Ukraine’s 45-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensiky says the counteroffensive has been going “slower than desired,” admitting that that his idea of a lightening offensive or blitzkrieg on Russian troops hasn’t worked. Zalensky has been denying or months that Ukraine began its counteroffensive, largely because it wasn’t making expected progress after receiving fresh supplies of U.S. and NATO offensive weapons. Zelensky refused to say when the counteroffensive would begin, fearing Western press criticism, something that could threaten U.S. funding. Growing number in Congress want accountability for the billions spent to fund the government and prosecute the war. Zelensky and his 37-year-old chief propagandist Kyrlyo Budanov refuse to give an accurate picture of Ukraine losses, preferring instead to give the press a rosy picture on Ukraine’s War progress.
If you look at the real length of Kiev’s counteroffensive, it’s been going on in fits-and-starts for months, making little real progress of reclaiming some 25% of Ukraine’s sovereign territory lost to the Kremlin in the first 16 months of war. Ukraine has watched its infrastructure destroyed by the Russian Federation, bankrupting the country and setting the country back generations for rebuilding. Under 80-year-old President Joe Biden’s direction, Zelensky decided shortly after the Feb. 24, 2022 Russian invasion, to go to war against the Kremlin. Russian President Vladimir Putin, 70, offered Zelensky a way out in March 2022, asking Kiev to accept the independence of Donetsk and Luhansky and Russia sovereignty over Crimea. Zelensky rejected Putin’s offer, going to war against the Kremlin. Now 16-months into the war, Ukraine’s counteroffensive moves at a glacial pace.
Zelensky has been evasive about when the counteroffensive would begin for months but now that he’s admitted it’s begun, he makes more excuses for making little progress. “Some people believe this is a Hollywood movie and expect results now. It’s not,” Zelensky told the press. “What’s at stake is people’s lives,” Ze;emsky said, refusing to give any timetable or expectations for results. For months Zelensky hyped his counteroffensive, telling the press he would oust Russian forces from Ukraine by year’s end. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of State 65-year-old Gen. Mark Miley said March 31 that he doubted Kiev could oust Russia from Ukraine in 2023. Biden faces many questions about his Ukraine proxy war against the Kremlin, questioning how long the U.S. can spend billions without seeing any tangible results. Zelensky keeps telling U.S. officials to be patient.
Biden and Zelensky decided to go to war against the Kremlin, destabilizing peace on the European Continent. Several peace proposals coming from France, China, Brazil and South Africa have all been rejected by Kiev, insisting that Russia must leave every inch of Ukrainian territory before Kiev will engage with Moscow. Zelensky has said he would never negotiate any settlement with Putin, unless he’s prosecuted by The Hague’s International Criminal Court and pay war reparations to Kiev. Putin had troops in Donetsk, Luhansk and Crimea since 2014. Yet Zelensky demands now that Putin leave every inch of Ukrainian territory before he’ll engage in a peace process. “Whatever some might want, including attempts to pressure us, with all due respect, we will advance on the battlefield the way we deem best,” Zelensky said to the press expecting Kiev to advance the counteroffensive more quickly.
Zelensky admitted he would like to make faster progress on the ground but must deal with the realities on the battlefield. “We would definitely like to make bigger steps,” Zelensky said. “But nevertheless, those who fight shall win and to those that knock, the door shall be opened,” Zelensky said, telling the press to get off Kiev’s back. Military experts think the war might be “frozen” or stalemated, not likely to change now or in the immediate future. Zelensky promised to oust Russian forces from Ukraine, something not happening anytime soon. U.S. lawmakers must decide whether or not Biden’s war plans with Ukraine fighting a proxy war have any chance of succeeding. Biden and Zelensky say that Ukraine fights to preserve European democracy. Members of the EU think it’s the responsibility of NATO to repel any Russian invasion, not to depend on bankrupt and war-torn Ukraine.
Ukraine’s best chance of recovering lost Ukrainian territory is to enter into a peace process supervised by the U.N., where the Ukraine War can be resolved to both parties’ satisfaction. Continuing the war risks unwanted escalation, possibly morphing into WW III. However long, if ever, it takes Ukraine to oust Russian troops, what’s the point now of destroying more infrastructure, causing more deaths and driving more citizens out of Ukraine? Biden and Zelensky refuse to admit that there’s no military solution to ending the Ukraine War. All the propaganda from Kiev about Putin’s alleged terminal illness or the Russian military collapsing is pure rubbish. Zelenksy and Biden need to let U.N. peacemakers find a political settlement to save more Ukrainians from death, destruction and displacement. Zelensky doesn’t like talking about his counteroffensive because it’s not getting results.
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.
