Ukraine’s 40-year-old Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba ruled out peace talks with Russia unless Russia agrees to remove itself from every inch of Ukrainian territory. Kuleba’s declaration bodes poorly for any peaceful settlement to the Ukraine War, dooming Ukrainian citizens to endless war, but, more importantly, has the U.S. government on the hook funding the bankrupt Ukraine government and proxy war with the Russian Federation. How Kuleba can make such unilateral proclamations is anyone’s guess? What’s known for sure is that that Ukraine wants every inch of its territory returned, now that Russia has spilt its blood-and-treasure in a campaign started Feb. 24 to defend Moscow’s national security. Kuleba and his boss, 45-year-old Urainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, knows that Russia or separatist forces controlled Donetsk and Luhank before the war, including Crimea.
Dmytro’s message assumes that the U.S. is going to bankroll he losing war with the Russian Federation indefinitely. Now in its fifth month, Zelensky and Kuleba have lost more that 25% of Ukraine’s sovereign territory, excluding the Crimean Peninsula. Without the U.S. funding the Kiev government and the war, Kuleba knows the losses of sovereign territory would be much greater. As it stands today, Kuleba wants the Russian Federation after five months of war to give up the entire Black Sea coast, including all of Ukraine’s seaports. Kuleba knows the sacrifices made by Russia because he’s the first to itemize Russian personnel and equipment losses since the war began. Kuleba called 69-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin a failure because he didn’t seize Kiev in the first few days for the war. But since Putin pivoted to Donbas, he’s captured enormous amounts of Ukraine sovereign territory.
Kuleba thinks U.S. taxpayers and the European Union are going to allow the Ukraine War to force both economic blocs into recessions. Where does Kuleba think that he’s calling the shots when his country is bankrupt without U.S. funding? “The objective of Ukraine in this war . . . is to liberate our territories, restore our territorial integrity, and full sovereignty in the east and south of Ukraine,” Kuleba said, knowing that he went from Russia controlling 7% of Ukraine territory to over 25%. How’s Kiev supposed to get back all the territory it’s lost in the war, without U.S. financial backing? Kuleba’s in no position to dictate any terms, now that he and Zelensky have lost so much of Ukraine’s sovereign territory. “This is the end point of our negotiation position,” Kuleba said. As it stands now, Biden is willing to give Ukraine a blank check to fund a losing proposition.
Zelensky and Kuleba can’t possibly think, with the U.S. funding over $54 billion, it’s a blank check to bankrupt the U.S. Treasury. U.S. elected officials can’t hear about “what ifs,” related to the Ukraine War. It’s a matter of time before elected officials on both sides of the aisle get fed up with a useless war that cannot be won by the U.S. or Ukraine. How arrogant of Biden to think he could use Ukraine in a proxy war against the Russian Federation, fantasizing that he could vanquish the Russian army or topple Putin’s regime. Biden went over the deep end deciding that to win Ukraine concessions at the bargaining table, he would have to vanquish the Russian army. How practical is that? Biden and Zelensky have lost so much strategic Ukrainian territory, they both are in a weakened bargaining position. Kuleba knows the war can’t go on indefinitely, especially when it’s funded by U.S. taxpayers.
Kuleba thinks he’s calling the shots in Ukraine when he’s losing his shirt, making a bad situation worse for the Ukrainian people. No one in Ukraine, other than the unrealistic ones in Kiev, thinks this war can go on indefinitely. Zelensky and Kuleba have lost so much sovereign land, it would take years, if ever, for Kiev to recover the lost territory. Had Zelensky and Kuleba accepted Putin’s offer in the first few weeks of the war, they would be back controlling the same territory they had before the war. Zelensky and Kuleba had no control over Donetsk or Luhansk, certainly not the Crimean Peninsula. “Currently there are no [peace] talks between Russia and Ukraine because of Russia’s position and its continued aggression against our country,” Kuleba said, not admitting that he and Zelensky made an awful blunder deciding to take on the Russian Federation.
Zelensky and Kuleba have put Ukraine behind the Eight Ball, losing more than 25% of Ukraine’s sovereign territory. Had they agreed to Putin’s original terms, things would be business as usual in Ukraine, with Kiev not controlling Donetsk, Luhansk and Crimea. If Biden were of sound mind, he would encourage in the strongest possible terms Zelensky and Kuleba to go to the peace table, even if it meant making concessions to Putin. Russia has been steadily getting its way in Ukraine, taking more sovereign territory, especially in the strategic Black Sea coast. Zelensky and Kuleba know that they won’t get back Donetsk, Luhansk or the Crimean Peninsula, so what’s the reluctance to go to the peace table? Kiev can’t expect the world to suffer with hyperinflation because of the Ukraine War. EU, NATO and U.S. lawmakers must tell Zelensky and Kuleba the war must end soon.
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.
