Trump Calls Zelensky a Dictator, Blames Ukraine for War With Russia
Idea: Abandon both and let Europe deal with it.
*rubs temples furiously*
President Donald Trump unleashed his anger toward Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Truth Social, calling him a dictator and blaming Ukraine for the war with Russia.
However, I believe he peppered the post with some truth:
Think of it, a modestly successful comedian, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, talked the United States of America into spending $350 Billion Dollars, to go into a War that couldn’t be won, that never had to start, but a War that he, without the U.S. and “TRUMP,” will never be able to settle. The United States has spent $200 Billion Dollars more than Europe, and Europe’s money is guaranteed, while the United States will get nothing back. Why didn’t Sleepy Joe Biden demand Equalization, in that this War is far more important to Europe than it is to us — We have a big, beautiful Ocean as separation. On top of this, Zelenskyy admits that half of the money we sent him is “MISSING.” He refuses to have Elections, is very low in Ukrainian Polls, and the only thing he was good at was playing Biden “like a fiddle.” A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left. In the meantime, we are successfully negotiating an end to the War with Russia, something all admit only “TRUMP,” and the Trump Administration, can do. Biden never tried, Europe has failed to bring Peace, and Zelenskyy probably wants to keep the “gravy train” going. I love Ukraine, but Zelenskyy has done a terrible job, his Country is shattered, and MILLIONS have unnecessarily died – And so it continues…..
Six points:
- Russia started the war in 2014.
- The Ukrainians elected Zelensky.
- Vladimir is the dictator.
- Ukraine has to be at the table.
- Former President Joe Biden’s administration privately admitted that the war could not end without Ukraine giving up some of its territory.
- Something tells me Zelensky isn’t responsible for the missing money from the Biden admin.
However, Zelensky’s pushback against Trump makes me wonder if the guy doesn’t want peace. I don’t like how Trump is going about it, but then again, I don’t think we should be involved.
Does Zelensky want peace? Or is it all about the money? Oddly, the country hasn’t had elections. Zelensky’s term ended a year ago But Putin is absolutely the dictator in this situation.
Zelensky canceled a trip to Saudi Arabia. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, and Special Envoy Ambassador Steve Witkoff spoke with their Russian counterparts.
Zelensky and Ukraine should have been at those talks. Or is the plan for the U.S. to play the middleman?
Even Trump’s devoted supporters admit the president’s rhetoric is a bit too far.
Sen. Josh Hawley Comments on Trump Calling Zelenskyy a 'Dictator'
"I wouldn't go that far, but they didn't have elections…. We had elections during the second World War. Britain had elections. They should have an election. But Putin is the dictator." pic.twitter.com/DRCj70SuZE
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) February 19, 2025
But I know Trump is ticked off. I would be, too.
Europe needs to do more. America cannot afford to play World Police. Would Russia’s expansion affect the U.S.? Of course! It’d hurt Europe even more.
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Trump is “pacing” Putin. Start with seeming to agree and he’ll be more inclined to agree with you later on stuff he’s not now inclined to agree to.
Negotiation 101.
From the Book of Dilbert – Chapter 6 [1:01]
You think Negotiation 101 is to capitulate to Putins position about the justification for the entire war?
Trump doesn’t have to get Zelensky to agree with him, he has to get Putin to agree with him.
Zelensky overestimates his value going forward—which is little to none—and Trump didn’t run on the platform of Make Ukraine Great Again.
Which leads to unending guerrilla warfare.
Force Zelensky to hold presidential elections; essentially a referendum on continuing the war.
Zelensky will lose (keep Cindy McCain away from the ballot boxes.)
The Ukrainian constitution would have to be changed to hold elections during a war.
Yes, you are correct. The Ukraine constitution calls for martial law and suspension of elections during the time of war, which on the surface seems odd.
I only agree with one of your six points. Zelensky should be put on trial and dealt with as were his predecessor Nazi leaders.
Zelensky is Jewish, are you really that gullible that you just lap up Russian Propaganda lol
Zelensky has fleeced American taxpayers for over $200 billion and says he doesn’t know where most of those funds went. He doesn’t want to agree to a peace agreement decided upon by the US and Russia. He canceled his invitation to attend a meeting following the meeting with Russia because he reportedly wanted to go first or some excuse to that effect.
Fine. America pulls out and stops all payments. Zelensky is free to prosecute his war on his own. Good luck with that.
