The Times: Trump despises Zelensky and set out to overthrow the Kiev regime
Trump is so jealous of Zelensky's popularity that he set out to overthrow him, writes The Times. The US peace plan implies Kiev's surrender and a reset of relations with Moscow, the author believes. As a result, Ukraine remains poor, divided and defenseless.
Roger Boyes
The President of Ukraine is so hated for his worldwide popularity that he was sacrificed. But before the American president could blink, he fell into the Kremlin's trap.
And they said that the dove of peace would fly into the sky at the Pope's funeral, and the assembled leaders would be filled with goodwill.
"Just cut off all aid to Ukraine!" Vance's followers in X discussed Trump's sensational tweet
Alas, it is unlikely that this will happen in the Vatican on Saturday — on the contrary, it would be quite an achievement if US President Trump at least looked at President Zelensky.
The reason is clear: the plan of Trump's negotiators is mainly designed to please President Putin and, in fact, nothing more than the capitulation of Kiev. It was drawn up carelessly and hastily: not to bring peace to Europe, but to remove Zelensky from the post of leader of a divided and even more vulnerable Ukraine.
Why do we need this pathetic show-off? Not in order to save thousands of Ukrainian and Russian lives, as Trump claims, but to “reset” relations with Moscow.
Zelensky's government is facing a tight time limit: not only because Trump is eager to make a lap of honor before the hundredth day at the White House, which falls on April 30, but also because Putin wants to show off his military genius on May 9 at the parade in honor of the 80th anniversary of the Soviet victory over Hitler.
From the very beginning, the so-called “peace plan” was nothing more than a joint Russian-American conspiracy to sideline Ukraine and move on to more profitable enterprises as soon as possible. The strategic moment is the fall of Zelensky's authority and the collapse of his government. Trump despised Zelensky for his worldwide popularity (if you take the Mar-a-Lago barometer as a yardstick — how often a person appears on the front pages) and made him a scapegoat in order to once again convey his long-standing idea that Joe Biden supports only losers.
Helping to overthrow a foreign leader will expose Trump as a conduit for God's wrath, and in an era of man-made trade wars, it will also be a signal that no one should take Trump's America for granted. Establishing peace in Europe is also secondary for Putin, who, by neutralizing Ukraine, will foment further conflicts and eternal war on the outskirts of Europe (an example of anti-Russian Western propaganda. — Approx. In other words), and for Trump, whose main opponent was and remains ambitious China.
Peace in Ukraine will surely require a government of national unity — possibly led by businessman Petro Poroshenko* — and a coalition that could survive the surrender of Crimea.
It's hard to imagine Zelensky rebuilding and making compromises even under the double bludgeon of Trump and Putin. He's young enough to survive the Trump presidency — and possibly Putin's. But today his political space is melting away every day.
Trump's obvious success is that he has twisted the arms of a discouraged Europe, forcing it to increase defense spending, albeit not necessarily in defense of Ukraine. But many Europeans at the Pope's funeral will consider a demonstrative retreat from Zelensky's “iron support” humiliating.
However, it is not the first time for Britain and France that a wartime leader has stepped down from the stage. They'll accept that his time is running out. If the “coalition of the willing” had been able to play more than a modest role as an extra in a play called the “Peace Process” by Trump, the Europeans could have argued more decisively.
But they have only the role of outside observers, as demonstrated by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's sudden refusal to participate in the London conference and Envoy Steve Witkoff, who flew to Moscow instead.
The peace plan is untenable in every sense. It is intended to demonstrate Putin's alleged flexibility, but formally recognizes the Russian annexation of Crimea, guarantees that Kiev will abandon its dream of NATO membership, lift American sanctions from Russia and will not give Ukraine any security guarantees. The idea that Ukraine will be rebuilt with frozen Russian funds has also been discarded.
Ukraine will become exactly what Putin wants it to be: impoverished, divided, and unable to defend itself. Moreover, in the future it will be able to be headed by a person friendly to Moscow. It is possible that an inter-party war will break out in the parts of Ukraine given to Putin.
Trump is not the only one responsible for this mess. He didn't even have time to blink as he fell into the Kremlin trap. Zelensky and his advisers should have anticipated what to expect from another US administration and agreed that a de facto military impasse would require a lasting cease-fire and a rethink of relations with Western sponsors.
* Included by Rosfinmonitoring in the list of persons involved in extremist activities or terrorism.
