LOS ANGELS.–Meeting for the third time in one week, 47-year-old Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has worked feverishly to turn the European Union against the U.S. Only two weeks ago in Munich Zelensky told foreign and defense ministers that the U.S., under 78-year-old President Donald Trump, was no longer interested in European security. Trump never said or implied any such thing but Zelensky was desperate to split the EU off from the U.S. After blowing up at Trump and 40-year-old Vice President J.D. Vance in the Oval Office, Trump decided to suspend all further foreign aid to Ukraine. So, Zeleneksy has been on a desperate mission to make up lost cash from the U.S with Europe. Zelensky went ballistic because he knew Trump was working hard to restore normal diplomatic relations with the Kremlin. Zelensky thought the U.S. was his ally, not a friend of Russia.
Zelensky ignores the long U.S. history after WW II where every U.S. president, except 82-year-old former President Joe Biden, worked to improve diplomacy, détente and arms control Biden ended all that history of working with Russia as a cooperative global partner, turning the Kremlin into a mortal enemy. Zelensky has released statements on X stating that the Feb. 28 Oval Office meeting with Trump was “regrettable,” stopping short of apologizing for his atrocious behavior. Clearly, Zelensky lost control of himself, unable to contain his anger over the fact that Trump was seeking normal diplomatic relations with Russia. Trump’s decision to pursue normal diplomatic relations with the Kremlin, officially reversed Biden’s proxy war strategy with the Russian Federation. It told Zelensky that Trump was no longer Ukraine’s ally but an enemy of the state.
Zelensky proposed his necessary steps for peace in Ukraine, all of which are non-starters. Zelensky wants an immediate truce. “Everyone needs to make sure that Russia, as the sole source of this war, accepts the need to end it,” Zelensky said. Zelensky forgets that before the war he was demanding NATO membership and accepting unlimited cash-and-arms from the U.S. over Kremlin objections. “This can be proved by two forms of silence that are easy to establish and monitor, namely, no attacks on energy and other civilian infrastructure—truce for missiles, bombs and long-range drones, and the second is truce on water, meaning no military operations in the Black Sea,” Zelensky said. All of those issues could be worked out if Zelensky accepts the war ends with Russian in control of current battle lines, occupying sovereign territory seized during the three years of war.
EU officials, led by French President Emmanuel Macron, and EU Council President Ursula von der Leyen need to stop making belligerent statements toward the Kremlin if they want peace in Ukraine. Macron just finished a nationwide address fingering Russia as a threat to the European Union. “Europe faces and a clear and present danger,” von de Leyen posted on X. “We must be able to defend ourselves and put Ukraine in a position of strength,” conflating European security with Ukraine’s. Von der Leyen refers to the EU potentially establishing its own army, something urged by Zelensky. But if Zelensky wants so desperately to join NATO, why does he think the EU needs its own army? Von der Leyen conflates EU security with Ukraine’s security knowing that Europe has NATO. So what’s von der Leyen talking about a “clear and present danger?”
Once Trump reestablishes normal diplomatic ties with the Kremlin, the EU will follow suit, knowing there are many benefits to getting along with Putin. EU liked getting cheap Russian gas and petroleum for years, before Biden declared unilaterally a Russian oil embargo in response to the Feb. 24, 2022 invasion. Biden’s Russian oil embargo triggered the worst inflation in over 40 years, creating shortages and skyrocketing oil prices. Trump is in the process of reversing many of Biden’s damaging economic policies, including spending billions of cash the U.S. doesn’t have on climate change. Zelensky would like the EU to pick up where the U.S. left off, funding the Ukraine War into the indefinite future. When the EU comes to its senses after all the recent knee-jerk reactions, they won’t underwrite his war with the Kremlin the same way that Biden did.
Zelensky’s ideas of a ceasefire all make sense as long as he’s prepared to cede Russia territory won over the last three years of war. Zelensky wants security guarantees from the U.S. and EU but those details have not been worked out. First, a ceasefire and peace treaty must end the Ukraine War, with Zelensky learning to get along in the future with Russia. Neither the U.S. nor EU can save Zelensky if he continues to provoke his Russian neighbor. Zelensky can’t go to the Oval Office again and blow up at Trump simply because people feel sorry for him and Ukraine. Trump is trying to solve complex problem ending the war, using his clout with Putin to come up with a plan that works for the Kremlin. Zelensky can’t keep whining to the EU that Ukraine’s interests are not being included in any future peace talks. EU officials must tell Zelensky to work with Trump 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.
