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Zelenski Defies Trump, Rejects Peace Deal
Trump’s ceasefire or peace initiative for the war in Ukraine is in tatters after the acting president of Ukraine Vladimir Zelenski rejected (archived) one of its core points:
Ukraine will not surrender territory, President Volodymyr Zelensky declared Monday, rejecting a central Russian demand that President Donald Trump had incorporated into his latest proposal to end the Kremlin’s war.
“Under our laws, under international law — and under moral law — we have no right to give anything away,” Zelensky said, after meeting with top European leaders to discuss Trump’s plan Monday. “That is what we are fighting for.”
Zelenski would not reject Trump’s plan without the support from European leaders. Indeed, as Blooomberg reported two days ago, Starmer (24% approval rating), Merz (22%) and Macron (10%) had set out to sabotage it:
The continent’s primary objective is to avoid a situation where a battered Zelenskiy is forced by the US to withdraw troops from Ukraine’s Donbas region and agree to a deal without any serious American security guarantees.
We have noted long ago that the only real security guarantee a sovereign Ukraine can get is from Russia:
But any such guarantee will of course come with conditions attached to it. Either Ukraine will accept those or it will never be secure from outer interference.
That is simply a fact of life Ukraine has had to, and will have to live with.
Trump’s recent National Security Strategy set out the end of the conflict in Ukraine as one of its aims. The U.S. is thus likely to press further on Kyiv.
There are several ways to do that. The U.S. could threaten to end all intelligence support for the Ukrainian military. It is still delivering constant detailed analyses from satellite pictures and other sources that only the U.S. can provide. This allows Ukraine to know where Russian forces are moving. Blocking such data would be immediately felt on the battlefield.
Another possibility is for the U.S. to tell the NABU anti-corruption investigators, which it controls, to open a case against Zelenski. After recently removing Zelenski’s advisor Andrei Yermak simply by searching his office NABU has been remarkably silent. Yermak has not even been served with an official suspicion. He might be offered a deal to become a witness against Zelenski.
Another alternative is for Trump to simply walk away from the issue for another six months or so. By then the already catastrophic electricity situation in Ukrainian cities (2×4 hours per day max) as well as on the battlefield will have worsened sufficiently to make a land-for-peace deal even more attractive than it is today.
That Zelensky would refuse was easy to see as he’s held to the same constitutional line which Putin recently outlined at the Post-CSTO Summit presser and the numerous legal hoops that must be navigated for a genuine peace settlement with Ukraine:
I believe that the Ukrainian leadership made a fundamental, strategic mistake when it was afraid to hold presidential elections, and as a result, the president lost his legitimate status. Russia is also in a state of armed conflict with Ukraine, but we have held elections: both presidential elections and recent municipal and regional elections. We are doing all of this, but for some reason, they are not. As soon as any kind of peace agreement is reached, the fighting will stop, and the state of emergency will be lifted. Once the state of emergency is lifted, elections will be announced.
But in today’s conditions, it is difficult for the current political leadership of Ukraine to count on a victory without fraud, almost impossible, I think. Although, of course, as Stalin said, “it doesn’t matter who votes, it’s important who counts.” And no one has canceled the administrative resource. But it’s still a challenging situation for them.
But then, after that, a referendum on all territorial issues must be held, as stated in the Constitution. And then the referendum must be confirmed by the Constitutional Court.
And what is happening with the Constitutional Court? I’ve already mentioned this. Let me remind you: when the political leadership demanded that the Constitutional Court confirm the president’s authority, the Constitutional Court refused to comply and declined to answer. This is because the Constitution only allows for a single five-year term. There is no provision for an extension.
Now we can go into details, into all sorts of legal squiggles, but there is no extension, even in the conditions of the declaration of martial law. Only the Rada has the right to extend its powers in wartime, the president does not. So, he himself, as an official, cannot sign, it is necessary to confirm the Constitutional Court. But when the Constitutional Court was asked to confirm the authority, and the court refused, do you know what they did? I have not said it or not, but it is ridiculous: the security service stopped him from entering his workplace. He came to work, and the door was knocked, and he was told to get out. And he eventually ran away abroad.
The Constitutional Court is not working, and the President of the Supreme Court is in prison for corruption. Those who engage in corruption are the most corrupt, and the President of the Supreme Court was imprisoned for corruption. During this time, the powers of the members of the Constitutional Court have expired, and new members of the Constitutional Court must be elected. This is a complex process, do you understand?
So, as soon as martial law is lifted, the presidential elections must be held, the referendum must be held, and a new Constitutional Court must be formed. It’s a start and an end that will never end.
So, basically, we want to reach an agreement with Ukraine in the end, but it’s almost impossible right now, legally impossible. Let them negotiate with whoever they want. We need our decisions to be internationally recognized by the major international players. That’s it.
And this is important, because it’s one thing to have recognized decisions, and let’s say that certain territories are under Russian sovereignty, and if the agreements are violated, it would be an attack on the Russian Federation, with all the consequences that Russia would take in response, or it would be perceived as an attempt to bring the law back to Ukrainian territory. These are two different things.
And so, of course, we need recognition, but not from Ukraine today. I hope that in the future we will be able to come to an agreement with Ukraine: there are many healthy people there who want to build relations with Russia for a long-term historical perspective.
This issue resurfaces continually because the intricacies Putin described are too much for many brains to handle, particularly simple-minded pukes like Trump and his gang who have always tried to avoid being lawful. And that’s the sad reality. So, what’s the solution? That too is complex and goes beyond Ukraine to the ousting of those NATO/EU nuts who continue to provide Zelensky with support. The Trump Gang wants to surrender without saying it’s surrendering but really can’t unless they close-out NATO, which is an act the Deep State won’t allow. So, the SMO will continue until it attains its objectives.
Posted by: karlof1 | Dec 9 2025 16:23 utc | 37
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