Ukraine’s 44-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky continues to release videos showing his defiance to the Russian invasion, hoping to keep his country’s spirits high while they face Russia’s existential threat. But as much as Zelensky wants to project optimism and strength, he also gives added incentive and motivation to Russian forces determined to topple his three year old regime. Unlike his 56-year-old predecessor Petro Poroshenko, Zelensky has made no effort to propitiate 69-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin, in fact, the exact opposite, portraying Putin as a ruthless dictator. Porshenko knew he’d have more leverage with Moscow if he didn’t insult the Russian leader. President Joe Biden, 79, hasn’t figured out that insulting Putin isn’t the way to develop close U.S.-Russian relations. Biden has driven U.S.-Russian relations worse than Cold War lows.
Putin’s attack on Ukraine is a surrogate attack on the United States. Biden, not Zelensky, antagonized Putin to the point of going after Ukraine, considering it’s a U.S. puppet state on the Russian border. Zelensky didn’t help matter since taking office Mary 20, 2019, begging NATO for membership, a true red flag for Putin. But instead of getting NATO membership, Zelensky convinced Biden to supply Ukraine with offensive and defensive weapons continuing to provoke Putin. When Putin asked Biden for discussions about new security guarantees for Ukraine and Eastern Europe, Biden told him his concerns were “not starters.” Putin told Biden Dec. 21, 2021 after repeated White House rejections for security talks, he would be forced to take “military-technical measures” to protect Russia’s national security. When he announced Feb. 23 that he was recognizing Donetsk and Luhank, the war started.
Zelesnsky donesn’t help his cause by engaging in a public dialogue about Ukraine’s needs for more lethal weapons from the U.S. Today’s announcement that Biden will send Ukraine $350 million more in lethal weapons only redoubles Putin’s efforts to disarm Ukraine. “Good morning, everybody. Do not believe the fake news. I am here. We will not lay down our weapons. We will defend our country. Our weapons are our strength,” Zelensky told the public. “This is our land. Our country. Our children. We will protect all of them,” Zelensky said on the airwaves. But instead of preaching defiance, Zelensky would be far better off asking Putin for dialogue, a return the peace table. But as long as Zelensky asks the U.S. and NATO for more weapons, Putin won’t consider halting his offensive, now pushing forward into Kiev. Zelensky rejected a U.S. offer for evacuation.
Zelensky told Biden he didn’t need a ride, he needed more ammunition, meaning he wants the U.S. and NATO to commit troops to push Russia back. Biden has said he won’t send troop to Ukraine because he doesn’t want to start WW III. But if Biden is sincere that he thinks Putin has his eyes on conquering other former Soviet satellites, now NATO countries, then why isn’t he committing troops to Ukraine? Secretary of State Antony Blinken, 59, said he believes Ukraine is just the first among many countries Putin plans to conquer to add to a new Soveit-style empire. Zelensky accused the White House and NATO of appeasement, hoping to get military help for Ukraine. Biden clearly let Ukraine spiral out of control, especially after Putin decided to invade. Biden pushed Putin to the brink of war by rejecting his pleas for security guarantees, but, more importantly, blatantly arming Ukraine.
Zelensky has been too much of a cheerleader, looking for the international community to step in to save Ukraine. Judging by how Wall Street snapped back with a furious 800-point rally Feb. 25, investors aren’t believing Biden and Blinken’s assessment that Putin has his eyes on seizing former Soviet satellites, now part of NATO. So the U.S. role in Ukraine is entirely ambiguous, on the one hand, calling Putin and existential threat, on the other looking at his Ukraine mission as a one-off opportunity. Zelensky told the press yesterday that he was Putin’s “No. 1 target,” not sure if he’d be around to tell the story. Putin has been ranting about Ukraine “junta,” filled with deplorables, calling them a “gang of drug addicts and neo-Nazis,” prompting the press to question his sanity. Putn asked that the Ukrainian people reject Zelensky and overthrow the Kiev regime.
Putin hasn’t gotten over the Feb. 22, 2014 CIA-backed coup that toppled the duly elected Kremilin-backed government of Viktor Yanukovych. “It seems that it will be easier for us to come to an agreement that with this gang of drug addicts and neo-Nazis who occupied Kiev and took the entire Ukrainian people hostage,” Putin told his Security Council. Whatever the rhetoric, it doesn’t help Zelensky’s cause battling now to save his own life to antagonize the Kremlin with more anti-Putin rhetoric. If Putin’s going to call off the invasion, he needs to know that the Ukrainian government will no longer present a threat to Russian national security. Today’s Pentagon announcement of $350 million in military aid only keeps Russian forces in Ukraine seeking regime change. U.S. and Ukrainian officials need to appeal to Putin’s more rational side that an acceptable security arrangement can be reached. All of Zelensky’s talk about holding his ground and beating back Russian forces only makes things worse.
