Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky pushed back against President Donald Trump’s criticism that he isn’t ready for peace, insisting that only Russia is standing in the way of the ceasefire.
President Zelensky appears to be undertaking a concerted effort to reset rhetoric around the Ukraine war, after he emerged from Friday’s failed attempt to create a new future relationship between Ukraine and the United States being accused of not truly being ready for peace at all.
Attempting to turn that narrative on its head, Zelensky published several statements and made comments on Monday insisting that Ukraine is in fact absolutely ready for peace, and that it is others preventing the process moving forward.
In a published message on Monday morning, Zelensky stated: “Ukraine is fighting for the normal and safe life it deserves, for a just and reliable peace. We want this war to end. But Russia does not”.
Naturally, the truth is more prosaic. As is often the case in war, it appears all sides want peace, as long as it is on their own terms. Ukraine insisted for years that peace would only be possible after what essentially amounted to total victory, with all seized territory being handed back.
Russia, too, has looked to an unrealistic idea of total victory, with the Ukrainian government destroyed and the country absolutely removed from the orbit of Western supranational organisations.
So much relies on perception. Zelensky, in this message, justifies his claim that Russia can’t possibly come to peace because it continues to launch bombs, missiles, and drones at Ukrainian civilians. “Those who seek negotiations do not deliberately strike civilians with ballistic missiles”, he said. Russia accuses Ukraine of exactly the same thing on a daily basis, although Kyiv states it only attacks military targets.
The answer, to Zelensky, is to “force Russia to stop its attacks” through superior force, which he claims could come from “collective strength” from the United States and others, a return to the demand for absolute security assurances that blew up last week’s mineral deal signing.
On Sunday night, on the same subject, Zelensky told the Ukrainian people: “We need peace, not endless war. And that is why we say that security guarantees are the key to this… Robust and lasting peace and the right agreement on the end of the war are truly our shared priority.”
In separate comments, Zelensky again deployed dovish language while making clear peace on his terms is the only acceptable outcome. In a statement published Monday evening, he said: “We need real peace… We are working together with America and our European partners and very much hope on US support on the path to peace. Peace is needed as soon as possible.”
Yet these comments were tempered by a statement from Zelensky on Sunday night when he said he believes peace is “still very, very far away”.
This drew an angry response from President Trump, who said of the pessimistic comments from the Ukrainian leader: “This is the worst statement that could have been made by Zelenskyy, and America will not put up with it for much longer! It is what I was saying, this guy doesn’t want there to be Peace as long as he has America’s backing”.
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