Zelensky is in charge and is the one who is constantly over here begging for cash so he should know where the money went. As for not being a dictator, didn’t he cancel elections to remain in power? Trump is right on this one. Europe wants to throw a tantrum because Trump and his administration is over there trying to get something done when they can’t so let them pay for it and their own defense for that matter.
Putin “won” reelection in March 2024….
A pox on both their houses.
Time to cut Europe loose before they drag us AGAIN into a war we don’t want at a place and time not of our choosing, and at a price no one can afford. They’ve had 80 years to grow up and cut their dependence on us. They’ve failed. Time to force the issue.
Europe has a far bigger problem than Putin, their Muslims.
and if Putin wins Europe… those Muslims will be dealt with, Putin style.
The leftist media doesn’t want this war to end and definitely doesn’t want Trump to be the reason that war comes to an end.
The new talking point is an “enduring peace” but that is laughable as the same media NEVER called for an enduring peace in Hamas’s war against Jews because there is no enduring peace with Hamas or Hesbullah.
Look, if Europe is so against peace then let them fund the war on their own.
The only way to get an enduring peace for Israel is to reduce Iran’s living conditions to those of Muhammad, and waste all the terrorists and those who support them. Those people are not salvageable.
Waiting for Left to equate Trump-Putin with Hitler-Stalin over Poland or giving up the Sudetenland to Hitler. Wars are never over until one side totally occupies/vanquishes the other. Armistice and cease fire are a “two state solution” to a one state requirement.
Korea has been at a cease fire for a while now ….
As the sun comes up in the morning the left will get there eventually
Your assertion about the end of warfare is false. Other than literal extermination of one party by the other, they end when the parties political leaders have had enough. If our objective is to end the war, then we want the leaders of both countries to be uncomfortable enough that what can be gained through further warfare is not worth the cost associated with continuing.
Yes, that certainly means Russia will end up “ahead” in some respects. Ukraine has less than a third of Russia’s population, similar age demographics (i.e., they aren’t likely to have a sudden advantage in influx of soldiers as the young people mature), is less able to produce arms, and is “in range” for Russian long-range strikes in a much more profound way than Russia is threatened by Ukrainian systems. Europe no longer has sufficient forces for a significant expeditionary presence in support of Ukraine and we have bigger fish to fry (getting our house in order, preventing China from seizing the world’s overwhelming source of advanced computer chips) and aren’t likely to decide that having our military personnel killed to defend Ukraine–with which we do not have a treaty obligating us to defend them–and risking nuclear war with Russia is not worth what we would gain from a shattered, but presumably grateful, Ukraine.
For Ukraine to continue fighting Russia when the chance of winning the war is pretty much zero will result in only two or three things:
1. More people dying
2. More money in Zelensky’s off-shore account.
3. _______________________________________
3. Europe continuing to let the US pay for the majority of their defense with a bellicose Russia the reason.
Yes, it really should be viewed as primarily Europe’s problem. Also, I think Ukraine in NATO is a bad idea, and should be one of the “concessions” thrown in to sweeten the deal for Putin.
NATO obviously doesn’t want Ukraine because it would have brought it in a long time ago. Same with the European Union.
You think Russia invaded Ukraine because NATO and the EU don’t want Ukraine?
Russia invaded because weak men created the conditions for that to happen.
and Joe helped rise the price of oil which gave Putin the money for his war
Ukraine is one of the traditional invasion routes to Russia. But Russia doesn’t really believe the countries of Western Europe are going to invade. This is much more about Russia’s self-perception as a Great Power whose beliefs and expectations must be dealt with respectfully by other Great Powers (despite the fact that Russia is a declining state in both population and relative economic might) and which should be accorded wide latitude in its zone of influence. In fact, just as Serbia’s national myth is that it was born of the fields of Kosovo (hence the fierceness of the fighting there in the late 1990s), Russia’s origin tale starts in Ukraine with the Kievan Rus. A close relationship with Ukraine (with Russia, of course, dominant) is a critical part of Russia’s sense of identity and they will not forsake their attempted conquest easily.
Trump and Putin should partition Ukraine right down the Dnipro River, as USA and Russia did to Germany. West of the river goes to Russia, east of the river remains Ukraine. No NATO for Ukraine but protected by the new “European Army”. And send Musk to recover all the money usurped by the corrupt Ukrainians.
“Zelensky should have been at the table.”
