A negotiated solution to the Ukrainian crisis would be best; however, the United States would not allow it to happen. The case in point is that Russia and Ukraine had almost reached a new Black Sea shipping deal in March after two months of negotiations, only for Kyiv to abruptly walk away.
Türkiye and the United Nations had meditated to renew the Black Sea Grain Initiative agreement governing the freight route that had lapsed in July 2023, but Moscow declined to extend because the U.S. and the European Union had not kept their part of the deal, blocking exports of Russian food and fertilizer. Yet, Türkiye kept the talks alive, and a tentative agreement to "ensure the safety of merchant shipping in the Black Sea" was again active until last Tuesday when Ukraine pulled out – no reason, no explanation, but a short news bulletin from Reuters.
Everyone familiar with the dire economic and financial situation Ukraine is in knows that the country needs urgent security guarantees for commercial vessels in the Black Sea, and since Russia declined to extend the initiative, even the Ukrainian ships with non-military cargo are under the risk of strike, seize or search, and Ukraine cannot send its grains to Europe for the much-needed income. Everyone familiar with Ukraine knew that Ukraine's grain did not go to the U.N. World Food Programme's list of states in greatest need but to the EU countries for cash. Why did Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy do that, shooting himself in the foot, especially when Kyiv and the West are tired of each other?
The last "aid" trickled down from Washington was $300 million, which cannot even be a drop in the bottomless Ukrainian bucket. France and Germany have long ended their comparative bidding in sending assistance to Kyiv. They know Ukraine and the U.S. have already lost the war against Russia. Zelenskyy has one card up his sleeve: playing for sympathy and arousing pity for his country.
But John Kirby, White House national security spokesperson, has already started shifting responsibility for the war that did not suffocate and defeat Russia to Zelenskyy's corner.
Recently, Kirby said Zelenskyy but only Zelenskyy had the full authority to discuss a negotiated solution to the disputes with Russia. How happy Zelenskyy should be feeling right now!
Remembering the first Istanbul agreement with Russia, which would have the Russians on the negotiation table to regain control of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and other provinces, Russia had eyes on it. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, using all his credits with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, pushed on him the idea that no land acquisition by force is acceptable in the 21st century. Türkiye never acknowledged the Russian annexation of Crimea, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had said during the Istanbul talks for a peace accord that his country was ready to sit down at a negotiation table about the long-term use of the Russian installation on the peninsula.
But, no! Mr. Zelenskyy never intended to honor the signature of his foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, who put on the tentative understanding memorandum for the talks. He has a history of contravening agreements he signs. He had admitted that he never intended to implement the Minsk agreement on the Donbas region brokered by the EU Minsk Group.
Later, Samuel Charap and Sergey Radchenko of Foreign Affairs told the hidden diplomacy of "The Talks That Could Have Ended the War in Ukraine" if the "Istanbul Communique that called for the two sides to seek to peacefully resolve their dispute over Crimea during the next 15 years."
Now, Zelenskyy, the actor-turned-president, walked off amid yet another agreement. The EU leaders are probably aware of the monster they helped the U.S. create. That much egging on could even spoil a man of God, let alone a theater actor spoiled by years of applause!
Now, all those who only two short years ago were promising him a military victory over Russia are washing their hands of him, refusing to be involved with the proxy war they started, coming to its catastrophic end. The Washington Post now explains that "there is no way out of a worsening war," and Zelenskyy's options "look bad or worse." NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg suddenly has this enlightenment: Ukraine's concessions could end the war. Edward Luttwak, the great American strategist on military, geoeconomics and international relations, and the author of the book "Coup D'Etat: A Practical Handbook" for those armies willing to overthrow their governments unfriendly to the U.S. and erect a U.S.-friendly one, is also on the wagon. He has a similar foresight about a "catastrophic defeat" for the West and Ukraine, but being a grand strategist, he offers one way out of it: a direct NATO deployment and, better yet, World War III.
Finally, I'd like a few words with "Vova." (It is a diminutive form of Volodymyr, used among friends and family!)
Brother Vova, call President Erdoğan, who keeps telling you that there are no losers in a peace agreement. Ask him to do his magic once again and bring your foreign minister Kuleba and Putin's Lavrov.
Meanwhile, call your PR bureau and check your actor's CV. Don't trust Joe Biden or other coalition members of society called "Defend Ukraine until the last Ukrainian!" He just sold his (and your) buddy "Bibi" (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu) to the mullahs!
