LOS ANGELES.–Handing 47-year-old Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky 21 billion euros in military spending, the European Union undermined 78-year-old President Donald Trump’s attempt to bring peace to Ukraine. No amount of cash thrown at Zelensky is going to change the outcome of the over three years war that has decimated Ukraine, killed thousands and lost 25% of Ukraine’s sovereign territory. Trump tried to reason with Zelensky but he’s up against a stubborn ruler that wants to hang onto power by pretending he still has a shot to win the war. No military expert believes that Zelensky can change the battlefield in Ukraine, leaving the Kremlin with significant gains of once sovereign Ukrainian territory. Zelenky thinks more fighting can get back what he’s lost to 72-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin has no intent of returning any territory won in the war to Kiev.
Zelensky has used the European Union to undermine Trump’s peace efforts, telling the EU that the allowing Putin to win the war would threaten the entire European Continent. What threatens the European Continent is the continued war, not the unlikely chance that Putin would go to war against NATO. Putn invaded Ukraine Feb. 24, 2022 because former President Joe Bidien was arming Ukraine to the teeth with the intent of going to war with the Kremlin. Putin figured out early on the Ukraine War was an existential crisis for the Russian Federation, with the collective West trying to topple his Kremlin-backed government. So, Putin took the war seriously as a threat to Russian national security. Zelensky thinks more cash-and-arms from the EU will change the outcome. Things will only get worse for Zelensky trying to avoid Trump’s legitimate peace efforts.
Once Trump came to power, Zelensky realized that he was not going to fund more proxy war with the Kremlin. Zelensky found out quickly that Trump, in fact, was working hard to restore normal diplomatic relations with the Kremlin. For Trump and his national security team, ending the war and restoring normal diplomatic relations was a top priority. Ending the war was not only what Trump wanted. USA Today admitted today that former President Joe Biden wrecked U.S. diplomatic relations with the Kremlin. He was the first-and-only U.S. president to end decades of diplomacy, détente and arms control. Trump has worked hard over that last two months to put U.S.-Russian relations back on track. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that progress was being made quickly.
Trump hoped that a quick settlement was a hand for the Ukraine War, not knowing the extent to which Zelensky and his EU partners were trying hard to undermine peace efforts. Zelensky convinced EU officials that Trump was trying on make unfair concessions to Putin, leaving Ukraine with the short end of the stick. In reality, Trump was trying to get Zelensky the best possible deal to end the conflict. “Given Russia’s ongoing aggression against Ukraine, we must concede that peace in Ukraine appears to be out of reach in the immediate future,” said German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius at NATO headquarters in Brussels. Pistorious and other EU officials are playing games, trying to get Putin to make Ukraine a better deal in any peace settlement. But to Zelensky, the only good deal is if Russian forces leave Ukraine comletely, something unlikely to happen.
Trump’s peace overtures to Putin are real and sincere, wanting, at the earliest possible time, to see an end to the bloodshed. EU officials think playing hardball with Putin will get Ukraine a better peace deal than what Trump can get. No one in the EU, other than Hungary’s Viktor Orban, has any clout with Putin. So, playing bad cop with Putin won’t work, only make a bad situation worse for Ukraine. Zelensky knows that he’s lost 25% of Ukraine best sovereign territory in three years of war. Germany and the U.K. can talk about not letting Putin win but clearly Zelensky lost the war with all the resources given to him. There’s nothing the EU can do to change the outcome only prolong the conflict that increase the risks of WW III on the European Content. Trump offers a guaranteed end to the war and attempt to rebuild war-ravaged Ukraine to thrive again.
Trump learned something from Zelensky but certainly from the EU that they’re willing to buck his foreign policy, even if it means more destruction to Ukraine. Zelensky isn’t concerned about more Ukrainian casualties or loss of sovereign territory. He’s concerned about saving his job by dragging the war out as long as possible. Zelensky no longer considers the U.S. under Trump his ally because Trump refuses to continue funding proxy war with the Kremlin. Zelensky can’t fathom that Trump wants to reset U.S.-Russian relations. He was hoping, like Biden, Trump would turn Russia into a mortal enemy. EU officials showed the kind of animosity toward Trump by supporting Zelensky’s madness. No one believes that more war with Russia changes anything other than furthers Ukraine’s destruction. EU officials should be ashamed of themselves fighting Trump’s peace talks.
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.
