LOS ANGELES (OC).–Fresh off his big payday with the European Union, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in Mar-a-Lago peace talks that the U.S. must apply more pressure to Russia to end the war. Now that he walked away with over 100 billion euros, Zelensky has bought himself time on compromising with the Russian Federation for peace. EU officials opted to guarantee nearly 100 billion euro loan, something that will never be paid back. Currency markets are already punishing the euro, dropping its value since taking on more Ukraine debt. EU officials decided, for now, to give Zelensky enough cash to resist Trump’s peace plan, keeping the war going into 2026. With all the extra cash, Zelensky doesn’t need to complete a peace deal that makes him look like he lost the war. Zelensky doesn’t admit to the Ukrainian people that he’s lost 25% of Ukraine’s best sovereign territory.
Zelensky knows Trump’s position that he can’t win the war with the Kremlin. He still thinks with enough EU cash-and-arms he can force Russian President Vladimir Putin into making concessions, including getting out of Ukraine without demanding territorial concessions. So, of all the counterproductive things the EU did, they just gave Zelensky enough funding to keep the war going for another year. How’s that supposed to end a bloody war that’s cost so many lives and put war back on the European Continent. Zelensky thinks with more EU cash he doesn’t have to admit to the Ukrainian people that he’s lost some 25% of Ukraine’s best sovereign territory with nearly four years of war with the Kremlin. Trump told Zelensky many times that war with the Kremlin was a bad idea, knowing, with all the U.S. and EU weapons, he can’t reverse the war.
Arriving in Miami for talks with the U.S., EU, Ukraine and Russia, Russian envoy Krill Dimtriev said that he didn’t have high hopes now that Zelensky was just re-funded by the EU. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. would not impose a peace on Zelensky, saying that it was up to him whether or not to make peace. Whatever security guarantees Trump made recently, apparently they weren’t enough to bring Zelensky to the peace table. It’s not a real peace table unless both sides are willing to compromise. Putin asked for very little to end the nearly four-year-old conflict. When he invaded Ukraine Feb. 24, 2022, he asked Zelensky in March 2022 if he was willing to recognize the independence of Donetsk and Luhansk, he was willing to end the war. Zelensky opted for war instead and now watches his country destroyed by the day.
Zelensky said on his way to Miami, “I am not sure that anything new could come of it,” already throwing cold water on Trump’s peace plan. How could any leader string the war along with world powers knowing that he’s got the cash he needs from the EU to keep the war going for another year? What was the EU thinking lending Zelensky 100 billion euros when all he’ll do is continue the war until Ukraine is reduced to a rock pile? No amount of drone attacks on Russian assets on land or sea will change the outcome of the war. Putin put his cards on the table telling negotiators that he must get Eastern Donbas, including Donetsk and Luhansk to end the war. If not, Putin said he was prepared to continue to special military operation to liberate Russian speaking territories. All Zelensky has to agree to is to pull his troops back from territory Putin has controlled since 2014.
Striking the port city of Odesa, Zelenksy claimed eight deaths, scores injured and civilian property destroyed, pointing to the fact that Putin did not want peace. Well, if Zelensky refuses to negotiate and compromise, follow the Trump peace plan, how does he expect the war to stop? Zelensky can’t have it both ways continue to strike Russian military and energy targets and, at the same time, say he refuses to compromise and negotiate. Trump has grow wary of Zelensky, knowing that he looks like he wants more war in 2026, really isn’t serious about peace. Zelensky’s EU backers have made peace unlikely, with Zelensky locked-and-loaded now to continue the war. Whatever counter-strikes Zelensky orders, Putin hits him much harder, continuing the vicious cycle that claims so much Ukrainian property and lives. What was the EU thinking giving Zelensky 100 billion euros?
Zelensky continues to waste valuable time in ending the Ukraine War, insisting that Putin leave the battlefield, even though he’s won the war. What was the EU thinking handing Zelensky another 100 billion euros to continue the war when he could have signed on to Trump’s peace plan? Trump only asked Zelensky to cede territory he hasn’t controlled since before the 2014 Maiden Revolution. What would it do to Ukraine to give Putin what he already controls in Donetsk and Luhans? Letting Trump convene multi-nation peace talks, including Russia, when he has no intent or compromising on Eastern Donbas, gives a clear picture of his selfishness. To Zelensky, it’s all about the cash, saving face and lying to the Ukrainian people about how much land he’s lost to Russia in nearly four years of war. Trump told Zelensky to cut his losses and the 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.
