This is the meeting where the guy who has been invaded has to spell out how much land he is prepared to give up to Putin. And that is a lot harder than what happened in Alaska, which was just Putin laying down his dream scenario.
And you can see that the European leaders realize that this is more important, because they're coming with Zelenskyy.
You've got Keir Starmer of the UK, Emmanuel Macron of France, Friedrich Merz of Germany and a whole bunch of others - and they're going to be Zelenskyy's hype squad at the White House to try to stop Trump bullying him, which is actually fair enough after what happened last time.
But I have to be honest, I find Europe endlessly frustrating over Ukraine.
I mean, here they are dropping everything to rush over to Washington with Zelenskyy, to presumably stop Trump from taking too much of Ukraine's land away from them. But where was this haste in dropping everything and helping Ukraine to stop Putin taking Ukraine's land away from them?
These European guys have absolutely supplied weapons, but the spend, when you look at it, has actually been tiny. I mean, they make such a song and dance about the fact that Ukraine has to hold the line otherwise Putin will come for them next.
But then they hardly actually help Ukraine to hold the line. For a war that threatens them, Germany has put in less than 0.2 percent of GDP. The UK, much the same. France, less than 0.1 percent of GDP.
And a few weeks ago, you'll remember they had the idea of putting European boots on the ground in Ukraine. They formed the Coalition of the Willing and it was all go - and then it never happened. No boots ever arrived.
Now, those boots might actually have been helpful to Ukraine in being able to fight Putin off.
And so it is somewhat rich that these leaders who are not prepared to actually really help Zelenskyy hold the line against Putin now suddenly want to help him hold the line against Trump.
I mean, they are probably right, Putin probably does want Ukraine and then more afterwards, and forcing Zelenskyy to give up land only delays the problem and doesn't solve it, because Putin will just come for more later on.
But what other option does Zelenskyy have right now? Because he cannot keep fighting like this if Europe won't actually help him fight, other than just giving him a few nice words in a hype squad.
Heather du Plessis-Allan is a journalist and commentator who hosts Newstalk ZB's Drive show HERE - where this article was sourced.
10 comments:
The Green Goblin is a gone burger.
Europe, collectively, has provided more than the US. Some required items they do not have to give though.
What happened last time when Zelenskyy supposedly got bullied at the White House was that Zelenskyy reneged on the deal that had been agreed to behind closed doors - and did it in front of the cameras….in a misguided attempt to humiliate (?) that leader of the country that has far and away provided the most financial and military aid to his war torn country. (While I might add he was asking for even more money - and had nothing to show for the hundreds of millions the Americans had already dished out.)
Zelenskyy deserved to have his arse handed back to him in that forum.
I really feel that you should do more research into the donbas story and become more knowledgible before bursting into print.
See https://adultsincharge.wordpress.com/2023/01/19/the-donbas-story-3/ for a start.
There are a couple of realities that must be understood and accepted to make anything like sensible comment on the Ukraine conflict.
Firstly Russia is winning the conflict. This is despite all the news stories claiming losses etc)
This has never been Ukraine vs Russia. Always NATO vs Russia
If NATO gets any more involved than it currently is Russia will strike home countries and all that that entails.
Russia has been super restrained this whole time despite massive provocations, even attacks on its nuclear deterrence.
All of this wasted lives and effort were totally avoidable. See Minsk agreements part 1 & 2
Let’s hope it all cools down now
You actually have it wrong Heather, it is a choice that Zelensky has to make about how much land he/they are prepared to give over, lose, vs how many more Ukrainians must be killed. At some point they have to get real and say enough is enough. Trump is just the conductor. Zelensky and Putin are they main players.
It is not enough that we have not been here before. Hitler did this with Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia and set a model that Putin now seems to be following. Poland was too much for us. Do we have a tipping point here? If Zelensky gives in Putin will have won, think about occupying the whole of Ukraine and then Byelorussia and on and on. A strong nation invades a weaker neighbour and does not stop there. Is this fair?
To answer the Article's Headline: "Why aren't these leaders willing to properly help Zelensky?", is that these so-called countries' leaders love the theatre of being in the limelight but are ultimately spineless and a waste of space. We have our own example so everyone can see and know what they look like. The world is bereft of first class leaders.
Anonymous 4:51. You are totally on the mark. EU that need the US to pay for NATO. Leaders are always in it for themselves. Wellington housing allowance anyone????
Heather, maybe NZ could do something here. There must be a lot of gang members who would really benefit from a few years in Ukraine trenches.
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