Kremlin officials said that 69-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold a signing ceremony 3: 00 PM Moscow time officially annexing Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, making up 15% of Ukrainian territory. Whether the U.S. or the international community recognizes the annexation of Ukrainian territory, the fact remains that Ukraine no longer controls the territory, despite the ongoing war to reclaim lands lost under 44-year-old Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the Kremlin. Putin’s signing ceremony was preceded by a vote in those regions to join the Russian Federation. U.S., EU and NATO call the vote a sham, refusing to recognize Russian sovereignty over the Ukrainian territory. Putin’s decision to make an official event slaps Washington and Kiev in the face, who’ve claimed for some time to be prevailing in their war against the Russian Federation.
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the ceremony would be “on agreements on the accession of new territories into the Russian Federation.” Nothing could infuriate Kiev more that Russia formally declaring sovereignty over Ukrainian territory. Zelensky decided early on from the Feb. 24 war to not take any of Putin’s offers to end the conflict with a simple recognition of the independence of Donetsk, Luhansk and Crimea. Zelensky could have ended the war back then but received unlimited cash-and-arms from the U.S. to fight a proxy war with the Russian Federation. Before the Feb. 24 war, Zelensky and his predecessor Petro Poroshenko battled the Peoples Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk, claiming they lost over 14,000 citizens. Zelensky knew before the war started that Kiev didn’t not control the breakaway regions. Yet Zelensky, with U.S. cash-and-arms, decided to battle the Russian Federation.
Seven months of war later, Putin annexes Russian-speaking areas of Ukraine, like he did in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, Georgia in 2008. Whether Putin holds onto the territory is anyone’s guess. But he managed to hold on to South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Crimea for years. So, from a PR standpoint, it couldn’t be worse for the Biden and Zelensky, who’ve said for months Putin’s military ran out of personnel and equipment and was nearing collapse. All the Western press stories about Putin’s “terminal illness” and the Russian army collapsing are all fake news. Now Putin gets to show the world that he’s deeply imbedded into Ukraine territory, contrary to Western press reports. If Biden wants to help Ukraine reclaim lost territory, he needs to send U.S. troops, just like he promised Taiwan Sept. 18. Supplying arms only has not stopped Putin from seizing Kiev’s territory.
When Biden said he would commit troops to Taiwan, Zelensky bit his tongue, knowing that Ukraine, as a part of Europe, should be just as important to the U.S. and Traiwan. Biden said he refused to commit U.S. or NATO troops to Ukraine because he feared starting WW III on the European Continent. But supplying unlimited cash-and-arms to Ukraine has not been enough to stop Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s sovereign territory. Biden thinks more cash-and-arms to Ukraine will eventually break the Russian military, something so preposterous, so misguided, so off-the-wall that it’s gotten Ukraine into its current mess. It’s one thing for Zelensky, with U.S. backing, to have the bravado to take on the Russia Federation, but reality is a different story. Annexing Donetsk, Luhnask, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia tells a very different story about Kiev losing sovereign territory to Russia.
Zelensky rejected peace talks because he knew after killing thousand of Russian troops, Putin would not be in the most generous mood to return sovereign territory to Ukraine. Zelensky gambled early on in the war believing he could vanquish with U.S. arms-and-cash the Russian military. Whatever the Western press reports, they’ve all turned out fake news, knowing that Putin controls Ukraine’s entire Black Sea coast and all its strategic ports. So whatever the eventual peace negotiations, Ukraine must settle for the fact that it’s not getting back all its territory. Zelensky gambled taking on the Russian Federation and lost 25% of Ukraine’s sovereign territory. It’s unrealistic—and arrogant—to think the U.S. should underwrite the Ukraine government and pay for the war indefinitely. Damage done to the U.S. and EU economy has been catastrophic and cannot continue much longer.
Zelensky’s lost so much sovereign territory that it would take years, if ever, to reclaim all the land lost to Putin. Zelensky gambled with Ukraine and lost, foolishly thinking with U.S. arms-and-cash he could vanquish the Russian military, even drive Putin from power. So, when it comes to negotiating at the peace table, Biden and Zelensky have lost more sovereign territory to Putin. Annexing territory is Putin’s way of letting Biden and Zelensky know if they want to move the conflict to the peace table, there’s going to have to be compromises. Zelensky, with U.S. taxpayer cash, would continue fighting indefinitely, no matter how many Ukrainians die in the fight or how much infrastructure is destroyed. But as some point Biden and the EU will have to have the hard talk with Zelensky saying that U.S. can’t give Ukraine a blank check to see how much more territory he can loses.
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.
