LOS ANGELES.–Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, 47, pretends he wants a ceasefire but actually has runaround 78-year-old President Donald Trump’s peace plan that requires Zelensky to trade land for peace. Zelensky ran to the European Union, claiming that Trump was negotiating a raw deal for Ukraine with 72-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin. Zelensky rejected all peace proposals over the last three years, claiming that they all favored the Kremlin. When Zelensky decided he would go to war with the Kremlin Feb. 24, 2022, he convinced 82-year-old former President Joe Biden to fund proxy war with the Kremlin. Biden decided to end generations of U.S.-Russian diplomacy, détente, arms control and global cooperation. He turned a cooperative partner into a mortal enemy overnight by funding proxy war. Biden didn’t know what he was doing to U.S. national security.
Where did Biden, cognitively impaired or not, think that he was going to vanquish the Russian federation by funding proxy war in Ukraine. Whether Biden was out of the loop or not, his advisors that ran U.S. foreign policy should have informed him of the consequences of going to war with the Kremlin. Putin saw the war in Ukraine as an existential war between Russia, the United States and the Western Alliance AKA NATO. Putin took the war seriously because he knew early on it was not just about a war with Kiev but the collective West seeking to topple his Kremlin-based regime. When Biden and his former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the aim of the Ukraine War was to degrade the Russian military to the point it could no longer wage war, what did the U.S. national security establishment think? Biden and Austin essentially declared war on Russia.
Did Biden’s national security team, led by former Secretary of State Antony Blinker and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, think that war with the Kremlin was a good idea? Whatever the skirmish Ukraine had with Moscow, did Blinken and Sullivan think that they should sell out U.S.-Russian relations. How did Ukraine impact U.S. foreign policy and national security? Even if Biden were too disabled to know what he was doing, did all of Biden’s advisors really think it was in the U.S. national security interest to go to war with Russia? Now that Trump has committed to ending the war, he’s found out that Zelensky refuses to admit defeat in Ukraine. He’s lost 20-25% of Ukraine’s best sovereign territory over three years of war. How’s that supposed to change in the future when Russia has a far larger military and resources to keep the war going?
Zelensky has his own peace plan that he’s sold to the EU, demanding that Putin remove all his forces from Ukrainian soil. “If Russia sets conditions for the withdrawal of our troops from our land, it means that they do not want a ceasefire and they do not want the war to end,” Zelensky told reporters. With an attitude like that, how’s a ceasefire and peace talks going to happen? Trump has told Zelensky he doesn’t “have the cards” to make demands on an eventual ceasefire and peace plan. Zelensky essentially says he won’t cede any Ukrainian territory to Putin even though Moscow has captured Kherson, Zaporizhizia, Donetsk and Luhansk. Putin can keep the war going indefinitely, hammering away at the Ukrainian infrastructure, hitting Ukraine with more drones and missiles indefinitely. Trump tried to help Zelensky see he was destroying Ukraine keeping the war going.
Trump made clear to Zelensky after over three years of war it was time to turn the corner, make compromises with Russia to get a ceasefire and peace plan. Zelensky convinced the EU to slap Putin with more economic sanctions for what purpose? Does he really think that will bring Putin to the peace table? Putin sees himself now at war with the EU in addition to Ukraine. Trump has made clear to Putin that the U.S. under his leadership wants normal diplomatic relations with the Kremlin. So, Zelensky is desperate now to replace U.S. funding with the EU to continue his war with the Kremlin. But does the EU really want to fund Ukraine’s war with the Kremlin? EU leaders like French President Emmanuel Macron and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer have not committed to funding Zelensky’s war. They’ve told Zelensky to sign onto Trump’s effort to bring about peace.
Hitting Putin with more economic sanctions will not lead to a ceasefire and peace talks. EU officials have misled Zelensky to think that if the EU gets involved in peace talks, he’ll get a better deal from Putin. As it stands right now, Trump is frustrated with Zelensky and Putin for not setting aside their differences and looking for compromise. Zelensky is unwilling to admit he’s lost his war with the Kremlin and priceless sovereign land. Entering into a ceasefire agreement, Zelensky would be forced to admit he’s lost 20-25% of Ukraine’s sovereign land. Putin won’t accept a ceasefire until Zelensky agrees to a “memorandum” that specifies which areas Ukraine must remove its troops, including Kherson, Zaporizhizia, Donetsk and Luhansk. Since Zelensky refuses to do that, Trump’s peace process is at an impasse because Zelensky refuses to compromise 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.
