LOS ANGELES.–Ukraine’s 46-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky continues to lash out knowing that his days are numbered when it comes to the Ukraine War. Admitting recently that under Trump the war wouldn’t last as long as 81-year-old President Joe Biden, what’s that supposed to mean? That all his efforts to continue the war claiming that 72-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin was menace to Europe was pure politics? Sounds like the same hype Democrats used when 60-year-old Vice President Kamala Harris ran against President-elect Donald Trump routinely calling Trump a “fascist, dictator, unhinged and unfit.” Then all the chatter, the passionate convictions, all stopped after Kamala was blown out Nov. 5. Now Zelensky says exactly the same things, lashing out at 66-year-old German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, revealing the same hypocrisy as Kamala.
Zelensky knows with Trump in power there’s no stretching the war out indefinitely like it was with Biden, largely because Biden didn’t know what was happening. Zelensky and Biden kept insisting that without the Ukraine War, Putin would take over other European countries like the Baltic States or even Poland. But it turns out that Zelensky and Biden used the Putin threat to rally more support in the U.S. and EU. “This is exactly what Putin has been wanting for a long time: It is extremely important for him to weaken his isolation. Russia’s isolation, and to have normal negotiations that will not end in anything,” Zelensky said about Chancellor Scholz. Zelensky believes his own delusion that if the war goes on longer, he’ll be in a better bargaining position. Biden and Zelensky have operated in a folie a deux, two deluded leaders hoping for the best while things get worse.
Zelensky went to great lengths to sell his “victory plan” to the a European Summit Nov. 6 in Budapest, all to have most leaders skeptical, especially 61-year-old Hungarian President Viktor Orban. Orban and most European leaders have heard Zelensky’s sales pitch for the last three years, promising to drive Russian troops out of Ukraine. But all Zelensky has accomplished in three years of war with the Kremlin is losing 20-25% of Ukraine’s sovereign territory, making territorial concessions inevitable for any kind of settlement with Putin. Trump can help Zelensky get as much territory as possible but, in the end, it’s not Trump’s fault that Zelensky has lost the war. No EU members, including Scholz, believe that Zelensky can win the war with the Kremlin, no matter how much cash-and-weapons are given to the Kiev government. Zelensky knows that his days of cajoling U.S. and EU leaders are over.
Scholz was told by Putin that any settlement of the war must take Russian security needs into account. Zelenky knows that Putin had Russian forces in Ukraine before the Feb. 24, 2022 invasion, and will have them stay in Ukraine after the conflict settles. Zelensky rejected Putin’s peace overture in March 2020, which would have saved Ukraine all the death and destruction no faced in rebuilding a bombed out country. When it comes to going to the peace table, every EU leader knows that Zelensky must compromise on territory now occupied by Russia to end the war. Scholz faces an uncertain Feb. 23, 2025 election, with conservative parties seeking a return to normal German-Russian relations, including deals to buy Russian natural gas. Only recently did international authorities investigating the Sept. 2, 2022 bombing of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines from Russia to Germany.
Kiev denied an involvement in bombing the pipelines but new information proves that Ukrainian special agents bombed the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, making it more difficult to transfer natural gas from Russia to Germany. “The chancellor urged Russia to show willingness to enter talks with Ukraine with the aim of achieving a just and lasting peace,” said Scholz’s office. Scholz know but won’t admit to Zelensky that he’ll be forced to trade land for peace to end the war. Trump is a firm believer in negotiation and compromise something Zelensky has refused to do over the last three years. “He [Scholz] stressed Germany’s unbroken determination to back Ukraine in its defense against Russian aggression for as long as necessary,” said Scholz spokesman. No one in the EU wants to continue the Ukraine War one more day than is necessary to end the conflict.
Now that Biden is out of the picture, it’s going to be much easier to settle the Ukraine conflict under Trump’s guidance. Trump recognizes the need for U.S. national security to end the Ukraine War at the earliest possible time. Kamala would have continued the Biden policy of arming Ukraine with the intent to getting more concessions from the Kremlin. What’s clear to all is that the war strategy has not worked to extract more concessions from the Russian government. Zelenksy’s 10-point peace plan, or more recently “victory plan,” involves Russia pulling out all his forces from Ukraine. Whatever concessions Zelensky makes, it’s better than continuing to destroy Ukraine and surrender more sovereign territory. Ending the war will give Zelensky security guarantees, just not NATO membership. Putin sees NATO membership as a deal-buster to end the war.
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.
