LOS ANGELES.–With the U.S. peace delegation led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio headed to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 47-year-old Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky flew to Abu Dhabi an Dubai to keep himself in the headlines. Zelensky dominated the conversations at the Munich Security Conference pitting the U.S. against the EU, claiming that 78-yearold President Donald Trump abandoned European security, all because he seeks peace in Ukraine with 72-year-old Russia President Vladimir Putin. Zelensky isn’t included in bilateral talks with Russian officials or with Putin for the obvious reason that he seeks to sabotage any peace talks with the Kremlin. Zelensky believes after taking $300 billion from the U.S. to fund his war with Russia, he has a right to control any peace deal with the Kremlin. Zelensky would do everything possible to sabotage peace talks.
Zelensky worked the Munich Security Conference for the purpose of turning the EU against the United States. Since Trump took office, Zelensky has furiously tried to turn the EU against the U.S., insisting the war must go on until he gets all his demands met by the Kremlin. Zelensky still insists that Moscow must pay the price for its illegal war against Ukraine. Forget about the U.S. under 82-year-old former President Joe Biden arming Ukraine to the teeth to battle the Russian Federation. Putin tried in the months leading up to the Feb. 24, 2022 invasion to work out new security arrangements in Ukraine. Putin told Biden that arming Ukraine threatened Russian national security. Biden didn’t listen and Putin launched his special military operation Feb. 24, 2022. Biden called Putin’s invasion “unprovoked and unjustified” failing to admit the run up to the war.
Zelensky furious attempt at Munich to get split the EU off from the U.S. has partially succeeded for now, with French President Emmanuel Macron hosting a meeting in Paris today of select foreign leaders and NATO to discuss Trump’s upcoming peace talks with Putin. EU was blindsided by Trump taking over the peace process, though he made his policy known for years. Trump has been advocating ending the war for the last three years. Only Biden thought breaking off diplomatic relations with Russia was a good idea. When you look at Biden’s foreign policy, it’s clear he wasn’t playing with a full deck. Biden made horrific decisions on Ukraine, essentially rejecting a long-standing U.S. global partner in Russia to back a corrupt for Soviet satellite looking for U.S. cash-and-weapons. Biden ignored the long history to diplomacy, détente and arms control with the Kremlin.
Zelensky’s worst fear is that ordinary Ukrainians will chase him out of Kiev once it’s known that he lost the war with the Kremlin. Three years of war has destroyed Ukraine’s infrastructure, killed thousands of civilians and troops, driven millions into exile and lost 25% of Ukraine’s best sovereign territory on the Black Sea coast. Trump recognized long ago that Zelensky lost the war with the Kremlin but continues to gaslight the Ukrainian people saying daily he’s winning the war. Russia continues to seize more Ukrainian territory along the 600-mile battle front with Ukrainian troops unable to resist the Russian advance. Zelensky keeps telling the U.S. and EU that all he needs are more cash and lethal weapons, citing his Aug. 8, 2024 incursion into Russia’s Kurk border region. Zelensky thought he could pull Russia forces away from the battlefront but it didn’t work.
Visiting Abu Dhabi, Zelensky hoped to call more attention to himself but wound out getting excluded by the local media. Abu Dhabi has growing economic ties to Russia with Deputy Preime Minister Denis Manturov visiting UAE leader Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan focusing on “growing UAE-Russia ties and ways to advance shared interests, benefiting both nations and t heir peoples,” read WAM, Abu Dhabi’s state news agency. So, when it comes to Zelensky getting any sympathy from the UAE, its ties to Moscow remain strong. Biden’s sanctions toward Russia didn’t take into account the strong business and global ties with nonaligned countries, especially China and India. Chinese President Xi Jinping has been vocal in expressing his opposition to the U.S. arming Ukraine, violating the Kremlin’s national security. Biden had no real backing other that the EU.
EU officials find themselves in an impossible situation backing Ukraine but, at the same time, knowing Trump is resetting U.S.-Russian relations. Biden sucked the EU into seeing the Kremlin as the enemy, now watching Trump pivot to a new U.S. foreign policy. EU officials meeting in Paris today don’t know what to do know that Trump decided to restore U.S.-Russian relations. EU officials went reluctantly ahead to back Biden’s anti-Russian foreign policy. All through the Cold War, the EU maintained close business ties with Moscow, especially Germany who used to buy petroleum and natural gas from Russia. Biden’s Ukraine policy forced the EU to make a choice between the U.S. and Russia. Now the EU must pivot again away from Biden’s dead foreign policy, accepting the Trump has taken the opposite direction to restore cooperative, pragmatic relations with Moscow.
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.