Lt. Col. Daniel explains (briefly) why Trump et al. were well advised to keep Zelensky out:
https://youtube.com/shorts/2-jW7mDSCjQ?si=cuT54nI8UMH4Lje5
Where does Trump get the idea that Ukraine ever started anything. Russia did in 2014, as noted. Arguably, Biden did more recently, with his “minor incursion” remark, which most paying attention at the time interpreted as a “be my guest” (to invade) comment.
You think Euromaidan was organic?
Well sure if we use 2014 as year zero and ignore everything that occurred before then… which is exactly how the globalist and leftist coalition is peddling their narrative.
No white hats in this conflict. Not Putin not Zelensky. Not Ukraine not Russia. Not NATO, not the EU, not Great Britain not the USA. No white hats, lots of dark grey edging towards black hats.
The sooner this conflict between two Eastern European tyrants is ended the better off the people of their Nations will be.
Ukraine insisting it be a part of NATO is the equivalent of a little man getting in the face of giant bouncer and threatening to hit him
Ukraine played with fire, and now they are being burned.
You must have missed all the shenanigans in Ukraine with the “color” revolution, in which Nuland and her friends were involved up to their ears.
Europe is acting like the Dems by whining and crying about Trump doing exactly what he ran on. Zelensky is a dictator because he stopped all media opposition and political opponents. He knew from day one he could not win and so did the world and Biden, yet he proceeded to wage a war of attrition that he knew he would lose. Then when he was running out of his own people to sacrifice, he asked for US troops. He even asked for nukes! He is not a fit leader to run his country and certainly not lead a war. However, the biggest mistake he made was attacking Trump.
Remember when they were threating Musk, demanding ongoing free Starlink?
Just a stray thought: Trump uses words as jiu jitsu.
He often makes ridiculous statements to get things moving.
The attempt at conquest has been on Russia’s plate for centuries. Ukraine has the same relationship to Russia as Jews have to Nazi Germany.
That said, Europe and Biden goaded Russia and took no steps to prevent the invasion. They enabled it.
Ukraine cannot win this war. NATO could win it, but isn’t going to. Everyone has to accept the reality on the ground. The final deal will require all parties to eat the sandwich.
The left doesn’t want to accept that reality because that will mean Trump is right. The left would rather Ukrainians keep dying than admit Trump was right.
Heck, they’d rather Americans die than admit Trump was right. In fact, they prefer Americans die.
Russia started the war in 2014. – Debatable
The Ukrainians elected Zelensky. – His term expired in 2024 and he cancelled elections.
Vladimir is the dictator. – Irrelevant
Ukraine has to be at the table. – Wrong.
Former President Joe Biden’s administration privately admitted that the war could not end without Ukraine giving up some of its territory. – Obviously true
Something tells me Zelensky isn’t responsible for the missing money from the Biden admin. – You’re probably on drugs
Zelensky IS a dictator, he cancelled elections and is opposed to having elections even though his time in office is past it’s term.
Here’s a thought: the U.S. has no compelling national security interest in defending Ukraine. Period.
Is Putin a bad man? I don’t care, Margaret.
I am reasonably persuaded that quite a bit of the money sent to Ukraine came right back here to line pockets. I think a detailed audit is in store and if there was any of that nonsense happening people need to go to prison. That includes the former president too.
I could be wrong, but I’d be willing to bet that Trump was hoping for a public rift with Zelensky. It makes negotiations easier when the moral attachment to the “preferred” side has vanished.
That may explain Trumps harsh rhetoric.
Well Zelensky campaigning in Pennsylvania didn’t help his cause.
This. Imagine the arrogance of campaigning against Trump and insulting him, calling him all sorts of things, then expecting him to just hand you billions.
Like the Dems in the Senate?
Cut them loose from our purse and let them fight their own war, then go in when there is nothing but rubble, and dynamite what is left.
When you are losing a war, slowly but consistently, you are in no position to make demands. Ukraine needs to see reality.
If it were the USA and our country was invaded, we’d make the invader pay in blood for every square inch they occupied. We can cut them off financially but demanding that they give up territory is a bridge too fucking far.
Well, there’s not much that can be done–Ukraine’s armed forces have been gutted. The 2023-4 fighting was an object lesson in overoptimistic bungle-f*cking and now they are going to end up paying the price.
