Ukraine Now Has a Major Zelensky Problem
On Monday, American taxpayers footed the bill for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to visit an ammunition plant in Pennsylvania to thank the employees for their work supporting the fight in Ukraine. Before arriving in the U.S. President Zelensky posted on X stating that, “This fall will determine the future of this war.” With his recent interview with The New Yorker regarding President Trump and J.D. Vance, I’m questioning if he’s referring to the war in Ukraine or the U.S. election in November.
One thing is clear from President Zelensky’s interview—he prefers Harris-Walz in the White House over Trump-Vance.
Zelensky has now further alienated Trump supporters and Americans generally who want to see legitimate discussions to end this conflict with Russia. His comments make clear he does not believe President Trump can end the war as he’s stated and believes J.D. Vance is “too radical,” and goes on to mention Senator Vance should “...read up on the history of the Second World War.” I don’t believe facing the reality of this war is radical—it’s necessary.
“My feeling is that Trump doesn’t really know how to stop the war even if he might think he knows how. With this war, oftentimes, the deeper you look at it the less you understand. I’ve seen many leaders who were convinced they knew how to end it tomorrow, and as they waded deeper into it, they realized it’s not that simple.”
Talks between Ukraine and Russia have stalled, they’re frankly non-existent. I don’t hear President Zelensky discussing de-escalation. In fact, he’s in the United States this week to convince President Biden to support his “victory plan,” which would without question escalate and prolong this war. The request to allow western missiles deeper into Russia is a frightening disposition, and one I hope U.S. military leadership weighs heavily surrounding the seemingly predetermined consequences. If you leave Ukraine to their own devices they cannot eternally hold off Russia. The question becomes how long the U.S. can bleed resources and probe into this war regarding President Zelensky’s plan.
The loss of life and land in Ukraine at the hands of Vladimimr Putin is both tragic and infuriating. The Ukrainian people and military have withstood barrage after barrage from Russia and are still standing. The problem is the West and European allies are being asked to dig in our military heels without any real end to this war in sight. We know Vladimir Putin, Ukraine and the world are in for a long slog. Escalating this war gives him the freedom to turn up the heat, and continue his war of ambition for Russia.
If Trump wins in November, I truly believe he can lead this war to its end. My gut is that President Zelensky is not going to fully agree with how Trump will do that, which is why he gave an in-kind donation to Vice President Harris and visited the all important battle ground state of Pennsylvania. Zelensky is asking the U.S. to escalate this war while seemingly interfering in our election, which is a major problem for Ukraine going forward.
