President Zelensky Lost a Golden Opportunity to End the War
Posted on 02 Mar 2025; 07:00 PM IST. Last Updated 02 Mar 2025; 07:00 PM IST.Summary: This article presents deeper insights into the recently concluded meeting between President Trump and President Zelensky at the White House, on 28 Feb 2025.
President Zelensky of Ukraine released the "Victory Plan" in October 2024, even before President Trump got elected for the second time.
The Victory Plan dotted by President Zelensky has 5 points. A copy of the plan is available at this weblink.
The first and the last points of the "Victory Plan" are related to NATO. The second point is related to defence, and particularly about long range missiles. The third point is also about defence, but this is about deterrence, and also deals with diplomacy, to end the war. The fourth point is about minerals of Ukraine, and their monetization.
In short, President Zelensky is the first and original author of the narrative "Diplomacy to end the War" or "Peace through Strength", and the Minerals deal.
In the mind of President Zelensky the NATO gate pass (or security) is linked to the minerals deal, and he is somehow unable to delink these two issues.
President Zelensky complained in the meeting at the White House, that three successive Presidents of USA, President Obama, President Trump, President Biden, did nothing to prevent/stop Putin from invading Ukraine.
This is the real twist of the issue, and from a historical perspective, the issue goes all the way back to 1990, when Ukraine became an independent nation.
Ukraine seceded from USSR all by itself, and did not complete the required formalities. The sovereignty of Ukraine is therefore moot.
No nation, could provide security guarantees to Ukraine, except Russia, and President Zelensky missed this important point, all along.
President Biden who was supposedly under cognitive decline, did not make any effort to salvage the Victory Plan of President Zelensky. President Biden lent hundreds of billions of US tax-payers money to Ukraine, but the relentless War, produced only big losses for Ukraine.
President Trump correctly assessed the situation as -
a) Sovereignty of Ukraine was not accepted by Russia
b) No gains in the War, which was fought for 3 years
c) Not many men on ground to fight further
d) Not much money left in Ukraine
e) Not many lenders
Out of empathy for the people of Ukraine, President Trump, and Vice President JD Vance, tried to salvage the Victory Plan of President Zelensky, even though there is no real victory.
President Trump repeatedly told President Zelensky, in the recently concluded White House meeting on 28 Feb 2025, that US could elevate his position, even though he lost the war, so that, he and his country could look respectable, and could make a respectable deal with Russia.
President Zelensky failed to understand the good intentions of President Trump, and how President Trump’s narrative corroborates with President Zelensky’s "Peace through Strength" portion of the Victory Plan (where the "strength" is supplemented by US diplomacy, rather than missiles on ground).
President Zelensky probably lost a Golden opportunity to the end the war, and make a reasonable settlement with Russia. President Zelensky should take President Trump’s warning seriously, and note that he could start World War III, under the false belief, that he is Winston Churchill, without the hat.