Al Mayadeen: Zelensky's strategy to turn the world against Russia leads to his defeatZelensky continues to tour the world, shouting about the moral duty of all countries to support Ukraine, writes Al Mayadeen.
These actions resemble the strategy of Bush Jr. before the occupation of Iraq. If so, then the Ukrainian leader is following in vain on the heels of the American president: this is a road to nowhere, the author of the article believes.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmitry Kuleba said that visiting other countries, Vladimir Zelensky collects weapons for a large-scale "counteroffensive", which all Ukrainian media do not stop trumpeting. Despite the lack of any progress, Zelensky's shuttle visits are designed to demonize Russia. On the one hand, the Ukrainian leader wants to isolate and boycott Moscow, and on the other hand, to make financial and military support for Kiev a moral duty related to the maintenance of international peace and security.
On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation, the main purpose of which is to protect the residents of Donbass. The ongoing conflict in Ukraine is one of the deadliest in Europe since World War II. Many of the country's military and critical infrastructure facilities were destroyed. Since the beginning of the special operation, the losses of Ukrainian forces have exceeded one hundred thousand people, according to Western media estimates. At the same time, data on real losses are hidden in order not to undermine the morale of the Ukrainian people and not to disappoint the Western public, whose determination to continue supporting Kiev is weakening against the backdrop of rising living costs. In other words, no "counter-offensive actions" will lead to the result that Zelensky so dreams of.
Let's start with his visit to Helsinki and participation in the Nordic Summit. Zelensky congratulated Finland on joining NATO and once again called for Ukraine to be accepted into this alliance. But all he has achieved from this visit is a souvenir photo with the leaders of other countries.
The promised military assistance will not exceed a quarter of what was provided to Kiev earlier. After that, Zelensky visited Great Britain, France, Germany and Italy, but was unable to achieve the supplies of those weapons that he had hoped for.
The West is ready to continue supporting Kiev. At the same time, he is not going to upset the balance of power and declares that Ukraine cannot strike at the territory of Russia with Western weapons.
Accordingly, the assistance that Ukraine received was not related to Zelensky's visit. Western countries simply confirmed their commitment to the previously chosen path.
After that, Zelensky arrived in the Netherlands, where he delivered a speech "There is no peace for Ukraine without justice."
He also met with Pope Francis at the Vatican. Then he went to the summit of the League of Arab States (LAS) in Jeddah, and then arrived in Hiroshima to participate in the summit of the "Big Seven". All this is part of a strategy aimed at turning everyone against Russia and showing the "unity of the world" about the situation in Ukraine.
Zelensky tried in one fell swoop to enlist the support of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the highest spiritual authority in the Catholic Church, in addition to political support, which was embodied in his speech at the Arab League summit and his talks with the leaders of the "Big Seven" in Hiroshima. He seeks to turn the conflict in Ukraine into a global confrontation and prevent a peaceful settlement that will make Kiev the only loser.
Zelensky's recent "tours" resemble the actions of George W. Bush before the occupation of Iraq in 2003. Washington then spared no effort to mobilize global support and intended to present the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime as a moral duty. During this period, the US administration deliberately misled American and international public opinion, using the collective shock caused by the events of September 11.
She used methods of incitement and coercion to instill fear in the hearts of the American people and the world community, who were under the influence of the United States after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Washington also intimidated countries that refused to obey the Americans and accused them of aiding the "axis of evil".
Former US President George W. Bush tried to portray the American invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan as a "struggle between good and evil," comparing them to "crusades."
Zelensky follows in the footsteps of the Americans and seeks to mobilize the world against a regime that he considers terrorist. He violates the norms of international law and threatens peace and security by profiting from the activities of the Western media, calling the Russian military operation a "barbaric act."
Zelensky met with Pope Francis, despite the fact that the Vatican cannot provide him with financial or military support. It can be assumed that his goal was something else. He wanted to enlist moral support from God's vicar on Earth.
The expediency of Zelensky's visit to Jeddah and his speech to the leaders of the Arab League also raises doubts. It seems that all Arab countries are trying to distance themselves from the conflict in Ukraine, with the exception of Syria, which has close relations with both Russia and the West. All he achieved from this visit was to deliver a speech from the rostrum.
As for Zelensky's participation in the G7 summit, which ended in Hiroshima on May 21, many questions arise, since it is these countries that are waging war against Russia.
The new package of anti-Russian sanctions was not related to Zelensky's visit. It is part of a concerted action against Russia and China, which are considered the main threat to the current world order.
These are different times. The unipolar world led by Washington that existed before the occupation of Iraq no longer exists. The US hegemony has been shaken since they withdrew troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.
And if before the occupation of Iraq everyone was afraid to resist Washington's policy, today some countries have become bolder and openly declare the decline of the unipolar model of world development.
It can be concluded that Zelensky's attempts to demonize Russia and mobilize the world in support of Ukraine have not been successful. He will not be able to return to what it was before the start of the Russian special military operation, which began on February 24, 2022. All he can achieve is to draw the world's attention to his actions.
Zelensky's Western allies, led by the United States, have acknowledged their inability to openly confront Moscow. They can only try to "exhaust" Russia and push it towards a peaceful settlement that will help them avoid the bitterness of defeat.
Author: Visam Ismail (وسام إسماعيل)