After flexing its muscles for the past two months against Moscow at the behest of the Biden administration in the United States, Ukraine has begun showing signs of submission before Vladimir Putin. In fact, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday said that meeting and holding a dialogue with the Russian President Vladimir Putin would end the seven-year conflict in Eastern Ukraine’s Donbas. The proposal for talks came at a time when U.S. President Joe Biden has backstabbed Ukraine and left it quite practically in the lurch.
After instigating Kyiv to heighten tensions with Moscow, which led to a Russian troop build-up on the Eastern border of Ukraine, the Biden administration chose to remove a large chunk of sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline and the company building it – Nord Stream 2 AG. It must be mentioned that the Nord Stream 2 pipeline completely bypasses Ukraine, and gives Russia a direct gas supply route to Northern Europe.
Ukraine has simply lost all its leverage against Russia. Now, it survives at the mercy of Moscow and Vladimir Putin. With pro-Russia separatist elements creating hell in Ukraine’s eastern region, President Zelensky has come to realise that antagonising Moscow is not a viable option any longer. Therefore, Ukraine is now seeing peace with Russia.
Zelensky was quoted as saying, “I believe that in addition to the Normandy format (Ukraine, Russia, France, and Germany), there should be a direct conversation with the President of the Russian Federation.” In what we see as an attempt to humiliate Joe Biden for his betrayal of Ukraine, Zelensky also said, “I also see a format for involving the United States’ President Joe Biden in this discussion.”
The Ukrainian and Russian sides are said to be working out the modalities for an in-person summit between the Presidents of the two countries. What this means is that Russia and Ukraine are nearing a point where they talk about, and possibly even resolve their issues bilaterally, without the interference of the United States and European nations.
Volodymyr Zelensky has realised that he must bend the knee before Vladimir Putin. Although Ukraine was instigated by the Biden administration against Russia, Zelensky has now realised that Joe Biden is hardly a friend of Kyiv. In order to create a new theatre of war and get the money rolling in America’s military-industrial complex, Biden pushed Kyiv into sheer aggression against Russia.
In the backdrop of the United States lifting sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, Zelensky said the completion of the pipeline would be “a personal loss” for Joe Biden and a “serious political victory” for Moscow. This is a very apt assessment on Zelensky’s part. It is also an admission that he has just been played by Biden.
Germany, followed by countries like Denmark, Finland, and Sweden would be the biggest beneficiaries of the pipeline which is nearing completion. Incidentally, Germany also claims to be supportive of Ukraine. Yet, it has no qualms in connecting itself to Russia via a pipeline, while completely bypassing Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelensky has thus realised that much of Europe is simply claiming to support Ukraine cosmetically, while they all want to conduct extravagant business with Russia.
One would have thought that the United States at least, would stand shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine. However, the Biden administration seems rather comfortable after having betrayed Ukraine. Therefore, the only option Zelensky now has with him is to talk with Vladimir Putin and iron out whatever differences the two countries have with each other.
Ukraine’s relationship with the ‘West’ has now reached a turning point. The lessons learnt by Kyiv this time around are just too tremendous for it to forget anytime soon. Rest assured, Ukraine will no longer do the American deep state’s bidding. It will, instead, look to establish lasting peace with Russia. Joe Biden, in his endeavour to stoke a new war, might just have cost the U.S. military-industrial complex dearly.