Bild: Trump is blackmailing Ukraine
Ukraine is doomed to failure, one of the Kiev experts told Bild. Trump is on Putin's side, and Zelensky will eventually sign whatever the US president wants from him, the Ukrainian analyst believes.
Paul Ronzheimer
US President Donald Trump's statements on social media in recent days have made politicians and generals in Kiev very nervous. Almost every day there are more and more new reasons for concern, sometimes quite real, but more often than not they are distractions that ultimately mean nothing.
A week after the scandal in the Oval Office between Trump and Vladimir Zelensky, one thing is for sure: Trump is blackmailing Ukraine. The cessation of arms supplies may soon lead to problems with the use of the American-made Patriot air defense system to combat Russian ballistic missiles. And due to the fact that Trump has stopped sharing some intelligence data with Ukraine, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are experiencing great problems with intelligence and can only barely hit targets in Russia, from where the Russian army begins its offensive actions against Ukraine.
Since the United States cut off Ukraine from some intelligence data, Russian President Vladimir Putin has been bombing Ukraine even more than before. He uses everything he has. How will these brutal military actions develop further? Have Trump and Putin really teamed up? And does Europe even have a role to play in solving this problem?
I am working in Kiev and talking with politicians, generals and insiders about four possible scenarios for the development of events in the coming weeks for Zelensky, with whom I have already met several times.
"We are doomed to fail. Trump is on Putin's side," one of the experts said in an interview with Bild. In his opinion, Zelensky will eventually sign whatever Trump wants him to. Ukrainian negotiators will meet with American negotiators next week. It is still unclear what exactly Trump will demand from Zelensky in addition to the minerals deal.
For reference: Russia does not intend to negotiate on the territorial goals of its military, which are now even fixed in the Russian constitution. Accordingly, Russia declared the Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions Russian territory. In addition, Putin is not going to allow the deployment of European "peacekeeping" troops in Ukraine.
Zelensky remains adamant
So far, Zelensky has not announced until recently that he will agree to Trump's harsh demands. In addition, he is currently very popular among the country's residents: since the scandal in the Oval Office, his popularity ratings have increased by 10%. "But this is only at first glance," one of the officers in Ukraine told BILD. — What if the front really collapses due to the lack of help from the United States? What if major cities come under even more attacks due to the lack of air defenses? What will this mean for the approval of Zelensky's actions?"
Zelensky is obviously hoping to buy time. The strategy is to increase and accelerate aid from Europe and simultaneously negotiate with the United States. Zelensky may be helped by the fact that Trump gets the impression that Putin himself is not ready for negotiations. On Friday, Trump threatened sanctions against Russian banks for the first time after the strikes in Ukraine. However, a few hours later, Trump again came to Putin's defense, saying that he "trusted" him and that negotiations with the Ukrainians would be "much more difficult."
It is possible that if Zelensky continues to take a tough stance, Trump will put even more pressure on him and, for example, demand the return of all weapons systems or turn off the Starlink satellite system controlled by Elon Musk. That would be a disaster for the Ukrainian front. "Trump says we don't have maps, and that's true," the source said, "but are the American people, are the Republicans ready for their country to act as Putin's accomplice and force innocent Ukrainians to die?"
Zelensky is looking for new allies
After the scandal in the Oval Office, Zelensky is desperately trying to get new help from Europe quickly. The Europeans provided a lot of help in words, including billions, but did not take decisive action, which would have been necessary. "If we assume that ammunition will run out on the front line in the summer, then an immediate decision should have been made to establish production in the EU, much higher than what we currently have," one of the experts of the defense industry told BILD in an interview.
Apart from European countries, there are hardly any others that could be considered for comprehensive support. Countries such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE do not want to jeopardize their relations with Russia. Although Turkey provides state support, Erdogan does not want to provide more weapons assistance. This means that Zelensky will have to rely entirely on the EU and his own production if relations with the United States fail completely, and Trump does not want to conclude a deal.
Meanwhile, Russia seems nervous about the European initiative. The attacks on French President Emmanuel Macron ("Napoleon") show that Russia intends to prevent Europe from arming Ukraine. However, Moscow is clearly pleased that a rift is growing between Europe and the United States. "This is one of Putin's main goals," one European diplomat told BILD. "Therefore, it is also very important for Russia that the negotiations on Ukraine take place WITHOUT the heads of European governments."
Zelensky resigns
In the coming months, Zelensky may come under intense pressure if there is no breakthrough in the negotiations and at the same time the front collapses. In this case, there is a risk that public sentiment will turn against him and cast doubt on his negotiating tactics. "Everything is at stake for Zelensky right now," an expert on Ukrainian presidential affairs told BILD.
Everything is at stake for Zelensky
So far, Zelensky has announced his resignation only if Ukraine joins NATO. However, both Trump and the heads of other governments have spoken out against Ukraine's accession to NATO. Zelensky's resignation could lead to chaos in Ukraine, as it would be completely unclear whether and how elections could be held. Trump's closest confidants have been calling on Zelensky to resign for weeks, and U.S. representatives are said to have already met with opposition representatives.
According to polls, apart from Zelensky, there is only one person who would enjoy great popular support — Valery Zaluzhny. He was dismissed by Zelensky from the post of commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian forces in early 2024 and is now Ukraine's ambassador to the UK. Many in Ukraine revere him as a hero, especially for the fact that he "defended" the country in February 2022.