I’m not sure what Trump’s strategy is here, but he typically approaches an intractable situation by upsetting the status quo, which he’s doing here. From my perspective it’s like the old Iran-Iraq war, I want both sides to lose. Putin’s a dictator, Zelensky seems to be trying to be one as well, and both of them and their countries are hopelessly corrupt. We shouldn’t have involved ourselves in the first place. Hopefully Trump works out something reasonable.
“I’m not sure what Trump’s strategy is here”
That goes double for me!
This interview with Gilbert Doctorow may interest you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3K24bMgD5q0
Like me, he voted for Trump b/c Trump wanted to end the war in Ukraine, and (like me) had pretty muchly decided as of 10 days ago that Trump had not been straight with all of us. He’s very happy at having been proved wrong. (Again, like me.)
What I don’t understand is the people on the right demanding that Zelensky surrender whatever territory Putin demands in the name of “peace”. They sound like leftists. When Putin first claimed that he was saving the Ukranians from Zelensky because Zelensky was a Nazi, I just shook my head because that’s the old KGB master playing games. And then when people on the right in this country nodded their heads like trained dogs and agreed with him, I realized the stupidity level in this country is far higher than I ever imagined.
As for claims that Zelensky is a dictator, Trump is playing the same games as the leftists, banking on the fact that the ignorance of the public will make them parrot his words. The Ukrainian Constitution doesn’t allow elections under martial law and for 6 months afterwards. The Parliament would have to change the constitution to hold immediate elections and they don’t seem to be inclined to do so.
No one is demanding Ukraine “surrender” territory lost to Russia. That boat has always sailed and that land, which by the way was already majority Russian speaking to begin with, now belongs to Russia.
The reality that leftists and Europe doesn’t want to understand is that without European troops on the ground and in active combat against Russia that land is not coming back.
And prolonging the war in the hope that the Ukrainian armed forces can take that land back is only going to result in more unnecessary civilian deaths. Or let me put it another way, how many Ukrainians do you think should die to get that land back?
the dominant language is irrelevant, to follow your logic Texas should be given to Mexican because the most spoken language there is Spanish
You seem to conveniently ignore the historical context and parallel of the more powerful Nation seizing territory from a weaker neighbor. Certainly the US did so in creating pretexts for expanding into what is now TX and CA and the entire ‘SW’. Sure we eventually signed a treaty with Mexico to make it pretty. That came after we stole it ‘fair and square’ at bayonet and gun point.
And paid them 15 million dollars.
Mexico is welcome to try and take Texas
What your infantile leftist brain cannot fathom is these areas are predominately majority Russian, hence why the dominance language is Russian. They aren’t Russian as if a week ago or three years ago but Russian the land is.
The difference is that the Mexicans who live in Texas don’t WANT to live in Mexico.
Should we blame their constitution for Zelensky jailing opposition political figures or Orthodox Clergy? How about for seizing control of radio and TV broadcasting? Newspapers? Mass corruption? Missing hundreds of millions of $ in US aid alone?
Zelensky isn’t a good guy. He’s a corrupt stooge of the globalist both neocons and leftists who both wanted to profit off the backs of Ukraine. The sooner people figure out the wetness they feel is from being pissed on and not rainfall the sooner they end this conflict. The status quo borders are gone, Russia ain’t giving up the portions of Eastern Ukraine they captured. Why would they? Ukraine is not capable of expelling them and no one is gonna do it for them. Sucks to be the smaller neighbor of a larger more powerful Nation…. especially when your govt allows itself to be gas lit or bribed (or both) into engaging a conflict the neocons and globalist doing the cheerleading have no intention of risking their own necks for.
You realise that Zelensky is rooting out corruption by arresting Russian stooges ie specific politicians and Ortho types. Its fact that corruption has reduced under his watch.
Ukraine controls part of Russia, and that’s massively embarrassing for Putin so yeah they have a reason to land swap.
What are you talking about, you write like you think Ukraine started the war, you also write like you don’t understand how peace and prosperity has benefited the US since WW2. So ignorant.
Ukraine was used as a cats paw by an alliance of the main globalist factions; neocons and leftists. Both of which are filled grifting goons who never seem to put themselves into harms way.
Peace and Prosperity in post WWII era? You do understand that the first couple of.decades the US was dominant economically b/c it was the only major industrialized Nation that hadn’t had it’s factories blown up? It was a temporary phenomenon and by the late ’60s and early ’70s had reverted to the mean.
