LOS ANGELES.–German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, 66, said the Germany has ruled out sending long-range weapons to Ukraine, knowing that his NATO counterparts, including the U.S. was close to giving Ukraine the green light. President Joe Biden, 81, met with 62-year-old British Prime Minister Keir Starmer yesterday to discus a plan requested by 46-year-old Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to allow Ukraine to use U.S., U.K. and NATO weapons to strike deep inside Russia. Scholz wants to part of the plan knowing the 71-year-old President Vladimir Putin promised that any country authorizing long-range strikes in the Russian homeland would be subject to immediate military retaliation. Scholz wants no part of any escalation of the Ukraine War spreading to Germany and other NATO countries. Zelensky requested Germany’s Taurus Cruise missiles, something Scholz said an emphatic “no!”
Unlike Biden and Starmer, Scholz believes Putin when he says he would retaliate militarily against any NATO country giving the OK to use long-range missiles to attack the Russian homeland. Scholz called long-range missiles “a great risk of escalation,” something Biden dismissed yesterday as Putin’s bluff. Biden also thought in the months before the Feb. 24, 2022 Ukraine invasion that Putin was bluffing then, only to find out Putin moved some 200.000 troops into Ukraine. After three years of war, Russia controls about 20% of Ukraine’s sovereign territory, when Zelensky could have negotiated an end to the conflict back in March 2020 by simply agreeing to let Putin stay in Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk, AKA the Peoples Republics of Donesk and Luhank.
Zelensky wanted Germany’s Leopard 2 tanks to battle the Russia but now asks for Taurus Cruise Missiles with a range of 500 kilometers which could hit Moscow. Scholz understands the consequences of escalating the conflict, something that could destabilize European Security, especially if the conflict, as Putin promises, spills into other NATO countries. “I said no to that,” Scholz said, about Ukraine getting long-range missiles from Germany. “And of course that also applies to other weapons, if we had supplied them, which could reach long distance,” Scholz said. Why Biden and Starmer think it’s OK to give Zelensky the green light to attack inside Russia is anyone’s guess. Scholz sees the risks and so does everyone else. “That remains the case,” Scholz said. “Even if other countries decide differently,” indicating that he cannot in clear conscience escalate the conflict.
Zelensky has the idea that if Ukraine starts hitting military targets inside Russia it would bring Putin to the peace table to surrender to Ukraine and the U.S. Scholz knows it’s pure fantasy on Zelensky’s part to think that escalating the conflict would somehow end the war more quickly. Zelensky is now defending multiple fronts largely of his own doing, deciding Aug. 8 to invade the Kursk border region of Russia. Zelensky said today that Russia has not successfully displaced Ukrainian troops from Kursk, saying that he would occupy Russian territory indefinitely. Reports from the front indicate the conditions for Ukrainian troops have deteriorated, meaning they’re defending a difficult Russian counteroffensive that’s taking its toll on Ukraine’s troops in the region. Zelensky won’t admit that he’s put more Ukrainian troops in an impossible situation defending the Kursk invasion.
Germany has only given Ukraine Mars III rocket launchers that have a range of 84 kilometers, something Zelensky says isn’t enough. When Zelensky hears talk of escalation, he welcomes it, not at all concerned if he spreads the war to more European countries. Zelensky already thinks WW III has come to Ukraine, with its infrastructure and economy destroyed by three years of war. Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko, a leader in the CIA-backed 2014 Maiden Revolution, doesn’t like the way Zelensky has handled the war. Klitschko sees the destruction to Ukraine’s economy and wants things to end. If Klitschko had his way, Zelensky would be out tomorrow, knowing his military strategy has backfired. Zelensky keeps asking for more U.S. and NATO long-range weapons, promising that he would eventually expel all Russian forces from sovereign Ukrainian territory.
Zelensky has ignored all pleas from foreign governments to move the conflict from the battlefield to the peace table. With the current gains made by Russia in Ukraine, Zelensky thinks he’d be a bad bargaining position with Putin. But with neutral peacemakers taking over the peace process, Zelensky doesn’t know what Ukraine would get in the way of concessions from Putin. Biden and Starmer have given Zelensky virtually no guidance, letting him know where the war stands now and where it’s going. Biden and Starmer pander to Zelensky’s warmongering, knowing that beating the Russian Federation is an unrealistic goal. If Zelensky wants at least some of his lost territory back, he needs to sit down with Putin and discus what can be done. Escalating the war only adds to the uncertainty, leaving Europe closer to WW III or nuclear war, something once thought unthinkable.
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.
