LOS ANGELES.–Spending two hours with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the phone, 78-year-old President Donald Trump said Putin wants to settle the conflict, working hard with his team to make a peace offer to Ukraine.  One thing’s for sure, Ukraine’s 47-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky wants to settle the conflict on his terms, demanding the Putin return all of Ukraine sovereign land.  Democrats and the fake news drank Zelensky’s Cool-Aid saying that Putin doesn’t really want peace, only to buy himself more time. Zelensky denounced Putin publicly urging the EU to slap Russia with more economic sanctions, something that doesn’t sound like he wants a ceasefire and peace deal.  “It’s obvious that Russia is trying to buy time in order to continue its war and occupation,” Zelensky said on X.  Does Zelensky sound like he’s interested in a ceasefire and peace deal?

            Zelensky makes public remarks designed to provoke and antagonize Putin, then saying that Putin doesn’t want to make peace.  Putin reassured Trump that he wants to set in writing the conditions for a ceasefire and lasting peace.  Zelensky rejects Putin’s position that calls for Ukraine to remove what’s left of its troops from Kherson, Zaporizhizia, Donetsk and Luhansk. Putin wants to put the cards on the table in what he calls a memorandum, specifying conditions for a lasting peace.  Zelensky and the EU expect Putin to remove all his troops from Ukraine, including the Crimean Peninsula. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) thinks that Putin not showing up in Istanbul proves his insincerity.  Well, without advanced negotiation, what good would a face-to-face meeting without the details of a settlement worked out?  Shaheen shows she doesn’t have a clue about peace talks.

            EU announced that it’s hitting Russia with the 17th round of sanctions for not showing up in Instanbul.  Putin never said he’d go to Istanbul before there were concrete steps and conditions met for an agreement. Yet uninformed U.S. Senators all buy Zelensky’s claptrap that Putin isn’t interested in peace.  Well, to be clear, Zelensky isn’t interested in Putin’s proposal for peace.  He wants the Russian leader to end the occupation of Ukraine. Since Zelensky fought a bloody war with the Kremlin, funded by the U.S., for the last three years, what did he think would happen if he lost the war along with Ukraine’s best sovereign territory?  Zelensky has gaslighted the EU to think Trump is giving him a raw deal by trading land for peace.  But Trump is not the one that lost the war.  Zelensky took all the U.S. and EU cash-and-weapons, losing Ukraine’s best sovereign territory for the last three years.

            EU officials misrepresented Trump’s positions on more sanctions for the Kremlin.  German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Trump was on the same page with the EU.  Trump does not support new sanctions seeing them as counterproductive to any settlement.  “The cessation of hostilities is not a condition for it, which means that Russia can continue its offensive,” said Russian political analyst  Konstatin Kalachev.  “This conversation not only failed to clarify the future of the negotiations but further confused the situation,” said Ukrainian political analyst Volodymyr Fresenko.  Fresenko knows that if he said say anything but negative things about Putin he would face severe consequences.  Zelensky’s attitude prevails at all level of Ukrainian society.  He’s never admitted that he lost the over three years war with the Kremlin.  So, he refuses to settle the conflict unless it’s on his terms.

            Ordinary Ukrainian citizens have heard Zelensky’s nightly sermons about winning the war, not about the damage and losses incurred in three years of war.  Zelensky can’t admit he’s he’s lost 20-25% of Ukraine’s best territory, only tells the public that he’ll eventually win the war.  Zelensky has done everything possible to convince the EU to fund the proxy war with the Kremlin now that Trump has pulled out. Zelensky despises Trump for restoring normal U.S.-Russian relations, angry that he won’t continue Biden’s policy of perpetual war. Trump figured out early on that Ukraine cannot win its war with the Kremlin, only wreaking more destruction, carnage and lost territory on Ukraine.  Zelensky lives in his own bubble that he can wish his way to a victory over the Kremlin, despite all the evidence to the contrary.  Ending the war would force Zelensky to admit defeat.

            Zelensky looks to use the EU as a spoil against Trump, insisting he’s getting a bad deal in any peace negotiation.  Refusing to admit defeat, Zelensky is the one who’s buying himself more time.  Putin has all the time in the world since he’s winning the war.  While he’s likely to end the conflict, he’s not giving Zelensky back spoils of the over three-year war.  When Trump told Zelensky he didn’t “have the cards,” he wasn’t kidding, only whining to the EU that he’s getting the raw end of a deal.  Putin has bent over backwards to tolerate Zelensky’s shenanigans, especially now that he’s turned the EU against the Kremlin. EU officials have to decide whether they’re willing to take over Biden’s proxy war.  EU hasn’t figure out what they’re doing other than mucking up Trump’s ongoing peace process.  EU officials should tell Zelensky to follow Trump or he’s on his own.

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.