LOS ANGELES (OC).–Working on a post-war security arrangement for Ukraine, the European Union [EU] killed any prospects for peace, committing itself to multinational peacekeeping force in Ukraine, something Russian President Vladimir Putin has ruled out in any post-war arrangement. Putin doesn’t want NATO force encroaching on Ukraine because he’s insisted from the get-go that Ukraine cannot be part of NATO. Yet in discussing a post-war peace deal the EU thinks they can get away with setting unacceptable conditions because they have no peace plan at all. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky hasn’t agreed to Putin’s demand to seize control of Donetsk and Luhansk, both with sizable Russian populations wanting no part of the Kiev government. EU officials say that President Donald Trump agree to backstop the security arrangement, saying that Washington would support a multinational security force.
Since involved with Zelensky, the EU has made unrealistic demands, accepting Zelensky’s position to no cede any territory to Putin. How Iron that nearly four years ago, shortly after the Feb. 24, 2022 invasion, Putin offered to retain control cover Donetsk and Luhansk and accept Russian control over Crimea. Zelensky rejected Putin’s offer and has fought a bloody four-year- war that’s seized some 25% of Ukraine’s best sovereign territory on the Black Sea coast. Every day that goes by, Zelensky loses more territory to the Kremlin yet refuses Hosting the meeting in Paris, 48-year-old President Emmanuel Macron continued to back Zelensky’s unrealistic condition, demanding that Putin return all the land seized over four years of war. Macron and other EU officials have all be killed Trump’s peace plan, claiming that it favored Moscow.
Tuesday’s Paris proposal said “there will be a continuous, reliable ceasefire monitoring system. This will be led by the U.S. with international participation,” the draft resolution said. But Trump never agreed that he would commit to enforcing any post-war peace agreement that involves U.S. European boots on the ground in Ukraine. What is the EU thinking about deploying troops to Ukraine when it’s bee ruled out by Putin? Looks like the EU wants no part of peace only to sabotage Trump’s workable peace plan that has Putin buying into the deal. Zelensky and the EU have been the main obstacles to peace, pretending they have a peace plan when, in fact, it’s a deal breaker. Puin would never accept NATO troops on the Russian border to resolve the conflict. He told the press he’s prepared for the long haul.
Putin offered to give back sovereign territory to Ukraine as long as Zelensky accepts the independence of Donetsk, Luhansk and Russian control over Crimea, something Zelensky rejected four years ago. Where has the EU concluded that Putin would accept in any post-war security arrangement NATO troops on Ukrainian soil? What has the EU or Zelensky missed along the way, suggesting that Putin would accept NATO troops in Ukraine? Zelensky thinks a multinational force would proved “reassurance measures in the air, at sea and on land,” assuring the “regeneration of the amred forces of Ukraine,” Putin doesn’t find it reassuring that Ukraine would continue to build up its military with lethal weapons. EU officials can’t believe that Trump would go to war with Russia for Ukraine.
Where does Zelensky think the U.S. or EU should backstop his post-war peace deal when getting along with Russia is a two-way street? How can Zelensky think that Trump, who’s worked feverishly to restore U.S.-Russian relations, would go to war with the Kremlin if the two countries breach the peace deal, regardless of who’s at fault. Zelensky really wants to join NATO that would be a deal breaker from the get-go, knowing that Putin would never accept any deal where Ukraine joins NATO. Putin talked about Ukraine and the EU dealing with the fundamental issues that led to the war in the first place. Putin wants the U.S. and EU to stop supplying Ukraine with long-range lethal weapons to hit deep inside Russia.
Zelensky and the EU are kidding themselves thinking that Putin would accept NATO troops inside Ukraine. When it comes to post-war security, Zelensky and the EU must can’t call the shots when they have no peace plan at all, only post-war security arrangements. How can Trump end the war when Zelensky and the EU set conditions unacceptable to Putin. Trump wants no part of any post-war arrangement where the U.S. is expected to play enforcer with the Kremlin. Zelensky must learn to get along with his more powerful neighbor, not engage in war that only destroys Ukraine and loses sovereign territory. EU officials must tell Zelensky to get behind Trump’s peace plan without making more unrealistic demands to end the war. Trump told Zelensky to cut his losses, end the war and rebuild Ukraine.
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.
