LOS ANGELES (oc).–Showing the degree of deterioration in European Union [EU] and Russia relations, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov had some harsh words for the EU when it came to ending the Ukraine War. Peskov made it clear that the Kremlin feels comfortable dealing with President Donald Trump, a far cry from the days of former President Joe Biden when he funded proxy war in Ukraine with Moscow. Biden pushed U.S.-Russian relations to the brink, the first and only U.S. president to go to war with Moscow. By the time Biden left office, the Kremlin was at war with the United States, looking at the Kiev regime of Volodymyr Zelenensky as a puppet state. Now things have come full circle with the Kremlin working on a viable peace deal with the White House. Peskov ruled out dealing with EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, former Prime Minister of Estonia.
Peskov sees the EU throwing roadblocks in the peace process, joining Zelensky in rejecting any land concessions to end the Ukraine War. Russian President Vladimir Putin said clearly that to end the war, Ukraine must pull its troop out of the eastern Donbas area to enable the Peoples Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk to live free of the pro-Western Kiev government. Putin offered to end the war in March 2022, only weeks after the war started Feb. 24, 2022, if Zelensky accepted the independence of Donetsk and Luhansk, Russian sovereignty over Crimea. Zelensky rejected Putin’s offer and went to war with the Kremlin. Four years later, Ukraine has been decimated, losing thousands of soldiers, destroying essential infrastructure and losing 25% of its sovereign land to Moscow. Yet the EU refuses to sign on to Trump’s peace plan, the only viable way to end the war.
Peskov said the EU lacks visionaries, unable to see a peaceful future between Moscow and the European Continent. Only a few years ago, former German Chancellor Angela Merkel spent 12 billion euros building the Nord Stream 2 pipeline to bring affordable Russian natural gas to Germany. Once the war started, former German Chancellor Olaf Scholz cancelled the pipeline, ending German trade with Russia. “They are some untrained, incompetent functionaries who do not look to the future and are unable to comprehend the system of ooordination in existence today,” Peskov said. Peskov insisted the Kremlin will not deal any longer with the EU, largely because they have nothing to add to the peace process. Peskov realized that the EU has no peace plan but only a plan to keep the war going into in the foreseeable future.
When Peskov talks about EU incompetence, he refers to for foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas who’s been accusing Putin to seeking to take more European territory. Zelensky has told the EU repeatedly that if Putin wins the Ukraine War, then he’ll be emboldened to move into Europe. Putin has said repeatedly to many journalists, including former Fox New host Tucker Carlson, that he has no plans or interest in taking EU territory. Yet Kallas promotes the false narrative that Putin has his eyes set on the Baltic States, including Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. Peskkov said the EU ended its dependence on Russian oil and natural gas, now depending on the U.S. to make up the difference. Kremlin officials see the EU at war with Moscow, funding the Ukraine War. With all the destruction wreaked on Ukraine, you’d think Zelensky would be eager to end the war.
Collecting recently over 100 billion euros in EU loans, Zelensky has no intent of ending the war anytime soon. No matter what the pressure from Trump, the EU and Zelensky opts to keep the war going, something Putin accepts. Zelensky complains to the EU and U.S. every time Moscow strikes Ukrainian cities. Trump gets mixed signals from Zelensky every time they meet. Zelensky tells Trump he’s all in on U.S. security guarantees in a post-war scenario but refuses to compromise on ceding eastern Donbas to Moscow. Zelensky know he must pull his troops from Donetsk and Luhansk if he wants to end the war. Zelensky has nothing to lose because Putin has controlled Donetsk and Luhansk since the Feb. 22, 2014 Maiden Revolution when the pro-Western coup to place in Kiev. So, when it comes to ending the war, Zelenky loses nothing and gains everything.
Trump can’t figure out what the EU gets out of prolonging the Ukraine War, when they’re draining the EU Treasury on war with the Kremlin. Some members of the EU like Hungarian President Viktor Orban or Czech President Petr Pavel want the war to end at the earliest possible time. Zelensky wants the war to continue because he’s afraid of losing his multibillion euro cash cow. Trump already told Zelensky he won’t receive any more cash from the U.S. until he ends the war. Only Trump’s peace plan has the endorsement of Putin after months of negotiations with envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushener. EU officials could only come up with a post-war plan putting NATO troops in Ukraine, completely unacceptable to Putin. So, when it comes to Trump ending the Ukraine War, Peskov is right that the EU and Zelensky are the only roadblocks.
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.
