Trump and Zelensky approaching dangerous waters

During his campaign, Donald Trump said he could have the Russian-Ukraine conflict ended before he even took office, if not on Day One of his administration.

A month in, that has yet to happen, and now Trump and Zelensky are trading barbs in the media, and the optics on this are looking worse by the day. 

He's a Dictator

Due to the war, Zelensky has suspended elections in Ukraine, which I do not support at all. We have had elections during World Wars in this country, so there is no reason to suspend them.

Zelensky wants more money, and Trump wants accountability and assurances that we will get more money back. Zelensky has pushed back against a proposed deal made by Trump, which led to Trump throwing a nasty hook in Zelensky's direction.

Trump stated, "A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left. In the meantime, we are successfully negotiating an end to the War with Russia, something all admit only ‘TRUMP,’ and the Trump Administration, can do. Biden never tried, Europe has failed to bring Peace, and Zelenskyy probably wants to keep the ‘gravy train’ going."

Part of the problem is that, at least to this point, Zelensky has not been brought to the table. When he said he would never agree to a deal that was negotiated without him, Trump claimed that Zelensky started the war, which is just flat-out wrong.

Shots Traded

Congressional Republicans immediately pushed back against Trump's claim. For instance, Senator Pete Ricketts (R-NE) stated, "Ukraine clearly did not start this war. The fact is that Russia invaded Ukraine and must be held accountable. Otherwise, aggressors will be encouraged in their bad actions."

Then Zelenksy came out firing, stating, "We have seen this disinformation. We understand that it is coming from Russia. I think Putin and the Russians are very happy, because questions are discussed with them."

Secretary of State Marco Rubio tried to put this fire out, reasoning that they are meeting with Russia first to try to find solutions they can take to Ukraine to end this war. He added, "For us to be able to continue to move down this road, we need to have diplomatic facilities that are operating and functioning normally."

While all this is happening, Trump continues to post statements about the war that are just factually wrong. For instance, Trump claimed that Zelensky "talked the United States of America into spending $350 Billion Dollars, to go into a War that couldn't be won, that never had to start." Congress has "only" appropriated $175 billion for this war, so I have no idea where Trump came up with a figure that is double that.

Creating Panic

The attacks by Trump against Zelensky have created a panic of sorts in Ukraine, as residents are now wondering if Trump is turning the United States against them.

It has gotten to the point that Ukrainians are expressing fear that Russia will mount a massive offensive against Kyiv that Trump would not help defend.

For instance, international relations analyst and modern warfare expert Mykhailo Samus stated, “Russians could use Belarus again to try to attack Ukraine from the north to change the configuration [of the battlefield}. Normally, Russia tries to cover their battle operations, and so we are monitoring the situation in Belarus.”

I am not a fan of Zelensky, as I did not like how he took advantage of Biden, but at the same point, the country is our ally and Trump cannot continue to put out blatantly false information regarding the war, let alone suggesting that it was Ukraine that started it. This needs to stop, period. Bring Zelensky to the table, negotiate a settlement, and let's get this war behind us so we can turn off this endless faucet of military aid.