Giving his New Year’s greeting, 44-year-old Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told his people that he wished for “victory” in 2023, a new cliché while he watched Russian air strikes decimate Ukraine’s electrical grid. So, for Zelensky, and his benefactor 80-year-old President Joe Biden, the taste of “victory” is watching Ukraine bombed into the Stone Age, with Kiev hoping to get bailed out by U.S. Patriot Missiles. Whatever Patriot Missiles do for Ukraine, they won’t stop 70-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin from prosecuting the most wasteful, unnecessary war in modern history. Zelensky decided early on, back in March, that with U.S. cash-and-weapons, he would take on the Russian Federation. Putin offered to end the Feb. 24 invasion if Zelensky recognized the independence of Russian-speaking Peoples Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk and Russian sovereignty over Crimea.
Zelensky and his closest advisers believed, including Ukraine’s 40-year-old Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, that they could defeat the Russian Federation. All they needed was more U.S. and NATO weapons to accomplish their goal. But instead of defeating the Russian Federation, Zelensky has destroyed his own country by continuing to engage the Kremlin in a senseless war. Kuleba said recently he was open to a U.N. peace summit in Ukraine but only after he received Patriot Missiles. Kuleba praised 73-year-old U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for having the integrity to recognize Kiev’s 10-point peace plan. Kiev’s peace plan requires Russia to be prosecuted in the Hague’s International Criminal Court for war crimes. Guterres told Zelensky that he would not participate in any “peace summit” unless Russia was on an equal footing.in a neutral peace setting.
Kuleba calls Russia’s air assault on Ukraine’s infrastructure “senseless barbarism,” finding nothing wrong with continuing the war, boasting daily of killing endless numbers of Russian “occupiers.” Kiev’s 51-year-old Mayor Vitali Kitschko warned residents to stock up on water and blankets because he couldn’t guarantee how long the electricity could last with damage to Kiev’s electrical grid. Other Ukrainian cities face the same hardship of damage to essential infrastructure. Russia’s current war strategy to bring Zelensky to the peace table. Instead of recognizing the war’s hardship on ordinary citizens, Zelensky continues to prosecute his war strategy of killing Russian soldiers and reclaiming lost sovereign territory. Zelensky and Kuleba have said they won’t stop the war until every Russian soldier leaves Ukraine. Before the Feb. 24 invasion, Russia had troops in Donetsk and Luhansk and in Crimea.
Zelensky and Kuleba show no signs of wanting a negotiate peace without Russian leaving every inch of Russian territory. Biden must figure out how long he wants to subsidize the Ukraine War, without telling Kiev that the war must move from the battlefield to the peace table. “There can be no neutrality in the face of such mass war crimes. Pretending to be ‘neutral’ equals taking Russia’s side,” Kuleba tweeted. Ukraine’s military claims it shoots down a high percentage of Russian drones and missiles yet Kiev authorities claim that much of the county’s infrastructure has been destroyed. “Russia is trying to deprive Ukrainians of light before the New Year,” said Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, acknowledging Russian attacks on Ukraine’s power facilities. Lviv’s Mayor Adriy Sadovyi said 90% of his city’s electricity has been damaged by Russian attacks.
In the port city of Odesa, regional Gov. Maksym Marchencko said most of the city has been without power, attesting to how Russia air strikes have disabled key infrastructure. Yet to Zelensky and Kuleba the war must go on until every Russian soldier has been driven from Ukrainian lands. French President Emmanuel Macron, 44, sees the daily destruction of Ukraine and wants the war to end. Kuleba says there’s no “neutrality” in the war, accusing anyone that wants a peace settlement as a Russian sympathizer. Kiev’s officials don’t see how keeping the war going only hurts Ukraine’s chances of an eventually rebuilding, something that would take decades to reverse all the current destruction. Putin has told Kiev that he’s ready to negotiate just not on Ukraine’s terms but on neutral peacemakers. Zelensky and Kuleba still think they’re heading to “victory” in 2023.
Biden must play a key role in deciding to end the conflict with the Russian Federation. As it stands now, he’s given Zelensky a blank check to fight the Kremlin, resulting in the destruction of Ukraine’s fragile infrastructure, leaving most big cities without any power or water. Kuleba says he wants a U.N.-brokered peace summit but won’t concede anything to Russia until Moscow is prosecuted for war crimes, leaves Ukrainian territory and pays Kiev reparations for damage during the 11 months of war. Kuleba has been told by U.N. officials that they can’t broker any peace summit unless both sides are on an equal footing. Zelensky and Kuleba want to use the U.N. to push their 10-point peace plan, requiring Russian prosecution in the Hague. Putin has given Kiev clear conditions for ending the conflict, recognizing the independence of Donetsk and Luhansk and sovereignty over Crimea.
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.
