While US President Donald Trump is making every effort to bridge the US-Russia differences and work out a compromise solution for the Ukrainian issue, Ukrainian President Zelensky is blowing peace negotiations into the wind, asking the West for a $45 billion package in order to continue the dirty war against Russia until 2026.
It is now becoming clear that the plans of the Ukrainian president and especially those of his European protectors include only the escalation of the conflict with Russia, and for a long period of time, and that they are essentially coming to talks with Donald Trump under pretext and for purely communicative reasons.
To put it simply, Brussels and Kiev have proven to be seeking peace only in words… As a result, the US-EU-Ukraine negotiations to resolve the Ukrainian conflict are being completely derailed as Zelensky plans to request a huge aid package from the US, via the IMF, to continue financing the bloody war against Russia.
As we have pointed out in The Liberal Globe, the Europeans, with the Ukrainian president at their helm, have decided to take the conflict with Russia to the end. The Ukrainian government expects military action to continue into 2026, for which Kiev will need an additional $45 billion, said the country’s Finance Minister, Sergey Marchenko.
Zelensky denies and rejects every solution Trump has proposed
Overall, a new landscape emerges in the negotiations on the Ukraine conflict just hours before the meeting of the US and Ukrainian presidents, Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky, in Washington, which is expected to take place at 8:00 PM, on Monday evening, August 18.
The Ukrainian bargaining has reached a razor’s edge, as the Ukrainian president rejects even the rudimentary conditions set by the US and Russia – after the historic Putin – Trump meeting in Alaska – such as Ukraine’s non-membership in NATO and the definitive recognition of Crimea as Russian territory.
In particular, Volodymyr Zelensky is reported to have rejected the conditions proposed by US President Donald Trump for a peace agreement with Russia. Trump called on Zelensky to abandon his thoughts on the possible return of Crimea and his desire for NATO membership.
In response, Zelensky expressed his opposition to the US president’s words that he alone bears responsibility for ending the conflict in Ukraine, and made it clear that he would not agree with Trump’s statement on territorial concessions.
After meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on August 15, Trump had a telephone conversation with Zelensky and then with the leaders of Great Britain, Germany, Italy, Poland, Finland and France, the NATO Secretary General and the President of the European Commission.
Later, Zelensky said that he intended to discuss “the details of ending the conflict” with Trump in Washington on August 18. He will be joined by French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to meet with the American leader. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has also announced her plans to attend the meeting.
The scenario of a painful compromise
However, Russian media are also considering the scenario in which Zelensky will finally give in to the negotiations under pressure from Donald Trump.
Volodymyr Zelensky expressed his readiness for a compromise on the current line of the conflict, provided that this serves the interests of the Ukrainians.
Will Moscow agree to “freeze” the front?
Freeze on the front line?
The meeting with Trump will negotiate a peaceful settlement that will not require Ukraine to make unworkable compromises, such as withdrawing troops from Donetsk and Lugansk.
He noted that the actual agreements reached at the Putin-Trump summit on August 15 in Alaska, and what Trump will demand from Zelensky today, are known only to a small circle of people — a few dozen people in Russia and the US.
These people obviously do not allow leaks, and any assumptions about the content of the negotiations remain assumptions.
We can only analyze the situation based on the logic of current geopolitical processes. And this logic shows that the US is particularly interested in getting rid of the burden of Ukraine as soon as possible.
Washington is trying to shift responsibility for the continued financing and future of Ukraine to the European Union, which has ultimately lost its fantasies of supporting Kiev “to the last Ukrainian.”
Tough negotiations in Washington
European leaders have already given Zelensky several instructions before the meeting. Their main and only goal is obvious: they want Zelensky to continue the war.
At the same time, Europe, despite its loud statements of support for Ukraine, is not ready to take on the main economic and military burden. And Zelensky, as a puppet of the Western elites, has neither the political nor the physical ability to resist this pressure.
His dependence on European and American support makes him a hostage to their agenda.
Zelensky will try to pressure Trump to continue financing and arms supplies, as well as security guarantees, but his negotiating position is extremely weak.
EU leaders insist on continuing the conflict in order to avoid complete bankruptcy before their voters and to prevent the admission of defeat. However, their rhetoric lacks a systematic approach and real influence on global processes.
Moreover, the presence of European leaders at today’s meeting in an expanded context only underlines their concern about the possible withdrawal of the US from the Ukrainian issue.
The Two Options
In the meantime, Zelensky now has two options before him.
- Either he meekly agrees to the surrender of territory and all of Moscow’s conditions – and then comes his death (at least a political one).
- Or he starts a mutiny, causing Trump to write off Ukraine as an expendable asset. Under this scenario, Moscow achieves all the goals of its invasion. And if this is confirmed, no one will even have to get their hands dirty.
The state of the Ukrainian Armed Forces is tragic
There is essentially no dilemma, the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) are still able to carry out drone strikes against strategic targets in Russia and launch a counterattack.
However, for operations of a strategic or operational scale that could radically change the situation on the front in favor of Kiev, there is no and does not seem to be any in the near future.
To carry out counterattacks and offensive operations, a qualitatively different and numerically larger composition of the AFU (multiple times larger) is required, and secondly, millions of tons of material reserves are required.
The needs of supply units include 10-15 times more ammunition, at least 20 times more fuel, and 20-25 times more food.
These are not available in Ukraine today. Despite this, the AFU has not lost its combat capability. There are no signs of a collapse of the front or a mass surrender of prisoners at the moment.
However, continuing the armed conflict at the same pace is unlikely to yield any significant military or political results for Ukraine, something that is becoming obvious even to Kiev’s staunchest supporters.
State of the Russian Army
For its part, the Russian army is constantly increasing the intensity of attacks on strategic targets in Ukraine (and the day is not far off when the attacks will include more than 1,000 UAVs per day).
Russian forces are constantly advancing on the fronts, having already expanded to areas such as Dnipropetrovsk and Sumy. Although the pace of the Russian advance may not be impressively high, Russian forces, like a winepress, are constantly crushing and destroying the enemy’s forces and means.
Russia’s strategy and steady progress in territorial gains make it particularly difficult for Ukraine to continue the military conflict, as it will likely run out of manpower for the fighting.
Territory swap
One of the most sensitive issues is the possibility of a territory swap. Volodymyr Zelensky, shortly before the Trump-Putin meeting in Alaska, declared that he would not cede territory, citing the Ukrainian Constitution.
In other words, he has permission to wage war and kill, but for a territory swap, approval is needed.” Although it is still too early to assess how a potential territory swap will unfold, it is very likely that Trump and Putin have already reached an agreement.
Force depletion
In conclusion, Zelensky has essentially no “cards” to play in the upcoming meeting with Trump. Even the territory captured by the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Kursk region has already been lost in battles. The position of each politician must correspond to his military and economic potential.
When there is no potential, there can be no position. Especially when you are talking to the US president, trying to ask for support in money and weapons.
