LOS ANGELES.–Boasting about shooting down two Russian warplanes, Ukraine made its pitch to the U.S. Congress to approve 81-year-old President Joe Biden’s request of another $60 billion for Ukraine, now stuck in Congress over the border wall but also growing doubts with Republicans that there’s much hope to the Ukraine war. Western press touted Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky’s boast about inflicting more damage on the Kremlin but his so-called military success will no doubt invite Russian retaliation. Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, commander-in-chief of the Ukraine military, said a Beriev A-50 and II-2 were brought down but offered no proof. Zaluzhny defied Zelensky, saying Nov. 1 that the war with the Kremlin was a stalemate, prompting fears in Kiev that they would lose more military funding. Today’s apparent shoot down of Russian jets tries to prove otherwise.
Russia’s jets were both surveillance aircraft designed to transmit troop movement on the battlefield to Russian military commanders. Russian President Vladimir Putin has more surveillance planes in the arsenal, easily continuing Russian dominance of Ukraine’s skies. Kiev reported in Feb. 23, 2023 that it destroyed an A-50 surveillance plane in Belarus but the reports were grossly exaggerated, something Kiev frequently does. Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence Chief Kyrylo Budanov exaggerates Ukraine’s battlefield successes, saying from Day One that the Russian military was near collapse. Well, that hasn’t happened with Russian allies closing ranks to re-supply Russia in what the Kremlin sees as a war between Washington and Moscow. Why the Western press also exaggerates Ukraine’s successes is anyone’s guess. It only prolongs inevitable peace talks and compromise.
Zelensky thinks the Israeli-Hamas War has taken the steam out of the Ukraine War but it highlights the fact that the United States has other priorities than funding Ukraine’s proxy war against the Kremlin. Zelensky doesn’t care that the U.S. built a strong strategic alliance with Moscow over nearly 80 years since the end of WW II. Every U.S. president, except Biden, has worked feverishly on cooperation with Moscow, especially on arms control. Zelensky doesn’t care that Biden trashed the non-proliferation regime, making the U.S. and European less safe. Zelensky thinks WW III already started in Ukraine. But in case he hasn’t noticed, neither the U.S. nor EU have put any boots on the ground in Ukraine. Zelensky expressed his frustrations recently with Western allies, not giving him more cash to fund his bankrupt Kiev government, to pay his salaries and pensions of Ukraine officials.
Zelensky plans to meet with Swiss President Viola Amherd in Bern before attending the World Economic Forum in Davos. Zelensky tells the EU that funding Ukraine’s War with the Kremlin is a good investment to save democracy on the European Continent. Zelensky has spent years trying to get NATO membership, provoking Putin, knowing that it would threaten the Russian Federation. Every request for NATO membership has been rebuffed by Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg because NATO doesn’t want to fight Ukraine’s war. Only Zelensky sees war with the Kremlin as the path out of the conflict. Zelensky rejects all calls by foreign powers to move the Ukraine War to the peace table to fashion a mutually-beneficial peace plan. Zelensky wants U.S. and EU cash to continue a futile war that destroys Ukraine’s infrastructure and population.
Biden’s decision to fund the Ukraine War has had disastrous consequences on the U.S. and world economy, driving the worst inflation in 40 years. Biden thought foolishly that China, India and other Russian allies would jump on the anti-Kremlin bandwagon. When that didn’t happen, Biden faced unintended consequences. Biden’s proxy war against the Kremlin has driven Russia, China, Iran and North Korea into an economic, military and strategic alliance. Continuing the Ukraine War only adds to global instability, where the U.S. finds itself aligned with Ukraine to no advantage. Biden could use Putin’s help in the Red Sea where Iran has funded proxy war against maritime shipping, claiming it supports to Palestinians. Biden has shown he’s not capable of diplomacy, no longer has the capacity to engage Putin and China’s Xi Jinping in global diplomacy.
Listenign to the Western Press tout Ukraine’s prowess at making armaments is preposterous. Zelensky has painted Ukraine into a corner with his war against the Kremlin. He no longer can has the financial means to pay government employees and pensions. How’s he supposed to make weapons without U.S. and EU cash? “Ukraine is heavily industrialized, with highly educated and tehnically sophisticate population,” said the Democrat-biased, Washington-based Institute for the Study of War. “It had a massive arms industry during the Soviet period and continue to be a significant arms exporter after independence,” said White House-friendly think tank. Ukraine needs all the U.S. cash-and-arms it can get to pay for the Kiev government. It’s embarrassing to say Ukraine is independent because of its arms industry. Zelensky refuses to face reality as long as the U.S. foots his bills.
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.
