LOS ANGELES.–Russian President Vladimir Putin, 72, said he’s ready to negotiate for peace in Ukraine but only if it assures Russian national security. Ukraine’s 47-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky has provoked Putin from the Feb. 24, 2022 outset of the conflict demanding NATO membership. Putin has consistently said the NATO membership is a non-starter for any peace deal, not something he has to worry about because Zelensky was rejected by NATO because Ukraine does not meet entrance requirements. NATO does not consider Ukraine a democracy, fiscally solvent and currently is at war, all of which prevent membership. But Putin wants a commitment from 78-year-old President Donald Trump that NATO membership is not in the cards, now or ever for Ukraine. Trump has already said publicly that NATO membership is not happening for Ukraine.
Putin has been concerned by French President Emmanuel Macron’s nationwide address where he repeated former President Joe Biden, 82 and Zelensky’s talking points that Russia was a threat to European security. Since the war started, Ukraine has been called a fledgling European democracy, when, in fact, it is neither a democracy not really part of Europe. Only since the Dec. 26, 1991 end of the Soviet Union has Ukraine been remotely considered a part of Europe. It’s always been part of the Soviet Union and before that the Russian Empire. After gaining its independence from Russia, certainly members of the new Ukrainian government had dreams one day of joining the European Union but that hasn’t happened. Only since Biden joined Ukraine’s war with the Kremlin, has the U.S. referred to Ukraine as a strategic ally, underlying the fraudulent nature of the relationship.
Macron talks about the danger Russian poses to the European Union since it invaded Ukraine. But Ukraine was never part of Europe, only promoted recently as a European-type state by U.S. and Ukrainian propagandists. “We must choose for ourselves a peace option that will suit us and that will ensure peace for our country in the long term,” Putin said, in reference to a future peace deal. Responding to Macron’s belligerent speech to his people, Putin said Macron should recall how Napoleon Bonaparte’s 1812 invasion of Russia turned out. Putin controls about 20% of Ukraine’s sovereign land after three years of war, roughly 113,000 square kilometers. Zelensky demanded in any peace settlement Russia to remove all its troops from Ukrainian soil, something that won’t happen. Trump understands that Ukraine will have to surrender territory for peace.
Ukraine was never a U.S. ally until the CIA helped topple Feb. 22, 2014 the duly elected Kremlin backed Kiev government of Viktor Yanukovych. Once the so-called Maiden Revolution drove out Yanukovych, Putin annexed the Crimean Peninsula March 1, 2014. Since that time during the Obama administration, the U.S. started arming Ukraine to take back its sovereign territory. When Biden was Obama’s Vice President, he was assigned to clean up Ukrainian corruption, only to get his son Hunter and friend Devon Archer million dollar jobs on a corrupt energy company board. So, when Biden became President he really started arming Ukraine to the teeth over Kremlin objections. Putin asked Biden for months before the Feb. 24, 2022 invasion to discuss security arrangements. Biden ignored Putin’s requests and he rolled the Russian army in Ukraine.
Macron has engaged in wild hyperbole smearing Putin as seeking to take over more European countries. Putin wanted the U.S. to stop arming Ukraine, something Trump did over his first four years as president. So, when Trump says the Ukraine would never have happened on his watch, he’s 100% right. Biden decided he would push things to the breaking point arming Ukraine. When the war broke out, Chinese President Xi Jinping said Biden provoked the war. Yet Biden kept repeating his propaganda talking points that the war was “unprovoked and unjustified,” to deny his involvement. Let there be no mistake, Biden provoked Putin’s Russian invasion by sending unlimited cash-and-lethal-weapons to Ukraine. Now Trump has to clean up Biden’s mess pushing the world closer to WW III.
Macron who is due to leave office in 2027 begged Putin before the Feb. 24, 2022 to not invade Ukraine but know talks out of both sides of his mouth. Macron says Putin threatens all of Europe when, in fact, he threatens no one if they respect Russian national security. He wants the U.S. to stop arming Ukraine. To end the war, Putin will not leave Ukraine but remain in the areas seized under the three year war that’s inflicted thousands of deaths and injuries on both sides. “There are still people who want to go back to the time of Napoleon, they forget how it ended,” Putin said sarcastically. “All the mistakes of our enemies and opponents began with this: in understanding the character of the Russian people and representatives of the Russian culture in general,” Putin said. Putin knows he can cut a deal with Trump because he’s taken time to understand Russia’s concerns.
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.
