LOS ANGELES.–Russia and Ukraine show signs before the next round of talks in Isranbul June 2 that they don’t want peace, unwilling to make the compromises needed to end the over three years of war. One the eve of peace talks, Ukraine’s 47-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky launched a drone attack deep inside Russia aimed at Russia’s strategic bombers. Zelensky claims he destroyed some 40 Russia bombers which, if true, would be a major escalation in the war. Heading into Istanbul, 72-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin won’t be thinking about compromise, he’ll be thinking about retaliation. Zelensky claims Putin isn’t serious about peace but Zelensky has given no signs that he’s willing to trade-land-for-peace. Putin says he wants to deal with the “roots causes” of the Ukraine War that won’t be pleasant for the U.S. or EU to hear, especially about NATO encroachment.
Putin wants NATO to stop pushing eastward toward the Russian Federation, already dealing with Finland and Sweden joining the alliance last year. But the real cause of the Ukraine War must be acknowledged by the United States and European Union. Putin didn’t move his forces into Ukraine while Trump was president. He moved 200,000 Russian troops into Ukraine Feb. 24, 2022 during the Biden administration. Biden decided to join Zelensky in waging war against the Kremlin ending decades of diplomacy, détente, arms control and global cooperation, something worked on by successive generation of U.S. presidents. Biden was the first-and-only president to go war with Russia. He claims he did so to defend freedom-and-democracy in Ukraine, something it’s never had. Zelenksy tells the EU that his Ukraine War defends European democracy.
Any objective analysis of the lead up to the Ukraine War shows that Biden was arming Ukraine with offensive weapons over Kremlin objections. Biden was asked by Putin for months to discuss new security arrangements for Ukraine. Biden ignored Putin’s requests prompting Putin to say he would implement a “special military operation” if Biden didn’t respond. Biden said repeatedly that the invasion was “unprovoked and unjustified.” But if you were in the Kremlin, the invasion was “provoked and justified,” based on the amount of arms Biden was delivering to Ukraine. Trump said the war would have never happened under his watch because he would have never ignored Putin and kept arming Ukraine. So when Putin talks about root causes, he’s already got one solved. Trump has said the U.S. no longer funds proxy war in Ukraine with the Russian Federation.
Western officials see Putin as playing games to get more concessions to end the war. “Putin has devised a way to offer Trump an interim, tangible outcome from Washington’s peace efforts with making an real concessions,” said Tatiana Stanovaya with the Carnegie Russa-Eurasia Center. Stanovaya doesn’t know in any negotiation what concessions Putin is willing to make, including ceding back Ukrainian territory. Putin wants commitments from the U.S. and EU that any ceasefire and peace agreement would involvement a long-term commitment that Ukraine would remain neutral, not part of the NATO alliance. More thorny demands from Putin involve limiting the size of Ukraine’s military not threatening the Russian Federation. No one in the U.S. or EU admits that Biden’s arming of Ukraine forced Putin to invade. Western officials claim Putin engaged in a land grab.
Putin had no reason to invade Ukraine other than Zelensky threatening at the time to see fast-track NATO membership. Little did Zelensky know at the time that NATO would reject his membership bid citing, among other things, Ukraine was not a democracy. Ukraine held one election, which was promptly suspended after the war started with Zelensky citing martial law. Putin sees Zelensky, who happens to be Jewish, as promoting the same Nazism seen by Ukraine’s leaders who collaborate with Germany to massacre Russian forces in WW II. Western officials have denied any active neo-Nazi movement in Ukraine. Putin simply wants Ukraine to stop arming itself from U.S. and NATO weapons. Zelensky won’t take kindly to Putin trying to limit the amount of arms Ukraine gets from Western countries or, for that matter, manufacturers on Ukrainian soil.
Tomorrow’s second round of peace talks are already fraught with obstacles on both sides. It won’t be easy for Putin to accept the current arsenal of U.S. and NATO weapons currently used to battle the Kremlin. Putin wants the “root causes” of war settled, including how the U.S. gave unlimited cash-and-arms to Ukraine before the Feb. 24, 2022 invasion. Putin wants commitments from Western officials that Ukraine will remain neutral, not part of the NATO alliance. Zelensky wants security guarantees from the U.S. and EU that they will prevent Putin from invading again in the future. Trump has told Zelensky that the U.S. will not, under his watch, be pitted against the Kremlin. That was Biden’s failed proxy war strategy that he no longer backs. Zelensky’s best future security assurance is that he learns how to get along with the Kremlin, not threaten Russia.
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.
