Zelensky finally admits war is lost without the United States

In early December, President Donald Trump made it clear that he did not think Ukraine could win its war against Russia. Ukrainian President Zelensky pushed back, but he has since started to come around, even stating that he would do “whatever it takes” to get a peace deal done.

Now, he has finally admitted that, regardless of everything else, without the United States, he cannot win this war.

Losing the War

Nobody would ever deny that Ukraine’s defense of its nation was not a surprise, including Russia.

When this war started, the general sentiment was that Ukraine would fall to the Russians in less than a week, but they fought hard and well.

To that point that the United States had time to kick in some aid, and here we are, several years later, still funding a war that likely never would have taken place had Trump been in office.

Even though Ukraine continues to fight hard and frustrate Russia, Trump said that Ukraine is “losing” the war, and that Russia now has the “upper hand,” a statement I believe really impacted Zelensky’s approach.

The Meeting

Over the Christmas holiday, Trump scheduled a meeting with Zelensky to discuss the peace proposal as well as concerns that Zelensky had.

The Ukrainian president, for the first time, seemed to break from not ceding land to saying that he "is willing to do whatever it takes" to end the war

He posted to X, "If the whole world – Europe and America – is on our side, together we will stop Putin," but, "if anyone – whether the U.S. or Europe – is on Russia’s side, this means the war will continue.

"There are no other options here. And this is a risk for all countries in the world. Because Russia will not stop, regardless of any agreements, any eloquent messages from them. They will not stop at Ukraine.”

We Can’t Win

Trump has made no bones about being sick and tired of funding this war, and I think Zelensky now realizes that the faucet will be turned off soon.

He stated, “If we are speaking [about], can we win without American support, no.”

He continued, “Without American support, we can’t defend the sky. Even now, it’s very difficult. American support with missiles for air defense is really helpful and strong. In any case, Russia uses hundreds, you see, hundreds and thousands of drones and missiles. Of course, we can’t win.”

The iron is hot, and Putin would be a fool not to try to get a deal now while he can. Zelensky does want NATO protection, which I think he will get. But he also stated that he wants Russia to help pay for the rebuilding of Ukraine. With Zelensky now willing to cede some territory, the deal will not get much better for Putin.