LOS ANGELES (OC).–Striking Ukraine’s parliament in the most fierce barrage to hit Kiev since the start of the Feb. 24, 2022 war, 72-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a loud message to Ukraine’s 47-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky. Putin said in Vladivostok at an economic forum that if Ukraine won’t negotiate, they he would have no choice but to finish the war militarily. Zelensky has used the European Union to avoid letting President Donald Trump finishing the peace negotiations, all because Zelensky doesn’t want to cede land to Putin. EU officials like French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer agree with Zelensky that he should make no concessions on swapping land. So, Putin sends a loud message to Zelensky and the EU that he can keep the war going indefinitely if needed.
Putin would like to work with Trump to settle the conflict but Zelensky and the EU have set impossible conditions for ending the war. Trump had his personal envoy Steve Witkoff meet with Putin five time over the last few months to understand exactly what it would take to make a a peace deal. Zelensky and the EU have deliberately undermined Trump’s efforts, all because to end the war Zelensky would have to trade land-for-peace, something he refuses to do. So, where the war stands now is Putin upping the ante, hitting he Ukrainian parliament, prompting condemnations by Zelensky and other government officials. “Such killings now, when diplomacy could have already begun long ago, are a deliberate crime and a prolongation of the war,” Zelensky said. Zelensky knows he and the EU have refused to enter into meaningful peace talks with the Russian Federation.
Putin told Zelensky and the EU that he’s happy to meet with Zelensky directly when the Russian and Ukrainian peace delegations work out the terms-and-conditions for a permanent peace settlement. Before that happens, Putin sees nothing positive coming from any meeting with Zelensky. EU officials back Zelensky call on a new round of sanctions to pressure Putin into meeting face-to-face with Zelensky. Putin actually called Zelensky’s bluff, inviting him to Moscow to meet face-to-face. Zelensky promptly rejected the idea, claiming he can’t leave Ukraine because of the war. Zelensky has traveled all around the world drumming up support for his war with the Kremlin. EU officials worked last week on a post-war security arrangement but have no consensus for ending the war. EU officials call Putin a war criminal and predator, how’s that supposed to work?
Watching the attack send the Ukrainian parliament in flames, shows that Putin is ready to take the war to new level. Macron condemned the attack saying Russia “is looking itself even deeper into the logic of war and terror,” Macron wrote on X. Starmer and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen condemned the air strikes. “Once again, the Kremlin is mocking diplomacy, Von der Leyen wrote on X. But Zelensky and EU officials can’t have it both ways, expecting diplomacy when refusing to negotiate in good faith. Putin’s message to Zelensky is simple: If you want peace than show it in peace negotiations. Zelensky and EU officials want to peace only on their terms, showing no interest in negotiating to end the war. If Zelensky and the EU let Trump negotiate a peace deal, Kiev would not face unrelenting air strikes now hitting Kiev’s most sacred buildings.
Zelensky and EU oficials can’t decide what to do when it comes to a peace deal. Spending time on post-war security when there’s no peace deal on the table makes no sense. Zelensky can have all the post-war security he wants but that’s not going to stop the bloodshed and destruction. Trump asked Zelensky to cut his losses, end the war and start the long, costly process of rebuilding the country. Starmer said he “cowardly strikes show that President Vladimir Putin “is not serious about peace,” Starmer said in a statement. But Starmer and his EU colleagues must ask what steps have they taken to end the war? Trump had a peace plan that was within 90% of working, nothing accomplished in the EU. Putin wants Zelensky to take peace talks with Ukrainian and Russian officials seriously. Putin has seen no evidence that Zelensky wants peace.
Zelensky wants the EU to get involved directly in the war, something not discussed openly in the fake news. “The world cannot stand aside while a terrorist state takes lives—human or animal—every single day,” said Ukraine’s Foreign Minister. Zelensky won’t admit publicly that he wants EU or NATO troops to come rescue Ukraine. But no one in NATO or the EU want any part of war with Russia. Zelensky opted for war Feb. 24, 2022, now must find a way out of the conflict. EU officials have tried to give Zelensky reassurances about post-war security. But it’s clearly up to Zelensky to figure out how to end the conflict. No one from Brussels said the Zelensky has a blank check to keep the war going indefinitely. Yet Zelensky and the EU show no signs of accepting Trump’s peace deal, expecting Zelensky to trade land-for-peace to end the war.
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.
