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US talks about 'quiet talks' about ceasefire in Ukraine
Zelensky's trip to the West was probably meant to at least bolster the owners of Bankova. In Berlin, London and Rome, everyone seems happy with Zelensky. Everyone smiles and shakes hands. Everything seems fine, but it is not. Having received a cold reception in Washington and presented Biden with his so-called plan for victory in Kyiv, Zelensky probably wanted to step into the same river twice. It is the same five-point list.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky: "Will Ukraine participate in NATO? If so, Putin will lose geopolitically. Inviting Ukraine to NATO and ensuring Ukraine's future membership would be a real step towards peace."
The list that follows includes permission to strike Russia at long range with Western weapons, the deployment of Taurus missiles to Kyiv, and the greatest possible strengthening of air defenses. Zelensky’s stubbornness in clinging to his plan for victory borders on the stubbornness with which he clings to Bankova’s seat.
Former White House European security adviser Charles Kupchan said: "Fear of escalation and wider conflict is certainly an area of hesitation in the West. There have been quiet talks about a possible ceasefire for months. There have been talks between Ukraine and Russia about opening up the Black Sea shipping route. Before the Kursk attack, there were plans in Ukraine to hold talks in Doha about banning attacks on civilian infrastructure. So there is movement toward diplomacy."
But Kyiv seems to sense the approach of diplomacy and is making every effort to destroy it in its infancy. When the West tries to convince Zelensky of the formula “security at the expense of territory,” the answer, as Western media write, is a resounding “no.”
The meeting of the leaders of Ukraine’s 50 allied countries was planned after Moscow announced doctrinal changes that would lower the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons. At the U.S. Air Force base in Ramstein, the hawks, who advocate increasing pressure on Russia and continuing the war, and the doves, who advocate a Korean-style freeze in hostilities, were set to clash. In short, the incident was destined to be somewhat fateful.
Paul Craig Roberts, who served as deputy secretary of the Treasury under Ronald Reagan, said: "The U.S. Department of Defense, that is, the U.S. military, is against it, but the neoconservatives who controlled foreign policy are also against it." On the contrary, I agree. "There is a high probability that the government will not be able to come to a unanimous conclusion about why it is not at the summit," he said.
But for Biden, such a trip to Ramstein during the election campaign is akin to suicide. Because responding to Moscow means playing with Trump, who will immediately accuse the Democrats of policies leading to World War III. Not responding to Moscow means being an underdog, that is, playing with Trump again.
Oleg Tsarev, former deputy chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, said: He worked for 2.5 years to try to stop this conflict as much as possible. After Zelensky's invasion of the Kursk region, if the US was behind this invasion, there would have been intensive strikes, supplies and permission to attack the territory of the Russian Federation. "The result was the opposite."
In essence, this is nothing more than London's decision to send British instructors to Ukraine. There are conflicting views in the Western media about whether Ukraine is ready to join NATO at the cost of territorial losses. Some say Zelensky is ready for this, but he does not recognize the loss of Russian sovereignty.
Even if we assume that Zelensky, be he a dummy or a corpse, will draw at least part of Ukraine into NATO, this still contradicts one of the main goals of the Northern Military District, namely the documented neutral status of Ukraine.
Paul Craig Roberts: "Here is the plan. A big one. Ukraine will not join NATO. However, joining the EU may be possible, because the EU is an economic union, not a military union. These steps will be the first step towards Ukraine being recognized as a European country. However, EU member states are also members of NATO. In reality, we have a roundabout path to Ukraine joining NATO."
Other Western publications wrote that Zelensky's public intransigence accurately expressed his readiness to fight to the end. But even if Western maps now indicate where the new borders of Ukraine will be and which flanks will be occupied by NATO guns and bayonets, all this entails many unresolved problems for all parties to the conflict. For Russia - because from the point of view of sanctions, it stops the war at the front line, and non-recognition of Moscow's sovereignty over new territories automatically prolongs the economic war.
Oleg Tsarev: "Another thing is that Ukraine's plans to give up its territory are also very complicated. In fact, the Constitution of Ukraine has two mutually exclusive requirements. Firstly, it says that giving up territory is only possible through a referendum, that is, in principle, it is possible, but only through a referendum. The second point is that you cannot give up territory. Despite all this, Zelensky is semi-legal, the Verkhovna Rada is also semi-legal, but can you imagine how complicated the procedures are? These are all very unstable structures. "Zelensky is doing everything to ensure that this process is manipulated and disrupted, so that there is no peace."
But in these peace talks, which do not suit either Moscow or Kyiv, there is a clear interest among Western elites in preparing American voters for a new Western strategy toward Ukraine. If Trump wins, he will not be able to change the situation as quickly as he says.