LOS ANGELES.–Talking to ABC’s Martha Raddatz Sunday, Ukraine’s 47-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky didn’t hesitate of criticize 79-year-old President Donald Trump for his summit with 72-year-old President Vladimir, saying he played into Putin’s hands. “It’s a pity that Ukraine was not there, because I think President Trump gave Putin what he wanted,” Zelensky said, not knowing what was discussed in the meetings. Raddatz was more the willing to pander to Zelensky to find any way to slam Trump. Zelensky knows that if he were present in the meeting nothing would have gotten done between Trump and Putin. Zelensky feels left out because Ukraine is a minor player on the world stage, not at the same stature as Trump and Putin. Zelensky is too egotistical to realize that Ukraine, in the scheme of things, is insignificant on the world stage, not worthy of much attention.
Putin’s meeting with Trump was historically significant the first time he visited the U.S. since 2007, aside from occasional meetings at the United Nations. Putin is under threat of arrest by Interpol because of his convictions for war crimes in The Hague’s International Criminal Court. Zelensky tells Raddatz that if he were in the meeting with Trump he would have set the record straight. Very few young world leaders have the kind of arrogance and temerity as Zelensky, throwing around whatever disinformation and propaganda needed to advance his agenda. He’s been gaslighting the U.S. since Day One of the Ukraine War, Feb. 24, 2022, saying would vanquish the Russian military. Zelensky former military chief Kyrylo Budanov said Putin suffered from a terminal illness and the Russian military was near collapse. Well, how did that work out?
Zelensky was with the right journalist who despises Trump, looking for anything to discredit his foreign policy. Raddatz was all onboard with former President Joe Biden proxy war with the Kremlin. Forget about ending decades of diplomacy, détente, arms control and global cooperation with Russia. Ukraine, not U.S. foreign policy or national security, because Biden’s obsession, leaving the U.S. out on a limb. President Trump should not make the same mistake, thinking that Putin needs more sanctions to coerce him into the peace table. Trump knows that won’t work with Putin, but, more importantly, he’s worked hard on restoring normal diplomatic relations. All Trump needs to do is listen to Zelensky denounce him to Raddatz to know where he stands. Trump’s isn’t as frustrated as he appears with Putin, knowing Zelensky has stabbed him in the back.
Why the fake news backed Biden’s proxy war policy with the Kremlin is anyone’s guess. There’s still many war hawks in Congress, including Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), would give Zelensky a blank check to wage war with the Kremlin. Trump is the only U.S. politician that sees value in normal diplomatic relations with Russia. He sees how diplomacy, détente, arms control and global cooperation was lost under Biden. “There were many, many points that we agreed on, most of them, I would say, a couple of big ones, that we haven’t quite gotten there, but we made some headway. So, there’s no deal until there’s a deal,” Trump said at a press conference after the summit. But if you ask Raddatz and other fake news anchors they’d say the summit was a complete failure. Zelensky is in not position to criticize Trump who’s worked feverishly for a peace deal.
Zelensky met with his EU benefactors in Paris last Thursday, working out the contours of a possible post-war security arrangement. But doesn’t is sound odd that the EU is fixated on post-war security when they have no plan for ending the war? If you listen to Zelensky, he acts like he’s calling the shots when, in fact, his country faces nightly aerial bombardment, only recently hitting Ukraine’s parliament. Zelensky or the EU have no plan for ending the war yet they spend their time discussing post-war security. Trump and Putin decided Aug. 15 at the Anchorage summit that they should work on a permanent peace plan rather than a ceasefire. Zeensky has yet to commit a high-order delegation to meet with their Russian counterparts to work out the terms-and-conditions of any long-term settlement. Zelensky refuses to accept that he must make compromises.
Trump needs to stay clear of the anti-Putin trap, the way Democrats and the fake news blame Putin for everything. When it comes to the Ukraine War, he’s still at war with Ukraine, with no peace settlement in sight. Zelensky and the EU refuse to designate the appropriate Ukrainian delegation to begin the hard work of negotiating a permanent settlement with the Russia Federation. Putin told Zelensky that that there’s no point to meeting face-to-face until an agreement is reached by the peace negotiators. EU officials, like French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer want a ceasefire agreement but that’s been ruled out by Putin and Trump. So far, the EU and Zelensky seem content to talk about post-war security when there’s no peace agreement in place. Time is long overdue to work on 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.
