LOS ANGELES (OC).–Deputy Nation Security Council president Dmitry Medvedev warned President Donald Trump about sending Tomahawk Cruise missiles to Ukraine for use in the Ukraine War. Medevedev said Russia could not distinguish from a nuclear-armed Tomahak Cruise Missile and one with a conventional warhead, hinting that Russia could responding with a nuclear warhead in response. Trump has been trying to induce Russian President Vladimir Putin to come to the peace table for a 30 day ceasefire so that substantive peace talks could begin. When Trump and Putin met for a summit in Anchorage, Alaska Aug. 15 hopes were high that Putin would pause the air war in Ukraine to start ceasefire talks. But the summit ended with Trump and Putin saying they wanted to work on a permanent peace deal, only to watch Ukraine’s 47-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky say no to peace.
Zelensky complains every time Ukraine is attacked with missiles and drones by Putin, calling the Russian Federation a terrorist state. But Zelensky refuses to engage in substantive peace talks, agreeing in principle to cede land to Putin to end the war. Since the war began Feb. 24, 2022, Russian has taken some 25% of Ukraine’s sovereign territory, making gains along a 1,200 km battlefront, where Russia makes more inroads daily. Trump urged Zelensky in a Feb. 28, Oval Office meeting to cut his losses, make the concessions necessary and end the war. Zelensky threw a fit and was asked to leave the Oval Office by Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance. Zelensky then went to the European Union, telling them that Trump was not interested in European security. Trump’s peace talks with Putin were designed to offer the EU the best possible security arrangements.
Zelensky’s message at the Munich Security Conference could not have been more treacherous, telling delegates that Trump didn’t care about European security. Zelensky made the argument to EU delegates that Ukrainian and EU security was one in the same, both were affected by Russian aggression. Convincing Poland and the Baltic States that they were not safe especially if Putin won the Ukraine War, Zelensky sabotaged Trump’s months-long effort to forge a lasting peace deal with Putin. Trump knew exactly what was needed to end the Ukraine War, having spent months getting a clear read from Putin. Once Zelensky realized that Trump wanted to trade land-for-peace, he rejected any negotiations, taking a hard-line approach with the EU to not offer Putin any land concessions. Zeleneksy and the EU, in effect, killed Trump’s peace plans with Putin.
So, Trump has been threatening to supply NATO with Tomahawk Cruise Missiles which would make their way to Ukraine. With a range of 2,500 Km [1,550 miles], they could strike anywhere in the Russian Federation, including Moscow. “How should Russia respond” asked Medvdev. “Exactly!” Medvedev said on Telegram. “Yeah, I might tell him [Putin] if the war is not settle, we may very well do it,” Trump said. “We many not, but we may do it . . . Do they want to have Tomahawks going in the direction? I don’t think so,” Trump said, being deliberately ambiguous, using the Tomahawk as a threat to Putin to move the war to the peace table. Trump knows Putin well and knows he doesn’t respond well to coercion. Trump obviously doesn’t want or plan to send Tomahawk Cruise missiles to Ukraine, knowing that Zelensky would abuse the privilege of receiving them.
Zelensky has been pressing everyone in NATO for long-range missiles, claiming he needs them to stop the Russian assault on his country. But what he needs more than missiles is a realistic peace plan that would end the war with legitimate negotiation and compromise. So far, Zelensky has stubbornly insisted he would not cede any territory to Putin, even though Putin controls the territory now and for the future. Zelensky can’t say when, if ever, he would take the territory back from the Kremlin. He knows that whatever weapons he’s received from the U.S., NATO and the EU, it hasn’t changed the 1,200 km battle front, where Putin continues to seize more Ukrainian sovereign territory. Trump, who brokered an end to the Gaza War, doesn’t want to do anything to prolong the war, certainly not destroy U.S.-Russian relations by supplying Zelensky Tomahawk Cruise Missiles.
Zelensky hasn’t gotten serious about realistic peace talks where he would be forced to cede territory to the Russian Federation. Zelensky’s friends in the EU must get realistic with him saying the EU is not prepared to subsidize the Ukraine War indefinitely with the wishful promise that he would return sovereign territory to Ukraine. Trump told him to cut his losses, end the war and start the costly and lengthy process of rebuilding his country. Every day that goes by, Zelensky loses more civilians and infrastructure, setting Ukraine back indefinitely. Trump uses the Tomahawk Cruise Missiles as an idle threat to Russia to get to the peace table. Trump has no intent of ending U.S.-Russian relations, something he’s spent months repairing. EU officials must get real with Zelensky and insist he start negotiating with Putin to end the war. There simply no other way out.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