As for Peace….what history are reading that tells you the USA has been at Peace since WWII? see Korea, Vietnam, a host of smaller, lesser known conflicts in Africa, Asia and S America, Gulf War, and a 20 year long GWOT.
Go down to the local VFW and explain to the assembled Combat Veterans how the USA has been at Peace and that the Nation didn’t send them off to fight. Please have someone record it and then post a link on YouTube so we can see the outcome as you my brothers they didn’t go.to.war, didn’t kill and didn’t get injured b/c we were at Peace. LMAO
Good grief your ignorant.
Ukraine is defending itself and being supported by those who are pro democracy, unlike Felon Trump
Factories don’t take a long time to build and the economies post WW2 expanded rapidly in the western nations. But you aren’t even contending the point which is that the peace dividend has allowed a globalised economy beneficial to all, and in particular to the US. Nothing you’ve stated has undermined that statement.
Wars that have been local in nature, not of the scale required to disrupt global stability and trade. What we are talking about here is Trump making the US become an isolationist nation, the last time that happened the US had the great depression. Europe are going to have to fund defence, great own goal for the US scored because I the process the relationship will have been trashed.
“Go down to the local VFW and explain to the assembled Combat Veterans how the USA has been at Peace and that the Nation didn’t send them off to fight.” Non sequitur that shows you don’t understand the points being made lol
They’re not ‘surrendering’ anything. They’ve LOST IT.
Russia conquered it. They occupy it. Ukraine is incapable of taking it back.
So unless Europe plans to commit military troops to take back that territory, it belongs to Russia. Whether Ukraine likes that or not is irrelevant, they can’t take it back.
Zielinsky isn’t surrendering anything, he’s not in possession of that land and Putin ain’t giving it back.
Does anyone think all that Ukrainian governmental corruption everyone used to talk about ended when Putin invaded? It didn’t.
Those hundreds of billions of dollars are a cash cow to corrupt Ukrainians so of course they don’t want the war to end. What are the lives of a few million peasants against billions of dollars of sweet, sweet cash?
Regarding the dictator thing: are we grading on the curve now? Putin was elected too. Just re-elected last year.
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russias-presidential-vote-starts-final-day-with-accusations-kyiv-sabotage-2024-03-17/
Was the election rigged? I assume so but can’t prove it, can you prove that Zelensky’s election wasn’t?
Regardless, more recently he’s signed laws outlawing opposition parties and he’s suspended the election that was due last year.
That sounds very dictator adjacent to me.
So are there levels of dictatorship now? If you’ve been a dictator for more than two decades and the elections that keep you in power are obviously rigged you’re a Dictator…but if you’ve outlawed the political parties that would run against you and canceled the election anyway, you’re just a dictator?
Or maybe just a dic?
Not saying it’s OK for Russia to invade another sovereign territory, or that the invasion was Ukraine’s fault (that’s just your trademark Trump bombastic hyperbole), but to unilaterally declare that Zelensky is not a dictator because he once won an election is specious at best.
There are constitutional problems with holding an election. If Trump could force a cease fire, theoretically, Zelensky could stand down and Ruslan Stefanchuk who is next in line could step forward for the 6 months required before elections could be held. None of the leading contenders for Zelensky’s job are pro-Russia and there wouldn’t be some sudden sea change with Ukraine voting for a surrender.
No problem, just because you’re at War does not mean you’re under martial law
When your territory is under attack, martial law is quite common. We’ve done it in the USA as well.
Putin was fairly elected? Russia was attacked by Ukraine?
Could be other subtext behind this, like trying to free forgotten US prisoners inside Russia.
That’s an excellent point…to get Putin to agree to concessions he’s blaming Ukraine for the war. It lets Putin “save face” to put it in Asian terms. It could be for releasing US citizens, or it even could be to end the war.
With Trump blaming Zelensky for the war, Putin can explain away his inability to defeat Ukraine as “we never wanted the war and were just trying to defend ourselves from Ukrainian aggression; now that Trump’s convinced Zelensky to stop attacking, we’ll agree to cease hostilities.” Or something like that.
All speculation at this point of course, but Trump has a tendency to go big or…go big. And when he goes big he usually wins. Don’t misunderestimate him.
Honestly I don’t like or care about either side of this conflict. And I really don’t care about the historical context. Not our continent, neither are allies or have a treaty with us regarding defense, not our problem.
