Getting all the backing for Ukraine except where it counts in Moscow, 43-year-old Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky can’t figure out what do with southeastern Ukraine’s Donabass region where a determined group of Russian-speaking separatists want no part of the Kiev government. Zelensky keeps making his problems worse by asking NATO for a rescue plan, either asking NATO for joint military exercises or asking for membership. Zelesnky’s too dense to figure out after seven years since Russian President Vladimir Putin annexed the Crimean Peninsula March 1, and no invitation from NATO membership of joint military exercises. Zelensky gets caught up with the Western press that’s itching for a fight with the United States and Russian Federation. Zelensky believes his own press reports that NATO wants to welcome Ukraine into the Western Alliance.
Western press keeps hyping the build up of Russian forces along the line of contact between Ukraine and Russia, something the press hyped as a possible Russian invasion of the Russian-speaking Donbass region. Instead of working with Putin to figure out a solution, Zelensky keeps touting his relationship with the U.S. and European Union [EU], both infuriating Putin because Russia’s been threatened with NATO since the end of WW II. Because Zelensky has made no effort of get along with Putin and touts his relations with Washington and Brussels, Putin hasn’t found it amusing. When Zelensky threatens to join NATO or hold joint military exercises, Putin sees red. “These are large-scale troop movements, without prior notification, represent threatening and destabilizing,” said Britain’s Foreign Ministry. Zelensky doesn’t understand how his contacts with the Western Alliance infuriate Putin.
Russia Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, 71, said that any troop movements inside Russia’s borders are its own business, whether it shadows what’s happening in the pro-Russian Dunbass region. Zelensky said he made an overture to talk directly with Putin but so far hasn’t heard much luck. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he was not aware Zelensky made any overture to talk with Putin. Ukrainian spokeswoman Lulia Mendel said Zelensky had tried to contact Putin to know avail. Peskov said he hoped “political wisdom” would prevail about de-escalating the situation to avoid armed conflict. Peskov made it clear that any involvement by NATO would be a red line for Putin, opening up a possible armed conflict. After speaking on the phone with 78-year-old Joe Biden April 2, Zelensky seems entirely confused, especially when Biden confirmed the U.S. stands with Ukraine.
Standing with Ukraine doesn’t mean that Biden or NATO are ready to commit troops or offer Ukraine membership. Most NATO countries are part of the EU, not interested in confronting Russia on the battlefield in the Donbass region should Zelensky continue to antagonize Putin. “The president’s office, of course, made a request to speak with Vladimir Putin. We have not received and answer yet and we very much hope that this is not a refusal of dialogue,” Mendel said. But the real issue for Putin is whether or not Zelensky is serious about joining NATO or conducting joint military exercises. Because if that’s Zelensky’s intention, there’s nothing to talk about with Putin. Putin wants Ukraine to enter into bilateral talks without interference from the U.S. or EU, talking about NATO involvement. Zelensky knows for Putin that involving NATO is a deal breaker.
Lavrov, on a visit to Egypt said it was the U.S., not Russia, that’s escalating the situation in eastern Ukraine. “Questions are being asked about what Russia is doing on the border with Ukraine,” Lavrov said. “The answer is very simple. We live there, it’s our country. But what is the United States doing thousands of kilometers from its own territory with warships and troops in Ukraine?” Lavrov wants Zelensky to get the message loudly that any issue between Ukraine and Russia should be resolved without U.S. or NATO intervention. Lavrov sees the U.S. military as interfering in Ukraine, tempting Zelensky into believing that NATO has Ukraine’s back, when, in fact, no EU country wants to take on the Russian Federation when in Ukraine. Lavrov wants Kiev to get the message clearly that border issues need to be resolved with bilateral talks with Kiev and Moscow.
Biden and his 58-year-old Secretary of State Tony Zelensky have mucked up relations with Ukraine, pitting the Russian Federation against Ukraine. Peskov said it was really very simple when it came to Ukraine and Russia resolving its disputes without further incidents. While Lavrov accused the West of meddling with Ukraine, he’d like to see Zelensky resolve its disputes by engaging in bilateral talks between Russian and Ukraine. Because Russia’s warm water fleet based out of Sevastapol, Crimea, routinely patrols the Black Sean, the Russian navy finds U.S. warships provocative in the area. Turkey wants to help de-escalate tensions in the Black Sea, sending a destroyer to the area. If Zelensky wants peace in Ukraine, he needs to avoid NATO like the plague, since it might trigger a Russian invasion of the Donbass and Donetsk where pro-Russian separatists want no part of Kiev.
