to end his invasion in March if Zelensky recognized the independence of the Russian-speaking Peoples’ Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk and Russian sovereignty over Crimea. Zelensky told Putin “no!” Eleven months later, Ukraine has been bombed into submission, claiming Russia committed war crimes. But Kiev still thinks with U.S. cash-and-weapons they can vanquish the Russian military. Reports from Kiev only confirm Russian losses and Ukraine victories. Yet Russia controls most of Ukraine’s Black Sea coast and its strategic ports.
Kiev’s plan for a “peace summit,” without Russian participation, has been rejected by 73-year-old U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Gueterres. Yet if you listen to Zelensky and Kuleba, it’s a genuine peace proposal. Guterres said Russia must have an equal voice in a peace summit or talks to end the Ukraine War. Whatever damage happens to Ukraine’s infrastructure and civilian population in the course of an ongoing war lies entirely with Kiev. Zelensky wants to extend the war trying to get back as much of lost sovereign territory as possible before forced to the peace table. Meanwhile the war goes on with all the casualties and destruction. Russia was trying to “destroy critical infrastructure and kill civilians en mass,” said Rykhailo Podolyak, adviser to Zelensky. Kremlin Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called Kiev peace summit“ delirious” and “hollow.”
Zelensky wants time to sell his 10-point peace plan demanding that Russia be prosecuted for war crimes at the Hague before any attempts at peacemaking. Calling Kiev’s peace plan a “publicity stunt by Washington that tries to cast the Kiev regime as a peacemaker,” Zakharova served notice that Moscow was on to Kiev’s game playing. Zelensky’s 10-point plan calls for Russia to vacate every inch of Ukrainian territory. Russia occupied Ukrainian territory before the Feb. 24 invasion and won’t abandon Russian-peaking outposts in Donetsk and Luhansk. When it comes to Crimea, Zelensky has used U.S. cash-and-weapons to do what it couldn’t do over the last eight years, since Putin seized Crimea March 1, 2014 after a CIA-backed coup toppled Kiev’s pro-Kremlin Yanukovych government. So far, Biden shows no signs of reining in Kiev to move the conflict to the peace table.
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.