But what I do care about is why we’re there and spending hundreds of billions of dollars. And the reason seems to be the Bidens. Hunter and Joe (at least) seem to have/had deals that resulted in millions of dollars of kickbacks to them going back to when Joe was VP and Joe blackmailed Ukraine into getting rid of the prosecutor looking at his son and covering up the related transactions before Trump got into office the first time. When Trump got impeached for asking zelensky about this evidence, zelensky remained quiet and let this go on. I’m guessing he thought there was money in it for him if Trump was no longer President, and boy was he right. I’m wondering if they just continued the kickbacks when Joe started sending money and arms and supplies over or if zelensky tried to blackmail Joe with the previous kickbacks. Either way, zelensky got over a quarter of a trillion dollars. Now Trump is back, and guess what? He doesn’t take bribes and after the multiple colonoscopies he’s gone through from every agency known to man, there’s nothing to blackmail him with. So zelensky has no leverage over him. Sucks to be zelensky.
As an added bonus and reason for our government to intervene, it seems we were using Ukraine as a site for some biolabs to get around US laws on research. And by we, I mean fauci. Just the same as he was doing with China and heaven knows where else. Guess what though again, Trump doesn’t particularly like fauci at this point and Trump wasn’t involved in the biolabs shenanigans. No leverage there either. In fact, I’m pretty sure Trump would love for zelensky to throw Joe and fauci under the bus.
So what is zelensky supposed to do? He can no longer bribe or blackmail the US. All he can do is rant and rave about Russia, who, while bad, isn’t that far off from the rest of Europe which is currently imprisoning people for online comments and praying at abortion facilities.
Long story short, thank God we got rid of the corrupt Biden family and Trump is taking an axe to the rest of the government. Europe can deal with its own problems and spend its own money doing so. Zelensky is as much of a crook as the rest of them and has no room to criticize us or demand anything.
well-stated comment. So much how I feel.
The US needs to disentangle itself from Ukraine. Sooner the better.
Trump is 100% wrong
not really, however he would be wrong if Putin has a gain from his war. Putin should be forced give back any land he took during his war and Ukraine should join NATO to dissuade any further adventurism by Putin. In other words Vlad needs to be punished
Out of curiosity, how do we get Putin to agree with all this?
We don’t.
We leave it to the stern scions of democracy of the EU and the mightly military power of the UK.
No more money from the US and Canada.
Even Canada gave more than the loudmouth French.
And how, pray tell, is Putin going to be ‘forced to give back’ the land.
He won’t, unless Europe and the US are willing to commit a large number of troops to take it back.
Not 100%. It might be a technicality, but Ukraine has suspended elections due to martial law of ongoing war. Ukraine has attempted some short lived cross border incursions into Russia.
But this is indeed putin’s war, putin started it and putin could end it any time putin wants.
My honest opinion is that we need no North American presence in Europe.
We need to concentrate on fortress North America to protect us against China. The Europeans and Brits are highly critical of Trump. Fine, I agree. Pull all troops out of Europe and naturally all funding for Sacred Zelensky Scion of Democracy. Leave the Euros to it. Have at Putin , brave Frenchmen!
Seeing as they can’t even provide enough air transport without Evil Great Satan to even deploy their own troops , they will probably have to take a train through Poland or put their weapons in their checked baggage on a Ryan Air flight to “Kyiv”. Good luck!
Watch European economies collapse without the US military being present across Europe. These intellectual Pygmies really would cut their noses off to spine their face!
Zelensky’s elected term is over. He imposed martial law and suspended elections. And incidentally, imprisoned and shut down a whole bunch of news outlets that weren’t willing to carry his propaganda water.
Zelensky’s approval rating is absolutely rock-bottom in Ukraine right now, which is exactly why he will not allow elections until forced to, because that means the end for him.
You can argue how fair and open the elections were, but Putin was actually elected to his current term.
So right now Zelensky is actually more of a dictator than Putin.
I don’t understand this slavish insistence on people acting like Ukraine is some bastion of pure democracy. Right up until they needed a new place to funnel defense contractor money into when Afghanistan ended, everybody laughed at what a corrupt joke Ukraine was. Then, magically, the second we needed a new place to funnel hundreds of billions of dollars they became a bastion of freedom and democracy.
It’s all so tiresome.
