The world is in a mess and this is not just about Donald Trump, but a confused Europe causing disorder and then deploying falsehood and propaganda to camouflage its real intentions.
For instance, there are a lot of attacks against Trump for allegedly trying to force Ukraine to sign a mineral deal with the United States, US. This is, of course, false propaganda. The truth is that the deal was proposed and sold by Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the Biden administration in October 2024, that is over three months before Trump was sworn in! The Europeans knew this because the same deal was presented by Zelenskyy to the European Council on October 17, 2024.This offer was part of the ‘Victory Plan’ a delusional Zelenskyy hawked around the world, including to Pope Francis at the Vatican.
Four months ago, the war was going very badly for Ukraine as it is now. Many parts of the country were in ruins; it had embarked on forced conscription and 10.6 million of its populace was either internally displaced or in exile. Also, Russia had between 2023 and 2024, seized 4,168 kilometres of Ukrainian land.
Given this reality, only someone on the verge of lunacy would claim Ukraine is about to win the war, would not talk peace, and, draw up a ‘Victory Plan’. This exactly was what Zelenskyy did.
The ‘Victory Plan’ confirms Trump’s portrayal of Zelenskyy during the Oval Office altercation, as an unstable mind who does not want a ceasefire, does not want to negotiate an agreement, yet, has neither the men nor weapons to secure a military victory over Russia.
The first of Zelenskyy’s five-point ‘Victory Plan’ is for an invitation to join NATO. This, as we know, is one of the two main causes of the war. So, he wants the war to continue. His second point is for NATO to supply deadlier weapons so he can attack Russian territories. The third is the supply of comprehensive non-nuclear weapon which will guarantee Ukraine: “Peace through strength.”
The fourth is offering the EU, US and Canada special agreements to exploit Ukraine’s energy, food and natural resources like lithium, gas and titanium. The fifth is for Ukrainian soldiers, after their ‘victory’ over Russia, to replace certain military contingents of the US military stationed in Europe! Zelenskyy claimed that Ukranian soldiers are so battle hardened that they should be allowed to defend all Europe.
Zelenskyy whose five-year term as President expired on May 19, 2024, presented his crazy ‘Victory Plan’ to the Ukrainian parliament and no parliamentarian dared to oppose it as Ukrainians like Denis Kireev who cross his path can be summarily executed.
That being the case, what stopped the EU leaders from pointing out to Zelenskyy that his plans are not the product of a rational mind. Rather, they applauded him.
They exhibited the same behaviour on Sunday, March 2, 2025 when they received him in London after Trump had bashed him. Rather than tell Zelenskyy to agree to a ceasefire and negotiations as Trump suggested, they praised him for bravery.
In fact, the host, United Kingdom Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, boasted that he is “ready to put boots on the ground and planes in the air”. Despite usually exhibiting political foolishness, Zelenskyy on this occasion did not take the bait. Indeed, it would be foolish for anybody to believe that any European country would send her sons and daughters to go fight in a war that was avoidable and unnecessary.
Another silly talk by the Western European leaders is to boast that they would form a ‘Coalition of the Willing’, which, to me, simply implies NATO minus US. This is because I do not see why any non-NATO member country would send its soldiers to go and fight in Ukraine.
Another not quite intelligible or, half intelligent idea is that announced by French President Emmanuel Macron. Rather than a straight forward ceasefire which would entail the guns going silent and an immediate cessation of hostilities, he revealed that he and Starmer want to propose a one-month truce in the war. He added that this would only be “in the air, at sea and on energy infrastructure”, not on the battle field. This does not show either leader to be bright minds because it exposes them to the world as people who do not want an end to the war. It is also to ensure that Russia will not accept such a silly ceasefire knowing that it has absolute control in the air and at sea.
Starmer has his own parochial plan for the war. He wants to sell some 5,000 lightweight-multirole missiles, LMM, worth £1.6bn to poor Ukraine. His proposal to an hapless Zelenskyy is planned to treble production at the British Thales factory in Belfast, provide 200 jobs in Northern Ireland and directly support a further 700 jobs for Britons.
On her part, the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has a plan to raise $842bn. Not to rebuild Ukraine, but to “rearm” Europe and provide immediate military support to Ukraine after the United States pulled the plugs.
The EU is clearly in crisis, but it continues in its crafty ways. It had beaten into line members that tried to prevent the Ukrainian war by asking Ukraine to abide by the Minsk I and II Agreements. The Minsk Peace Talks were co-chaired by US, France and Russia. Other participating countries included Italy, Sweden, Armenia, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Turkey, France and Germany.
Initially, French President Emmanuel Macron whose predecessor, Francois Hollande, had signed the Agreement, tried to mediate in last minute talks, including with Putin, but was bullied into supporting Ukraine and tossing the peace agreements into the dustbin.
But not so the then German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, who insisted that Ukraine implemented the agreements in which she had been a major participant. But she was on her way out of office. To ensure Germany didn’t have a second thought about the war, the two Nord Stream pipelines between her and Russia carrying cheap gas were blown up on September 26, 2022 by some EU members.
However, despite bullying, Hungary has remained consistent, arguing that the war is unnecessary.
On Saturday, March 1, 2025, Slovak Prime Minister, Robert Fico, issued a statement stating that : “Slovakia will not support Ukraine either financially or militarily to enable it continue the war. If others choose to do so, we will respect that.”
Zelenskyy had been used to play Ukraine like football, now, he is the ball being played in the field. He is caught between the US and most of EU. He may be taken out, not by foreigners, but by the Ukrainians themselves.
May the Zelenskyy disease not happen to us.
•Written By Owei Lakemfa
