LOS ANGELES.–Meeting in Paris to discuss a post-war security force, 47-year-old French President Emmanuel Macron and 62-year-old British Prime Minister Keir Starmer have jumped the gun when they have no ceasefire or peace talks with 72-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin. President Donald Trump, 78, has worked feverishly with Russia on developing a ceasefire and peace plan, not yet signed because Ukraine’s 47-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky refuses to accept that he’s lost the war. Zelensky has spent over three years battling the Kremlin only to find Ukraine’s infrastructure decimated, losing 25% of Ukraine best sovereign territory on the Black Sea Coast. Once Zelensky saw Trump seeking to restore normal diplomatic relations with Putin, he no longer regards the U.S. as a close ally. Zelensky took nearly $300 billion from the U.S. and has no loyalty.
When Zelensky stabbed Trump in the back at the Munich Security Conference, telling delegates that Trump no longer cared about European security, Trump should have known that Zelensky was not ally. Well, Trump did figure out that Zelensky is all about the cash-and-weapons. Once Trump changed U.S. policy in Ukraine, Zelensky sought to sell the war to the European Union, making the exact same arguments that Putin was trying to take over Europe. Zelensky changes his story daily to justify keeping the war going. One day he’s defending European democracy, the next day he wants to join NATO. Recently, Zelensky supports and European army, all to prove that Europe is under siege by Putin who seeks nothing less than taking back control of past Soviet satellites. Never offering proof, Zelensky likes to change his stories daily to justify war with Russia.
What Zelensky refuses to do is assess the damage he’s done to his country over the last three years of war with the Kremlin. He claims he defends the honor of Ukrainian sovereignty when he keeps losing sovereignty by the day waging war with the Kremlin. One day Zelensky says he needs security guarantees from the U.S. and EU, the next day he’s asking new German Chancellor Friedrich Merz for Taurus long-range missiles to continue hitting deep inside the Russian Federation. Refusing to level with the Ukrainian people, Zelensky still tell them nightly that he’s winning the war and just needs more cash-and-arms. When he blew up at Trump and 40-year-old Vice President J.D. Vance in the Oval office Feb. 28, it’s because he realized that Trump seeks peace with his enemy. Once Trump sought to normalize U.S.-Russian relations, Zelensky no longer saw the U.S. as an ally.
Zelensky expects the EU to bail him out now that Trump wants the war to end. He’s made the EU think that Trump has sold Ukraine down the river all to placate Putin. Zelensky wants to see how far his complaints about Trump go with the EU, pushing Brussels to back funding proxy war with the Kremlin. But as Merz, Germany’s new chancellor, said, Germany wants no part of any war with Moscow. So, Zelensky cleverly turns the EU against Trump all because he sees Trump making peace with his mortal enemy. But Trump sees things differently, knowing that no amount of cash-and-arms can make any difference in Ukraine. Zelensky wants the EU to think all he needs is more cash-and-weapons to eventually oust Russia from occupying Ukrainian territory. Zelensky actually thinks he can get the EU to do what Biden did in 2022, fund his war against the Russian Federation.
Getting France and the U.K. to agree in principle to supply security troops to Ukraine puts the cart before the horse. Zelensky doesn’t know what he wants at this point, either more funding for the war or to trade land for peace, something that’s inevitable if he wants Putin to sign on to any future ceasefire or peace plan. Talking about French and British security forces makes no sense now until Zelensky can say to his EU allies he’s ready to accept peace based on trading land for peace. After three years of war, Zelensky knows Putin has taken more Ukrainian sovereign territory, all because he refuses to admit that he’s lost the war. Trump refuses to give Zelensky a blank check with the U.S. Treasury continue destroying Ukraine and losing more sovereign territory. So, Zelensky hasn’t decided what direction the war should take, he’s not convinced at all about peace.
Zelensky continues to hoodwink himself talking about post-war security plans when he’s done everything possible to sabotage Trump’s peace talks with the Kremlin. Trump wants a serious discussion about trading land for peace, cutting Ukraine’s losses so it can start the long process of rebuilding the country. As long as he’s at war with the Kremlin, talking about security arrangements is premature. “We are preparing detailed proposals regarding the contingents of our partners who could become part of the new security architecture. In fact, this is one of the security guarantees for Ukraine,” Zelensky said. Zelensky knows that Putin could veto in any ceasefire or peace talks discussing of letting European troops into Ukraine. Yet he’s fixated on getting commitments as if it helps the peace process. Working with Trump is Zelensky’s only way to ending Ukraine’s long nightmare.
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.
