LOS ANGELES (OC).–Getting down to brass tacks, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russian President Vladimir Putin was ready for a peace settlement to end the Ukraine war but needed to achieve certain goals, including dealing with root causes of the conflict. Former President Joe Biden insisted that Russian Feb. 24, 2022 Ukraine invasion was a naked, imperial land grab, not a reaction to anything the U.S. or NATO did to encroach on the Russian Federation. Biden insisted that the war was “unprovoked and unjustified,” well that’s according to Biden. Putin asked Biden for months before the invasion to discuss new security arrangements for Ukraine yet Biden ignored Putin’s requests, continuing to arm Ukraine with offensive weapons. Putin told Biden that if he didn’t discuss new security arrangements, he would implement a “special military operation” to demilitarize and de-Nazify Ukraine.
So, when it comes to provocation for the war, the U.S. and Ukraine saw no provocation but the Kremlin did and that’s what mattered. Now that President Donald Trump has put pressure on 47-year-old Ukraine’s President Vololdymyr Zelensky and Putin to end the conflict in the next 50 days, Zelensky asked Russia for another round of Istanbul peace talks. Two previous sessions amounted to very little other than an agreement to exchange prisoners or dead soldiers. Peskov said that Trump was “harsh” recently about Russia’s role in not following up with a ceasefire and peace talks, largely because Zelensky shows no interest in compromising. When Zelensky asked for Putin’s “memorandum” or conditions for peace, Zelensky called them “blackmail,” referring to Putin’s demands for Ukraine to cede Kherson, Zaporizhizhia, Donetsk, Luhansk and Crimea.
Zelensky ran to the European Union {EU] thinking that Trump was taking Putin’s side in peace negotiations, convincing French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer to take over peace talks. Since going to the EU for help, Zelensky has refused to cede any territory to Putin but knows that any realistic negotiation for a ceasefire and settlement would involve land. “President Putin has repeatedly spoke about his desire to bring the Ukrainian settlement to a peaceful conclusion as soon as possible. This is a long process, it requires effort, and it is not easy,” Peskov told state reporters Pavel Zarubin. Putin’s key demands involve Ukraine remaining neutral, not seeking to join NATO, and that it stop receiving copious arms from the U.S. and NATO. Zelensky has been asking for more arms from the U.S. and NATO.
Putin sees no evidence that Zelensky is willing to get serious about negotiating an end to the over three-year conflict because he rejects Putin’s conditions for peace. Trump advised Zelensky Feb. 28 in the Oval Office to cut his losses, end the war and trade land for peace. Zelensky threw a fit and stormed out of the Oval Office, concluding that Trump is no ally of Ukraine. Zelensky wants to hear only what he wants to hear from the EU, that he doesn’t have to trade land-for-peace to end the war. Well, with Putin seizing more land by the day, Zelensky hasn’t faced the reality of losing more sovereign territory. Putin wants to end the conflict but not on Zelensky or the EU’s terms, demanding that he pull all his troops out of Ukraine. Zelensky has been hitting deep inside Russia with drones. He asked Merz to supply Ukraine with Taurus long-range missiles.
Peskov responded to Trump’s “harsh” tone toward Putin when he knows that Zelensky hasn’t shown much interest in ending the war. Listening to Peskov, it’s clear that Putin wants to get something done in the 50-day window giving by Trump to end the conflict. Trump needs the backing of the EU to say to Zelensky that he needs to follow up on what Trump is trying to accomplish. So far, Zelensky and the EU have worked at cross-purposes to Trump’s many peace efforts, sending his personal envoy Steve Witkoff to meet with Putin to determine what it would take to end the conflict. Unless the EU is ready to fund proxy war with the Kremlin indefinitely, they need to let Zelensky know that it’s best to let Trump work out a peace deal with Putin. Zelensky thought going to the EU would drive a harder bargain but it’s already backfired with Putin escalating the war.
When Putin talks about achieving his goals, it would go a long way for Zelensky to say publicly that he’s not seeking NATO or EU membership. Merz said yesterday that Ukraine was not eligible for EU membership for many years. But some statement from Zelensky that reassures Moscow would help the peace process. Zelensky thinks that the EU was going to get him a better deal in a peace settlement that Trump but he found out otherwise. Putin has been hammering Ukraine for weeks, letting Zelensky know that there’s more to settlement than making unrealistic demands. “The main thing for us is to achieve our goals. Our goals are clear,” Peskov said. Putin wants to end the conflict but not on Zelensky’s terms. He must, as Trump says, trade land-for-peace.
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.