If Europe thinks Putin is some big threat to them, they need to actually ACT like its a threat, and start send troops and money. The US is sick of shouldering the burden while they scream that Vance and Trump are EVIL DICTATORS.
In 1962 President Kennedy brought us to the edge of thermonuclear war in the Cuban missle crisis. The rationale was that we could not tolerate that level of force 90 miles from our shores.
Today Putin will not tolerate an equivalent level of force (NATO membership) less than 90 miles from his “shores”.
Give Putin credible assurances that Ukraine will not join NATO, and we’ll have peace.
Unfortunately, that’s probably not enough. Ukraine was never in a position to be a likely accession to NATO (too corrupt, too unstable, ongoing unresolved border issues with Russia). Putin is demanding an assurance that Ukraine will be a permanent part of Russia’s zone of dominance…which he knows we will not give (say Ukraine cleans up its act and wants to align itself with Europe and/or the US in 20 years). The best we can offer with certainty is that Ukraine will not become a NATO member as long as Trump is president, which doesn’t scratch Putin’s itch.
To have peace, it must be clear to Putin that he cannot win on the battlefield and that continuing the war will cost more than it’s worth. It must also be clear to Zelenskyy that he cannot expect to regain much of the territory he’s lost on the battlefield and that stopping the killing is a better option than being ground down by his much larger (three times the population) neighbor.
I did not like seeing Biden doing this to Israel and do not like seeing this done to Ukraine however if Ukraine could pull of another Kursk it would which makes it clear that the best Ukraine could hope for is a war of attrition it will eventually lose due to being smaller so I fully understand Trump can only end the war if he makes it clear Ukraine has no choice.
While I see why Trump has to do it I still do not like seeing it.
They impeached him over the Zelensky call. Later Biden had to pardon his whole family. Trump wants his shrubbery. I don’t think he backs down.
Zelenskyy:
1. banned oppositional political parties
2. banned religion (Russian Orthodox)
3. cancelled elections
4. consolidated media under his control.
Now tell us why he is NOT a dictator.
The rruss orth Is no longer Christian but as tool of the kgb
I read the article – interesting enough – good points. But just below the connection at Instapundit, there was this line – and I copy it below.
“It’s always a mistake to appease Russia. It won’t stay appeased, and it would only consider itself safe if it stood with its boot on the necks of the whole world. It might be too wounded now to cause too much trouble, but I wouldn’t bet on it.”
So, another words – we are in a forever war with Russia. The events that followed the fall of the Soviet Union did not have to happen this way. For many compelling reasons and from personal experience, I do not think it was inevitable that Russia and the United States be enemies. NATO was founded to resist the Soviet Union, which collapsed on its own. The Warsaw Pact disbanded, but NATO did not. To justify its existence NATO needed and ‘existential enemy’ – and Russia fit the bill. The current Russo-Ukraine War started in 2014 when the US helped overthrow the legally elected government of Viktor Yanukovych during the “Maiden Revolution.” That is a whole story in itself.
I could go on – but the truth is that it was not preordained that Russia and the United States be enemies. And if the author thinks that Russia has the desire and means to conquer Europe – that is utterly delusional. The Russian Empire prior to the Bolsheviks taking over was not an enemy of the United States and never tried to attack Europe. Heck, they saved Europe from Napoleon in 1812, and the Germans used 75% of their military effort against the old Soviet Union.
Just go back and watch the Metalica Concert in Russia not long after the fall of the Soviet Union. Mind boggling – I am guessing that maybe 400,000 Russian metal heads showed up. There were humans as far as the eye could see. Never saw that many people together in one place. They did not want to put their boots on our necks or be our enemies. As for why things played out the way they did for the next 3o years after that – I would guess many people in this stream don’t have a really good picture of that in their minds. But after the last 30 years – who knows. Oh well – some people really do seem to want a forever war. There have been countless miscalculations on all sides in this war. Please, as few as possible as we do seem to have a chance to end this insanity.
The eastern border of Ukraine is maybe 400 miles from Moscow. Why did the Americans and British insist on Ukraine joining NATO? That is one I could never figure out. What exactly were the Russians supposed to do. Just asking. The United States and Europe certainly do have real and admissible national interests. All nations have them. Are the Russians allowed to have national interests? Just asking.
https://x.com/WarClandestine/status/1892370845177192809
Also this, by Colonel Daniel Davis:
“Urgency of Peace Negotiations to End the Ukraine War Webinar”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o__mf5V-CwU&