Zelenski, Having Failed, Blames His Sponsors
Simon Shuster is Time’s senior correspondent for Ukraine and Russia.
For writing laudatory pieces about (former) president Zelenski Shuster received extraordinary access to the Ukrainian’s president’s office. A later portrait by Shuster depicted Zelenski as delusional. In his latest piece he asserts that the Biden administration never intended for Ukraine to win:
When Russia invaded Ukraine nearly three years ago, President Joe Biden set three objectives for the U.S. response. Ukraine’s victory was never among them.
Preventing a war between Russia and NATO, not Ukraine winning, was one of Joe Biden’s three aims.
That is why, throughout the war in Ukraine, the U.S., together with Germany, had blocked the accession of Ukraine to NATO.
In September Zelenski’s last attempt with Biden to gain NATO access ended without success:
[Zelenski’s] appeals got a mixed reception. On the question of Ukraine’s NATO membership, Biden would not budge.
That had always and will always be the case.
Despite having been rejected again and again Zelenski used the hope of gaining NATO (and EU) membership for Ukraine to market the war he was waging.
Now, as he is obviously losing it, he is blaming those who never promised NATO membership to him for not receiving it (machine translation):
The West’s promises to one day accept Ukraine into NATO were a “lie.” This was stated by President Vladimir Zelensky at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Moreover, according to him, the United States and Germany maintained contacts with Russia throughout the war.
“From some states, I think it was initially not a very transparent policy, they did not support us in NATO. And they were just false words that yes, Ukraine will be in NATO. It was not fair to Ukraine and to the Ukrainians. And it was also not fair from our leaders. When some of our leaders said and promised that we would be in NATO. And it wasn’t fair either. And I believe that there was a weak position of Germany and the United States. Because they had a dialogue with the Russians. And I believe that they lost this dialogue. We lost, because they always appeal to the fact that there were once some agreements with the Russians,” Zelensky said.
That false accusation against foreign countries, of promising access to NATO but not giving it, will not be received well.
As Strana remarks (machine translation):
Recall that Zelensky himself has repeatedly stated that Ukraine will be in NATO.
Also, Kiev is now demanding admission to the Alliance as a condition for making peace with Russia. At the same time, Zelensky admits that the United States and Germany are against this .
Alexey Arest
Article from LewRockwell
LewRockwell.com is a libertarian website that publishes articles, essays, and blog posts advocating for minimal government, free markets, and individual liberty. The site was founded by Lew Rockwell, an American libertarian political commentator, activist, and former congressional staffer. The website often features content that is critical of mainstream politics, state intervention, and foreign policy, among other topics. It is a platform frequently used to disseminate Austrian economics, a school of economic thought that is popular among some libertarians.
