LOS ANGELES.–No one in the fake news can say any longer that 78-year-old President Donald Trump shields 72-year-old President Vladimir Putin from any criticism. Trump called Putin “crazy” for launching new strikes on Ukraine, killing 12, when he’s reassure Trump that he’s working on a ceasefire deal. But whatever the reasons for Putin recent attacks, Trump wants his critics to stop accusing him of pandering the Russian President. “What Vladimir Putin doesn’t realize is that if it weren’t for me, lost of really bad things would have already happened to Russia, and I mean REALLY BAD,” Trump posed his Truth Social network. Trump wouldn’t say what he means by really bad things but it has to do with Trump opposing the EU’s efforts to escalate the war, most recently German Chancellor Friedrich Merz close to giving Ukraine’s 47-year-old President Volodymyr Zekensky long-range ballistic missiles.
No one knows what Trump plans to do to continue the peace process now that it’s opposed by Zelensky and the European Union. Zelensky wants all of Putin’s troops out of Ukraine before any real peace talks can start. So what looked like Trump pushing for a ceasefire and peace talks, now looks like an escalation to the war. Trump must decide for the good of the country what he plans to do. It’s clear that the EU plans to finance the proxy and let Zelensky keep fighting the Kremlin. No matter what his losses over the last three years, Zelensky still wants to fight to get his sovereign land back, knowing that he must take it by force. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said today that the days are over when Zelensky has restrictions on hitting targets deep inside Russia. Merz could decide tomorrow in Berlin to give Zelensky long-range German-made Taurus missiles.
Merz has been playing hard ball with Putin, threatening to give Zelensky long-range Taurus missiles. Merz and other EU leaders like French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer insist that the only way to get Putin to take ceasefire talks seriously is to slap him with more economic sanctions and to give Ukraine to tools necessary to strike deep inside the Russian Federation. Putin’s right hand man, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, warned Merz that he was risking a dangerous escalation to the war. Trump did everything possible to bring an end to the over three-year conflict. Merz has now threatened Putin with more sanctions and, more recently, giving Zelensky Germany’s best ballistic missiles. Lavrov points out that Merz’s approrach to a ceasefire and peace talks will only delay any complete peace settlement.
Trump has problems with Zelensky and Putin, the two parties at war, not taking the peace process too seriously. It’s clear from Zelensky he opposes any Trump plan that would trade land-for-peace, Zelensky’s only path to end the Ukraine war through negotiation and compromise. Whatever drone and missile strike Putin launched over the weekend, Trump shouldn’t take it so personally. Putin sees no real progress with Zelensky and the EU, both committed to keeping the war going. Unless Trump can get the EU to cease-and-desist supplying Ukraine with lethal long-range weapons, Putin will be driven from any peace settlement. Trump can’t blame Putin for Zelensky or EU warmongering, seeking to fund proxy war against the Kremlin. Trump has helped U.S. national security by normalizing diplomatic relations with Putin.
Trump is frustrated with Putin when his real ire should go toward Zelensky and the European Union. How does German Chancellor Friedrich Merz think that supplying Ukraine with long-range German-made Taurus missiles to do anything other than escalate the conflict? You’d think that Merz and other members of the EU would do everything possible to reach a peaceful settlement at the earliest possible time. Certainly the EU knows that if Ukraine threatens the Russian homeland with new ballistic missiles, Putin has said that all options, including nukes would be on the table. What doesn’t Merz get about escalating the war? There are real risks to the war spiraling out of control on the European Continent. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Merz’s moves to declare the Ukraine can strike anywhere inside Russia poses a threat to peace.
U.S. and foreign press should refrain from warmongering, only taking Zelensky’s side in the conflict. If Zelensky gets his way, he’ll take more cash-and-arms from the EU to pay for the proxy war with the Kremlin. No ceasefire or peace deal would be possible with Putin seeing the EU as a mortal enemy of Russia. At least Trump improved U.S.-Russia relations to the point that Putin no longer sees the U.S. at war with Moscow. Under former President Joe Biden, he ended decades of diplomacy, détente, arms control, and, most importantly, global cooperation between Moscow and Washington. Merz’s declaration that Zelensky can strike anywhere in Russia is a dangerous escalation to the war. Trump has worked feverishly for peace but Zelensky got the EU to sabotage Trump’s peace plans. Zelensky simply refuses to face reality and trade land-for-peace, something he won’t do with EU backing.
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.T
