{"id":434,"date":"2025-03-04T17:31:48","date_gmt":"2025-03-04T18:31:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/?p=434"},"modified":"2025-03-11T23:05:44","modified_gmt":"2025-03-11T23:05:44","slug":"zelensky-is-trying-to-save-ukraine-by-pandering-to-trumps-fantasy-world-expert-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/04\/zelensky-is-trying-to-save-ukraine-by-pandering-to-trumps-fantasy-world-expert-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Zelensky is trying to save Ukraine by \u2018pandering to Trump\u2019s fantasy world\u2019, expert says"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Donald Trump and JD Vance berated Zelensky in the White House last week (Picture: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky<\/a>\u2019s praise for Donald Trump amid his U-turn on peace talks with Russia may be a last-ditch bid to play into US president\u2019s \u2018warped fantasy\u2019 about the war, an expert has said.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Today, Zelensky reiterated his gratitude for US<\/a> support after JD Vance<\/a> accused him of not being thankful enough \u2013 and it could be that Zelensky believes this is \u2018what it will take to ensure the further survival of his country\u2019.<\/p>\n

Zelensky said: \u2018We do really value how much America has done to help Ukraine<\/a> maintain its sovereignty and independence.<\/p>\n

\u2018And we remember the moment when things changed when President Trump provided Ukraine with Javelins. We are grateful for this.\u2019<\/p>\n

Chatham House Russia Expert Keir Giles spoke to Metro <\/strong>about how Zelensky\u2019s statement \u2013 and its timing \u2013 is in a bid to appeal to Trump\u2019s \u2018warped fantasy world\u2019, rather than focusing on the arguments based in reality which \u2018enraged\u2019 Vice President JD Vance and Trump.<\/p>\n

\u2018His specific mention of javelins is important because this is a central part of the mythology created by Trump supporters that he had been \u2018tough on Russia\u2019 in his first term,\u2019 Mr Giles explained.<\/p>\n

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Javelin missiles were delivered to Ukraine from the US in 2022 (Picture: AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018But as with so much else, the appeal to the decision to provide javelins to Ukraine depends on collective amnesia about what led up to that decision and how it was implemented. These were not weapons supplied to the front line for Ukraine to defend itself against Russia.\u2019<\/p>\n

The Javelin missiles were provided<\/a> on the key condition that they would be stored in western Ukraine, Mr Giles said, over 1000 kilometres away from what is now the frontline of the war, where they\u2019re desperately needed.<\/p>\n

\u2018Supplies of Javelin were\u00a0used as leverage in Trump\u2019s much weightier concern of how to blackmail Ukraine into discrediting his political opponents,\u2019 Mr Giles said. <\/p>\n

\u2018This statement from Zelensky, just like others we\u2019ve heard from Western European politicians about building bridges to Trump,\u00a0is pandering to a version of reality which is well understood to be distant from the facts, but which is essential in order to engage with Trump.\u2019<\/p>\n

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Today, the US paused military aid to Ukraine (Picture: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Zelensky\u2019s statement today came just hours after the US paused\u00a0life-saving military aid<\/a>\u00a0to Ukraine, which is critical to defend against waves of Russian ballistic missiles, as a \u2018punishment\u2019.<\/p>\n

Zelensky offered his country\u2019s rare-earth minerals for security guarantees, and vowed to \u2018sign it in any time and in any convenient format\u2019.<\/p>\n

He wrote on X: \u2018None of us wants an endless war. Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer. Nobody wants peace more than Ukrainians.<\/p>\n

\u2018My team and I stand ready to work under Trump\u2019s strong leadership to get a peace that lasts.\u2019<\/p>\n

Mr Giles concluded: \u2018Zelensky may have made a judgment that\u00a0this is what it takes to ensure the further survival of his country, or he may, depending on the terms of the deal, have assessed that actually this is so unlikely ever to come to fruition that he has little to lose in signing the mineral agreement.\u2019<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

For more stories like this, <\/strong>check our news page<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Donald Trump and JD Vance berated Zelensky in the White House last week (Picture: Getty) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky\u2019s praise for Donald Trump amid his U-turn on peace talks with Russia may be a last-ditch bid to play into US president\u2019s \u2018warped fantasy\u2019 about the war, an expert has said. Today, Zelensky reiterated his gratitude […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":300,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-russia-ukraine"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=434"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":439,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434\/revisions\/439"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}