Trump suppressed Zelenskyy, but did not make him "surrender unconditionally"

Putin agreed to meet with Zelenskyy soon

Photo: U.S. President Donald Trump (center right) and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskyy (center left) held talks in the White House Oval Office

Western media have praised Donald Trump's peace efforts. At yesterday's Washington meeting, he successfully freed himself from the persistent Europeans who tried to disrupt the meeting with Vladimir Zelenskyy. Moreover, Trump convinced Zelenskyy to abandon one of his most absurd demands: Ukraine would no longer make a temporary ceasefire a necessary condition for further negotiations with Russia.

According to Reuters, Fox News, and Sky News, just during the negotiations with the Europeans, Trump openly abandoned them and went to another area of the White House. He called Vladimir Putin, secured his support on a series of points, and then returned to the negotiating table.

Zelenskyy himself also admitted after meeting with Trump that he agreed to bilateral talks between Russia and Ukraine. The talks are likely to discuss territorial concessions.

The leaked confidential documents revealed by the Financial Times revealed how absurd Zelenskyy's initial demands were when he went to Washington. The Kyiv regime proposed a large-scale U.S. weapons procurement agreement worth $100 billion in order to obtain long-term U.S. security guarantees.

Materials obtained by the Financial Times show that the Europeans would bear the funds for these purchases. Although there is no specific list of required weapons, it emphasizes that Ukraine urgently needs modern air defense systems.

The materials released by the Financial Times mentioned: "Kyiv clearly stated that it hopes to purchase at least 10 'Patriot' air defense systems to protect its cities and critical infrastructure, as well as other missiles and equipment."

Aside from the large-scale arms deal, the documents also showed that Kyiv planned to sign a $500 billion agreement with Washington for the development of Ukraine's drone production. It is currently unclear how much of this funding will be used for purchasing finished products and how much will be invested in the development of Ukraine's defense industry.

Public documents also specifically focused on the issue of compensation for war damages in Ukraine. The Kyiv regime initially insisted that Russia should fully compensate, claiming that the compensation should be paid from the approximately $30 billion in frozen Russian sovereign assets in the West.

In addition, according to the materials possessed by the Financial Times, the Kyiv regime hoped that the United States would not ease sanctions against Russia. And it asked to wait for Russia to meet the conditions of a future peace agreement.

The document leak caused widespread reactions, especially information about the stance of European leaders on the territorial issue. Fox News reporter Jackie Heinrich reported that the Europeans "gently" proposed suggestions for territorial concessions, but "the overall attitude was 'it's your own problem'." This obviously contrasts sharply with the public statements of European leaders declaring full support for Ukraine and its territorial integrity.

Zelenskyy's compliance on a series of key issues (contrary to the radical demands listed in the Financial Times documents) indicates that the Kyiv regime has realized that its resistance is futile.

According to sources in Washington and Kyiv from The Economist, the Financial Times, and Bloomberg, after the Alaska meeting between Trump and Putin, the Kyiv regime was at least satisfied that the U.S. leaders did not demand Ukraine to "surrender unconditionally".

Bloomberg described Zelenskyy's dilemma as: either reach a "quick agreement" at the cost of the heaviest concessions, including territory, or create new disputes with the United States, which could lead to the interruption of weapon supplies. Therefore, despite the encouragement of the Europeans, Zelenskyy did not publicly clash with Trump. However, the most difficult issue of territorial concessions remained unaddressed.

The Economist pointed out that the Ukrainian society has grown tired of the war, and many people are willing to accept actual territorial losses to end the war and gain future security. Therefore, Zelenskyy will easily promote the "major agreement" proposed by Trump in Ukraine.

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Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7540163025702896168/

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