All the Western press writes about great Ukrainian victories against the Russian Federation, highlight only recently, that British Intelligence thinks Russia has lost over 100,000 soldiers in ten moths of war. One battle after another whether in Kiev, Kharkiv or more recently Kherson, Ukraine’s 44-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky talks for pushing Russia out of Ukraine. But at the same time, Kiev Mayor 51-year-old Vitali Klitschko says Apocalypse Hollywood-Style may be hitting Kiev, with electricity, water and heat in short supply. So when it comes to winning the battles, Zelensky has beaten Russia at the expense of decimating the country, driving some 15 million in exile because of intolerable conditions. Klitschko and Zelensky aired a rare public spat over conditions in Kiev. Ukraine reports that it’s practically wiped out Russia’s elite 200th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade.
Zelensky decided with U.S. cash-and-arms to take on the Russian Federation, hoping to outlast Putin’s army, on speculation that Putin was close to a palace coup or terminal illness because of his failures in Ukraine. But as the war drags on, the practical effect on Ukraine is more destruction to its infrastructure, leaving ordinary Ukrainians in major cities without electricity, water or heat. Zelensky told Putin in March that he won’t stoop fighting until Russia leaves Ukraine, returning evry inch of sovereign territory. As the war grinds on over the last 10 months, the Russian Federation controls some 25% of Ukraine’s sovereign territory. When it comes to making demands, Ukraine has no resources to fund its government or pay for the war without U.S. and NATO. Without U.S. or NATO funding, Zelensky would be forced to enter some kind of peace process with the Russian Federation, compromising on its territory and security arrangements for eventual peace.
Zelensky found out the hard way that his application to fast-track NATO members has been shelved, realizing that NATO has no interests in fighting Kiev’s battles with the Russian Federation. U.S., EU and NATO all give Zelensky lip service about NATO membership but nothing has happened. Before the Feb. 24 invasion, Putin asked 80-year-old President Joe Biden for new security arrangements in Ukraine and Eastern Europe. Putin complained that NATO has over-extended its reach in Ukraine and Eastern Europe. Biden and Zelensky told Putin that whatever the U.S. did in Ukraine was none of the Kremlin’s business. Even his holiness Pope Francis said that NATO encroachment in Ukraine and Eastern Europe pushed Putin to invade. Yet the White House talking points was that the Ukraine War was “unproved and unjustified,” knowing it was neither.
Putin’s Ukraine invasion has morphed into a U.S. proxy war using Ukrainian troops to battle the Russian Federation. Decades of U.S. diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union and Russian Federation have been trashed by Biden, fighting the Ukraine War at the expense of U.S.-Russia relations. Biden doesn’t listen to his Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of State 64-year-old Gen. Mark Miley who said recently that there is only a political solution to the Ukraine War. French President Emmanuel Macron has tried to keep the communication open with Putin, hoping at some point both sides will stark peacemaking. Biden’s recent public statements about sending Kiev Patriot Missile Batteries could not be worse for peace. Kremlin Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said yesterday that the Kremlin would view the U.S. as an enemy combatant if Biden goes ahead with his plans.
Highlight Russian failures in Ukraine doesn’t reverse the undeniable reality that Putin has left Ukraine’s major cities in ruins, with any rebuilding effort costing the U.S. and EU billions to repair the damage. But knowing that the war will end at some point, why delay the move to the ceasefire and peace table, all hoping to gain more leverage. Zelensky mad a horrific strategic miscalculation taking on the Russian Fedreation back in March. Putin would have left Ukraine with a promise of controlling Donetsk, Luhanks and Crimea. Putin was ready to leave until Biden decided to join the fight using Ukrainian troops as proxies. No U.S. president since WW II has gone into a hot war with the Soviet Union or Russian Federation. Biden talks about the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis but things are a lot worse between Washington and Moscow today. Why the U.S. press backs Biden’s war in Ukraine is anyone’s guess.
All of Ukraine’s great victories over Putin have continued to degrade the Ukraine economy, forcing the U.S. and EU to spend billions propping up the bankrupt Ukraine government. At some point, Biden must, like all presidents, get back to the status quo, with U.S.-Russian relations back to solving real world problems. Marcon has kept the diplomacy doors open, often criticized in Kiev because Zelensky has allowed the war to deteriorate into a grudge match with Putin. Ukrainians know that at some point Kiev will have to make peace with the Russian Federation. All the great battlefield victories do nothing for ordinary Ukrainians if they have no electricity, food, heat or water. British intel estimates rarely mention the extent of Ukraine’s losses in the 10-month war. Zelensky needs to control his vendetta with Putin and do what’s right to save what’s left of Ukraine and its people.
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.
