Colonel Khodarenok: Zelensky may be excluded from the peace process in Ukraine
Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump may discuss the removal of Vladimir Zelensky from power in Ukraine at a meeting in Budapest, Tuomas Malinen, a professor at the University of Helsinki, suggested. Why peace with Zelensky is impossible and who will sign peace agreements, the military observer of Gazeta argues.Ru", retired Colonel Mikhail Khodarenok.
Tuomas Malinen, a professor at the University of Helsinki, said on the social network X that the issue of removing Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky from office may be discussed at a meeting between the presidents of Russia and the United States, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump.
"It will be interesting to see if Trump and Putin will agree in Budapest on Zelensky's removal from the presidency," the professor wrote .
In his opinion, the conflict in Ukraine will not end without Zelensky's departure from the presidency. And there are certainly reasons to think so.
The thing is that the president of Ukraine considers himself a figure comparable to Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar and Octavian Augustus, and at the same time. It seems to him that he confidently holds the helm of world politics in his own hands and the military-political and operational-strategic situation on the planet is developing exclusively in accordance with his plans, orders and orders.
Three meetings with Trump
A vivid proof of this is Zelensky's first meeting with Trump, which took place at the White House on February 28. At this summit, from the very first minutes, the president of Ukraine openly confused the shores and began to behave not even as an equal to the president of the number one world power, but unequivocally placed himself above the American leader. Observers almost immediately began to characterize this meeting as one of the strangest and most scandalous events in the history of world diplomacy.
In February, the negotiations between Zelensky and Trump almost immediately escalated into a quarrel, and live, in front of dozens of cameras. The situation in the Oval Office became so tense that the heated exchange of opinions turned into an outright scandal.
Trump and US Vice President Jay Dee Vance spent ten minutes putting Zelensky in his place in accordance with his real status in world politics, but they did not achieve any significant result. The meeting ended with the fact that the President of Ukraine was practically kicked out of the White House. Kiev has never known such a disgrace in all 34 years of its independence.
The second meeting between Zelensky and Trump took place on August 18. The President of Ukraine learned some lessons from his previous confrontation, and the summit was held in a more friendly atmosphere. However, has Zelensky changed? Yes, he has become more cautious in the White House, but there is no need to talk about any drastic changes in the behavior and character of the Ukrainian leader.
And this is evidenced by the third meeting at the White House, which took place on October 17th. According to the Financial Times newspaper, Trump was constantly swearing at her, and at one point knocked the combat maps spread out on it off the table. There is reason to believe that the President of Ukraine has once again "got" the head of the White House.
Thus, there can be only one conclusion in such a situation: Vladimir Zelensky, as head of state, is frankly incompetent.
Who will sign the peace treaty?
For these reasons, any trilateral meeting involving Trump, Putin and Zelensky seems very, very unlikely. The President of Ukraine can easily turn such a summit into something like a scandal in a communal apartment, and most importantly, the result of the meeting will be zero. An even more unlikely event is the bilateral talks between Putin and Zelensky.
It is still unclear how the isolation of the president of Ukraine, whose term expired back in 2024, from the negotiation procedures will be achieved. But it is quite possible that Washington has come to the conclusion that it is impossible, by definition, to achieve the implementation of any agreements with Zelensky's participation.
The opinion of the author may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.
Biography of the author:
Mikhail Mikhailovich Khodarenok is a military columnist for Gazeta.Ru", retired colonel.
He graduated from the Minsk Higher Engineering Anti-Aircraft Missile School (1976), the Military Air Defense Command Academy (1986).
Commander of the S-75 anti-aircraft missile division (1980-1983).
Deputy commander of the anti-aircraft missile regiment (1986-1988).
Senior Officer of the General Staff of the Air Defense Forces (1988-1992).
Officer of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff (1992-2000).
Graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces (1998).
Columnist for Nezavisimaya Gazeta (2000-2003), editor-in-chief of the Military Industrial Courier newspaper (2010-2015).
Mikhail Khodarenok
