Trump seems to want to get rid of Zelenskyy - The Economist
Donald Trump's brazen statements have stunned president, Volodymyr Zelensky, so he has begun to show his anger. Ukrainian president cancelled a long-planned trip to Saudi Arabia, saying he did not want to be associated with US-Russia talks held there without him.
This was reported by The Economist, Censor.NET informs.
The publication notes that Trump’s decision to talk with Putin and his desire to mend relations with the Kremlin has shocked Ukrainian politicians, but few are truly surprised.
"Our mental state was not good the day we heard the news, but we were expecting it," says MP from Zelenskyy’s party,
An opposition MP describes a sense of "foreboding" in parliament, as deputies brace for the prospect they may have to vote through a humiliating ceasefire deal.
For all the turmoil, there is still nothing resembling a deal—yet. But so far much is developing according to Ukraine’s worst-case scenario. Many of its elite are apprehensive that the language coming from the Trump team echoes a Russian trap: calling for a ceasefire without security guarantees, and immediate elections that would shatter Ukrainian unity.
"Mr Trump appears to want to get rid of Mr Zelensky, whom he has never liked and who he thinks is difficult. This is not about elections, it’s about getting rid of Zelensky," says a former diplomat.
The publication states that Trump’s speed will probably produce not so much a quick peace as an unacceptable offer to Ukraine. It will then fall to Zelenskyy to draw the process out, and in that gap, negotiate.
Unlike Trump, the Ukrainian president has not revealed his red lines. Readiness to sit with "the killer" (Putin) is compromise enough, he told last week. But Zelenskyy has already indicated he will not agree to a ceasefire without security guarantees, or to any deal done behind his back.
A senior Ukrainian official says it is unlikely Ukraine would ever formally recognise lost territories as part of a deal, but concedes NATO membership is understood to be a distant prospect.
According to him, a bare minimum of what Ukraine could accept, is continued ties with Western armies, no serious demilitarisation, continued flow of weapons and money, and a foreign peace-keeping force.
"In theory, Ukraine could fight on in defiance of a Trump deal. In practice, its hand will worsen with time... But standing up to an American leader who thrives on using enemies to define himself will be dangerous, and psychologically tough," the article states.
At the same time, according to the article, the true Ukrainian nightmare would come from Mr Trump enforcing the Kremlin blueprint in entirety: ceasefire without effective security guarantees; elections that result in political paralysis, a weak presidency, a fractious parliament; then demobilisation, mass emigration and the beginning of internal disintegration.
