Russia thanked China for its 12-point peace plan but acknowledge Ukraine must accept new realities on the ground, including annexed territories. “We paid a lot of attention to our Chinese friends’ plan,” said Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov. “For now, we don’t see any of the conditions that are needed to bring this whole story towards peace,” Peskov said, referring any movement toward a ceasefire or peace talks. Peskov talks about “new territorial realities,” including Russian occupation of the Black Sea and Avov coast with control of Ukrainian ports. Ukraine has been gearing up for its Spring offensive armed with new U.S. and NATO tanks, primarily German-made Leopard 2 tanks and new ordnance for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems [HIMARS]. Kiev’s 45-year-old President Voldomyr Zelensky has high hopes that the new weapons can beat the Russians.
President Vladirm Putin, 70, announced Sept. 30, 2022 he was annexing Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. Russia has since abandoned its hold on Kherson, yet Putin, in any peace negotiation, would use all the annexed regions as bargaining chips. Zelensky plans to stockpile more U.S. and NATO weapons and make a push to reclaim lost sovereign territory. Judging by the last year of war, Zelensky has an uphill battle trying to recapture territory lost to the Kremlin. Zelensky wants to retake the Crimean Pensinsula, a territory annexed March 1, 2014 during the Obama administration when 80—year-old President Joe Biden served as Vice Pesident. Obama and Biden did nothing to help Ukraine reclaim the Crimean Peninsula. Armed with more advanced weapons, Ukraine forces seek to return the strategic peninsula back to Kiev. Returning heavily armed Crimea won’t be easy.
Zelensky gets unlimited cash-and-weapons from the U.S. to accomplish his goal of driving Russia out of Ukrainian territory. If Biden really believes that Putin has his sights on more European territory, why would he not commit U.S. and NATO troops to expelling Russia from Ukraine? Biden continues to fund the bankrupt Kiev government and arm the conflict but clearly he’s running the Ukraine War through the White House. Putin thinks he’s now battling the U.S. and NATO, calling it an existential threat to the Russian Federation. Biden and Zelensky have told the U.S. Congress and European parliament that Ukraine fights to preserve democracy in Europe. EU countries know they pay NATO, not Ukraine, to protect the Continent from threats to democracy from foreign enemies, like Russia and China. Without committing U.S. or NATO troops to Ukraine, how can a threat to democracy be taken seriously.
Biden said early on in the conflict he would not commit U.S. or NATO troops to defend Ukraine. Biden and Zelensky made every argument that Ukraine embodied the values of the European Union and NATO, seeking to fast-track membership in both institutions. But whenever Zelensky asks for EU or NATO membership, he’s told it’s a process and takes time to accomplish. Biden runs the Ukraine War from the White House yet refuses to commit troops or set up a no-fly-zone, two things that could actually repel Russian troops from Ukraine. Biden fears the political backlash from committing U.S. troops or hoodwinking himself into believing that Europe, beyond Ukraine, faces a threat to democracy. Biden and Zelensky use the democracy excuse to justify a costly, wasteful war with the Kremlin that trashes decades of pragmatic and cooperative relations with Russia.
Once China made its proposal Feb. 23 Zelensky restrained himself from criticizing the plan. Zelensky was quick to condemn any peace plan that didn’t include his 10-point plan that included charging and trying Putin in the Hague’s International Criminal Court, including agreeing to immediate war reparations. “I believe that the fact that China started talking about Ukraine is not bad,” Zelensky said, barely containing his contempt for the plan. Zelensky agreed with Biden who said it was “not rational” to propose any peace plan because they’re biased in favor of Moscow. Biden continues to antagonize China, recently accusing Beijing of sending Moscow munitions to help Russia prosecute the Ukraine War. “I’ve seen nothing in the plan that would indicate that there is something that would be beneficial to anyone other than Russia if the Chinese plan were followed,” said Biden.
Biden and Zelensky want no part of any peace plan other than Kiev’s unrealistic plan demanding that Russia leave all of Ukraine’s sovereign territory. Zelensky has moved the goal posts, now seeking more weapons to expel the Russian Federation from the Crimean Peninsula. Crimea is currently a heavily fortified zone for Moscow housing its Sevastopol Black Sea naval base. If Zelensky plans to battle to for Crimea, he’s in for a major escalation to the Ukraine War. Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland, one of many war hawks, said Feb. 16 that Crimea must be “demilitarized,” meaning she supports Ukraine trying to take it back. Before the Feb. 24, 2022 war started, there was no talk of reclaiming Crimea. But now that Zelensky has unlimited U.S. cash-and-weapons, the sky is the limit for the war-torn, bankrupt Ukraine government to take on the Kremlin.
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.
