LOS ANGELES (OC).–Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke bluntly about peace in Ukraine at his year-end press conference Dec. 19, telling reporters that peace-or-war is now in the hands to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Putin made him a deal he couldn’t refuse to exchange land-for-peace in an area of Ukraine that Ukraine hasn’t controlled the land since before the Feb. 22, 2014 Maiden Revolution. So, to end the war, Zelensky only has to agree to the independence of Donetsk and Luhansk, provinces controlled by the Russian Federation for almost 16 years. Yet despite that deal Zelensky continues to resist trading land-for-peace, all because he’s embarrassed about losing some 25% of Ukraine’s best sovereign territory in nearly four years of war. Zelensky has nothing to lose and all to gain by ending the bloody, destructive conflict that has only set Ukraine back a generation.
Putin said Dec. 19 at his year-end press conference that if Zelensky rejects terms of his peace deal then he’ll seize more Ukrainian territory by force. Zelensky has complained that Putin shows no interest in peace because he continues his bombardment of Ukraine. Well, in Putin’s mind, until he hears otherwise, Russia is at war with Ukraine with all the drones and missiles flying. If Zelensky wants to stop the bloodshed, he needs to sign on to Trump’s peace plan, not continue to hold out because of Donetsk and Luhansk. Ukraine hasn’t controlled Eastern Donbas since before the Feb. 22, 2022 Maiden Revolution. Putin invaded Ukraine Feb. 24, 2022 because former President Joe Biden refused to stop supplying Ukraine with lethal weapons, threatening Russian national security. Putin told Biden he would be forced to implement a “special military operation.”
U.S. and EU officials take no responsibility for encroachment on the Russian Federation leading up to the invasion. All Biden kept repeating was that the war was “unprovoked and unjustified,” exactly the opposite of the truth. Biden kept arming Ukraine and refused to discuss with Putin a new security arrangements for Ukraine. Before the invasion, Zelensky kept provoking Putin by saying was seeking NATO membership, a clear red line for the Kremlin. Biden backed Ukraine’s NATO membership, even though NATO said Ukraine did not qualify for membership because of its lack of democracy, fiscal problems and obvious war with a foreign power. Yet that didn’t stop Zelensky from insisting on NATO membership. When Putin finally invaded, the U.S. and EU repeated that the war was “unprovoked and unjustified,” but certainly Putin didn’t think so.
As the war progressed with Biden funding proxy war against the Kremlin, Putin saw the war as one with the Western Alliance, trying to encroach or topple his Kremlin regime. Whatever started as a proxy war with the U.S., Putin viewed the war as Russia’s stand against the Western Alliance. “We did not start this war,” Putin said. “We do not consider ourselves responsible for the loss of life,” Putin said, answering a question about losses in the nearly four year war. Putin said Moscow had agreed to “some compromise,” meaning they would give back territory won during the nearly four year war in exchange for taking control of Donetsk and Luhansk, Russian-speaking territories that want no part of the Kiev government. Putin sees his compromises as entirely reasonable, when you consider the costs made to battle Ukraine over the last four years.
For Zelensky to insist he get all his land back after losing the war for the last four years is preposterous. Whether Zelensky considers the war illegitimate or not, he opted Feb. 24, 2022 for war with the Kremlin. Putin made Zelensky the same offer in March 2022, only weeks after the invasion. He asked Zelensky to recognize the independence of Donetsk and Luhansk and Russian sovereignty over Crimea. Zelensky rejected Putin’s offer and went to war. Doesn’t he think there are consequences to going to war? Trump told Zelensky he made a bad mistake going to war with the Kremlin, saying he was badly out-gunned. Instead of embracing Trump’s peace plan, Zelensky has done everything possible to stifle it, pitting the EU against the U.S., claiming Trump favored Putin. Trump favors no one other that ending a war in Europe that destabilizes world peace.
Zelensky has a golden opportunity to end the bloodshed and destruction of his country by agreeing to cede Donetsk and Luhansk to Russia. Ukraine hasn’t controlled the territories since before the Feb. 22, 2022 Maiden Revolution. Western officials have denied the consequences of the Maiden Revolution where Ukraine’s Kremlin-backed Kiev leader Viktor Yanukovych was ousted by a CIA-based, pro-Western coup. Putin was stuck running the Sochi Winter Olympics but wasted no time when he annexed Crimea March 1, 2022. Whatever unrest happens in Eastern Donbas, it was directly related to the Maiden Revolution. Offering to end the war for control over Donetsk and Luhansk asks Zelensky to give up nothing. He doesn’t control the area now nor will he in the future. Trump favors no one other than ending a completely wasteful conflict with no end in sight.
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.
