LOS ANGELES (OC).–Russian President Vladimir Putin said that his army in Ukraine was “advancing on the entire front line,” showing no signs of acquiescing to 79-year-old Donald Trump. Trump has sent his peace envoy Steve Witkoff four times to meet with Putin to work out terms for a 30-day ceasefire and peace talks. Trump has talked several times with Putin himself, all amicable discussions but not moving the Ukraine War to any kind of conclusion. “All disappointments arise from inflated expectations,” Putin said, a direct reference to Trump expressing “disappointment” with the Russian leader. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky shifted his allegiance away from Trump to the European Union [EU], backing a new set of sanctions to coerce Putin to come to the table. Trump has been reluctant to twist Putin’s arm thinking it would be counterproductive, only delay peace talks.
Trump finds himself caught-between-a-rock-an-a-hard place realizing that Putin sees nothing coming from Zelensky that would work toward an future ceasefire and peace plan. Ever since Zelensky ran to the EU to take a tough negotiating stand with Putin, the peace process deteriorated to the stalemate today. Trump took Putin’s reluctance to agree to a 30-day ceasefire personally, when it was Zelensky’s attempt to get Ukraine a better peace deal. Since letting the EU meddle in the peace process, Trump lost control of ending the war quickly. Had Zelensky cooperated with Trump, the war would be long over. Putin isn’t deliberately stretching out the war, he’s responding to the hard position taken by Zelensky and the EU, rejecting the idea of trading land-for-peace. U.S. fake news and foreign journalists put the onus on Trump when it’s directly related to EU meddling.
Zelensky doesn’t want to end the war letting Putin keep Ukrainian sovereign territory lost during three-and-half-years of war. Putin has no objection to continuing peace talks with Ukraine but wants to make clear he has no intent of walking away without spoils of war, including Kherson, Zaporizhizhia, Donetsk, Luansk and Crimea. Zelensky has been trying to remove Russian troops from Crimea with no success. Putin seized Crimea March 1, 2014 after a CIA-backed pro-Western coup Feb. 22, 2014. If Zelensky or the EU showed any realistic plans to end the Ukraine War, Putin would cooperate with the process. Zelensky and EU terms for ending the war have been unrealistic, incompatible with common sense after over three years of war. No nation at war expects to end a conflict agreeing to give back spoils of war fought on the battlefield at great expense.
Trump is not to blame for why the peace process hasn’t gone according to plan. Zelensky changed tactics midstream essentially rejecting Trump’s peace process that was 90% along in ending the conflict. Once French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer meddled in the peace process, things headed south. Putin is right that Trump takes things too personally when, in reality, Zelensky has no peace plan at all other than continuing the war with EU cash-and-arms. “Our enemies and ill-wishers . . . now have one fiery passion: to stop our advances [on the front line in Ukraine] at any cost,” Putin said, showing how he sees the world. Trump changed that by seeking improved diplomatic relations with Russia but now pushes Putin in the wrong direction. All Putin needs to see are realistic peace plans.
Zelensky talks like he’s ready to meet Putin “any time,” but it’s all gaslighting, knowing he refuses to cede sovereign land to Putin to end the conflict. Zelensky fears that if he admits to the Ukrainian people he’s lost 25% of Ukraine’s best sovereign territory, he’d be chased out of Kiev. Trump needs to rethink his strategy that lets the EU meddle in the peace process. With the carnage and destruction continuing in Ukraine daily, you’d think Zelensky would want it to stop. But his calls to meet with Putin are phony because they meet none of the conditions necessary to ending the conflict. Why should Putin, who’s won the war, agree to Zelensky or the EU’s terms-and-conditions? Putin was 90% to a peace plan with Trump when Zelensky decided to sabotage Trump’s peace plans.
Whatever Trump’s timetable for making a deal in Ukraine, he’s got a real problem with Zelensky and the EU offering any realistic plan to end the conflict. Putin knows Zelensky’s public statements, but, more importantly, knows that Zelensky has attacked deep inside the Russian Federation, showing he wants the war to continue. Yet Zelensky tells the EU that Putin isn’t “serious” about ceasefire and peace plans. “Serious readiness to end the war with dignity and establish a truly lasting peace” has not been shown by Putin. Zelensky insists Putin “just an attempt to buy more time for war and postpone sanctions,” turning the peace process on its head. Putin is ready to realistic peace negotiations, not the ones proposed by Zelensky that insist Putin keeps none of the sovereign territory seized after over three years of war. If Zelensky wanted peace, he’s let Trump negotiate it.
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.
