LOS ANGELES.–Complaining today at the Elysee Palace in Paris, 47-year-old Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked the U.S. to act directly in Ukraine to stop Russia from continuing to attack its energy infrastructure. Zelensky thought he had a deal with the Kremlin for a ceasefire over energy infrastructure and maritime targets in the Black Sea. But Zelensky has no deal yet with the Kremlin because he keeps running interference with the Trump White House and with European Union. Zelensky wants Russia to remove all its military from Ukraine and return all its sovereign territory taken in three years of war. Where does Zelensky think he can go to war with the Kremlin with U.S. cash-and-arms and expect Russia to return Ukraine’s sovereign land and pay reparations to Ukraine for destruction over the last three years of war? Zelensky hasn’t asked for peace, he’s asked for more cash-and-weapons.
Zelensky criticized Trump’s chief Ukraine envoy Steve Witkoff for saying that 72-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin was “smart and not a bad guy.” Zelensky despises Putin so much he’s willing to destroy Ukraine by continuing a failed war that’s done nothing other than destroy Ukraine and lose more sovereign territory. “Two days ago, there was a night when there were not strikes on the energy sector, today energy infrastructure in the city of Kherson was damaged by Russian artillery,” Zelensky told delegates at a summit today in Paris. “I believe the U.S. should respond with actions,” Zelensky said, asking Trump to either retaliate militarily against Russia or slap Putin with more sanctions. But how does that fit with Trump’s attempt to restore normal diplomatic relations with Russia? If Zelensky wants someone to attack Russia in Ukraine, why doesn’t he ask the EU?
Zelensky acts like Biden is still president, giving him a blank check in cash-and-arms to fight the Kremlin. Trump has made clear to Zelensky and the EU that the U.S. has reversed the Biden proxy war policy against the Kremlin and seeks normal diplomatic relations. Asking the U.S. to act, does Zelensky think he sets U.S. foreign policy, simply because he whines enough about Russian attacks to the EU? Trump has done everything possible to bring Putin to the peace table for the purpose ending the carnage and destruction. Zelensky has run interference through Trump’s peace overtures, expecting Trump to continue the Biden policy of funding proxy war. When Zelensky blew up in the White House, he was furious that Trump was pursuing separate peace talks with Putin to reestablish normal diplomatic relations. Why would Zelensky have any opinion what Trump does for U.S. national security?
Biden’s proxy war in Ukraine damaged U.S. foreign policy and national security to the point that that he turned Russia from decades old cooperative partner into a mortal enemy. If Zelensky wants to continue the war with Russia, he should take that up in the EU, asking Brussels to take over the Biden foreign policy. Trump wants the war to end because he sees nothing but more destruction to Ukraine, but, more importantly, the possibility that the war could morph to a global conflict on the European Continent. Trump knows that China and India do not support U.S. proxy war with the Kremlin, regardless of who started the war. Zelensky is still stuck on blaming Russia when he amassed weapons from the U.S. to eventually fight the Kremlin. Now Zelensky thinks because he has no ceasefire agreement the U.S. should take action against the Kremlin.
Zelensky still thinks that U.S. acts as Ukraine’s big brother to prosecute its war with the Kremlin. What more does Trump have to say to Zelensky for him to understand that he has moved on from Biden’s proxy war strategy with the Kremlin? Zelensky said he’s collecting information to prove that Russia violated the ceasefire agreement. But Ukraine and Russia have no ceasefire agreement because Putin wants the U.S. to end sanctions against Moscow before any agreement can get signed. So, when it comes to Zelensky proving anything, there’s no ceasefire agreement in place to violate. If Zelensky wants the destruction and carnage to stop, he needs to let Trump’s team, including Steve Witkoff, do what’s necessary to nail down a ceasefire deal and peace talks. Going the EU to complain about Russia does nothing to expedite and end to the three years old war.
Zelensky needs to stop pitting the EU against the U.S. and let Trump and his national security team negotiate a fair end to the Ukraine War. More U.S. or NATO arms won’t change the outcome of the war, only cause more carnage and destruction. Zelensky must understand the rules of war, to the victor goes the vanquished. Putin has legitimate spoils to three years of war with Ukraine, including Kherson, Zaporizhzia, Donetsk, Luhansk and Crimea. If he accepted Putin’s offer in March 2022, he would not have destroyed his country and lost Kherson and Zaoporizhizia. But he opted for war with the Kremlin and found out the hard way what happens when you go to war against a superior army. Just ask Arab states who went to war with Israel. So, Zelensky’s only out is to cut his losses and accept the best possible deal Trump can negotiate with Putin.
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.
