Secretly inviting 45-year-old Ukrainian President Volodymer Zelensky to the G7 in Hiroshima, Japan, 80-year-old President Joe Biden thought he’d win more backing for his proxy war against the Russian Federation. Biden thought it was perfect chance for Zelensky to plead his case for F-16 fighter jets in what could be a major escalation maybe expansion of the Ukraine War to the rest to Europe. Biden’s decision to spring Zelensky on the G7 meeting violated the purpose of the meeting of the world’s biggest economies. Certainly bankrupt Ukraine doesn’t qualify to participate in a G7 meeting where Biden hoped to drum up support for his anti-China coalition in the Pacific-Rim. Shuttling Zelensky to the meeting antagonized 77-year-old Brazilian President Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva, a key part of BRICS economic bloc, involving Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
Bringing Zelensky to the summit diverted attention away from the economic forum, turning the meeting into a lobbying session for Ukraine to get F-16 fighter jets to escalate the war with the Kremlin. Russia’s foreign ministry warned the G7 that giving F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine would be met with strong countermeasures by the Kremlin, though not disclosing possible actions. Biden and the Western Alliance think they have 70-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin, a key ally of China and India, on the ropes in his war against Ukraine. Biden and Zelensky think they’re close to toppling the Russian Federation, something opposed by French President Emmanuel Macron and Lulu, both trading partners with Russia. Brazil considered Zelensky’s presence at the G7 meeting a “trap,” designed to pressure Brazil into changing its neutral stance with regard to the Ukraine War.
China, Brazil and more recently South Africa have peace plans pushing for an end to the Ukraine War. Approving F-16 training for Ukrainian pilots, Biden has no intention in ending the war until Putin meets Washington and Kiev’s demands, including the removal of all Russian troops from Ukraine. Zelensky and Biden reject any peace proposal that allows Russian troops to occupy sovereign Ukrainian territory. Lula and Chinese President Xi Jinping are on the same page when it comes to ending the Ukraine War. Both countries believe that Biden drives the war, creating foreign policy challenges for China and Brazil with both seeking to end the conflict. Zelensky has rejected China and Brazil’s peace plans, thinking they’re biased toward Russia, not meeting Kiev’s demands to have Putin prosecuted in The Hague for war crimes and to pay all war reparations from the Feb. 24, 2022 conflict.
Biden doesn’t like the fact that India, another key member of the BRICS bloc, buys more oil from Russia today than before the war. Putin has been scrambling to replace lost oil revenue from Europe with other countries like India, China, Brazil and South Africa. South African President Cyril Rampaphosa offered his own peace plan to end the conflict, something also met with skepticism in Kiev. Since the war started and Zelensky decided to battle the Kremlin, Ukraine has lost some 25% of sovereign land, especially along the Black Sea coast. Zelensky’s counteroffensive is aimed at getting back all its lost territory over 15 months of war, but, pushing ahead, to reclaim the Crimean Peninsula, territory Putin seized March 1, 2014, after a CIA-backed coup toppled the Kremlin-backed government of Viktor Yanukoych. Putin annexed Crimea to protect his Black Sea naval base.
Since taking office, Biden made enemies quickly of Russia and China, undermining decades of U.S. foreign policy based on détente. Generations of U.S. presidents until Biden worked feverishly to find common ground with the two Communist super-states, knowing that the world’s safer with all sides getting along. Biden provoked Chinese President Xi Jinping from the outset, accusing the Chinese Communist Party leader of genocide against Muslim Uyghurs in Western China. If that weren’t bad enough, Biden called Putin as “soulless killer,” hinting at what would come. When Putin invaded Ukraine Feb. 24, 2022, Biden joined Ukraine’s war against the Russian Federation, funding a proxy war against the Kremlin. Today’s G7 meeting imposes more anti-Russian and anti-China rhetoric, essentially plotting with other Pacific-Rim nations to form anti-China coalition.
Bringing Zelensky to the G7 was a big blunder by Biden, hoping to win more support for training and supplying Kiev with U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets. Kremlin officials see the move as another major encroachment by the NATO alliance, putting Russia on more of a war footing. Biden slapped peacemakers like Macron, Lulu and Xi Jinping in the face, further alienating a growing bloc of nations maintaining neutrality but actually developing strong ties to the Kremlin. Biden’s foreign policy has weakened U.S. national security by pushing Russia, China, India, Brazil and South Africa into a growing economic and strategic alliance. Instead of building bridges with Zelensky at the G7, Biden pushed the BRICS bloc into a more defensive alliance resisting Washington’s dwindling influence. Zelensky’s presence in Hiroshima hurt Biden’s chances of winning over the BRICS bloc.
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.
