Zelensky Rejects FAKE Peace

This is not over. We are just getting started.

Exactly an hour ago, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told the world that just as he refused to run when Russian forces marched on Kyiv under relentless bombardment, he will not accept any deal struck between the United States and Russia that fails to secure Ukraine’s future.

This is what he said:

Ukraine is ready for real decisions that can bring peace. Any decisions that are against us, any decisions that are without Ukraine, are at the same time decisions against peace. They will not achieve anything. These are stillborn decisions. They are unworkable decisions. And we all need real and genuine peace — peace that people will respect.

Trump announced that he will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin next Friday in Alaska. Russian state media outlet Tass confirmed the date and venue — a signal that this meeting is moving forward.

The U.S. president also said there would be “some swapping of territories to the betterment of both” Ukraine and Russia, adding only that the matter would be discussed soon. He offered no further details, leaving space for speculation and pressure campaigns to shape the outcome.

According to reports, the deal under discussion could lock in some of Putin’s territorial gains in Ukraine, effectively freezing the battle lines in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. Putin has claimed four Ukrainian regions in their entirety, including territory that remains under Ukrainian control. The optics alone would hand the Kremlin a propaganda victory — the image of a U.S. president conceding part of Ukraine to secure a handshake with Putin.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk hinted at where the talks might be heading. “There are certain signals, and we also have an intuition, that perhaps a freeze in the conflict — I don’t want to say the end, but a freeze — is closer than it is further away,” he told reporters. “There are hopes for this.”

Tusk added that Zelensky was “very cautious but optimistic” about the prospect, and that Ukraine wanted Poland and other European countries involved in planning for any ceasefire and eventual peace settlement.

It is good that European leaders are leaning into the word freeze instead of “end of war.” The latter will never be true — and never remain true — when it comes to the Kremlin. “End of war” always comes with an expiry date. That was the case in 2008, and it will be the case again in 2026. Anyone who has studied Russian behavior knows that for Moscow, a pause is not peace; it is preparation.

After a series of moves against Russia, Trump is likely walking into his August 15 meeting with Putin believing he can force an agreement and claim the title of dealmaker. Putin, by contrast, enters with every option open. He can agree to stop the war and simply restart it when it suits him. He can secure sanctions relief while demanding Ukrainian territories that improve Russia’s military position for the next round. He can refill his dwindling National Wealth Fund until the U.S. midterms are over — and then send ten “little green men” back across the border.

Then he will claim a threat to Russian nationals. Argue that it was Ukraine that broke the agreement. And he will launch stockpiled missiles and drones all over Kyiv. By that time, production of Iranian drones will have surged, and he will be looking at launching 2,000-plus drones and 200 missiles every single day for at least a week before ordering his troops to move in again.

1. Take a break.

2. Start again.

3. He has been doing this for decades.

4. Why not one more time?

While the Kremlin would prefer the world to fixate on territory swaps — a subject bound to animate large swaths of the global public — the real game lies elsewhere. It is not even about sanctions. The core objective will be to stop Ukraine from obtaining long-range strike weapons, and if possible, to block any U.S. arms deliveries altogether. That is the pressure point Putin fears the most.

Both Trump’s team as well as Zelensky’s team have already fallen for this trap set by the Kremlin. The Russians are using Ukrainian land as their “maximum starting position” in negotiations — not because they expect to get it all, but because it forces Ukraine and the United States into a conflicting stance before talks even begin.

Since there is still time, this issue can be flipped.

Neither Trump nor Putin has the same leverage over Ukraine they had six months ago. That leverage has shifted because of battlefield resilience, Europe’s expanding military support, and Russia’s own stretched resources. Ukraine and Europe should stop talking about territorial swaps and start talking about the size of the weapons supply from the United States.

Zelensky should tell President Trump directly that he is willing to sign off on a peace deal — including a freeze of the frontlines — but not to hand that land over to Russia permanently. The territory will remain contested indefinitely, but Ukraine will halt active fighting for it if the United States delivers a sizeable package of long-range strike weapons, numbering in the hundreds, with the first batch arriving before the day he meets Trump and Putin in the U.S. to sign the deal.

There will be endless talk about missile transfers, rules of law, and diplomatic “norms.” And when that happens, Ukraine should say clearly: Which rule of law says accept an invasion by a country that repeatedly flouted all conventions and surrender territory because they say they will keep going?

There is none.

There never was one.

If naked aggression can be appeased, then long-range strike weapons can be transferred. Ukraine has plenty of cash on hand. Don’t ask for aid — get $5 billion ready. Talk directly to Trump. He will likely agree because it delivers the ceasefire he badly needs before the midterms. Make the payment in the morning, take the first delivery within days, then sign the deal.

If the Pentagon says its needs time to relaase the stockpiles, then tell the United States, that you will be more than happy to wait.

Ukraine must keep its public refusal on land swap loud and visible, but its backchannel communication with Washington fully open. President Zelensky’s team failed to prepare him properly for his February 28 meeting, and they are failing now.

Whatever Zelensky said today should not have come directly from him. It should have come from his office, his prime minister, or a European ally. Putin speaks rarely for a reason. The Ukrainian presidency should start doing the same.

This is not over, and Ukraine need not position itself to be thrown under the bus. Putin wants Ukraine and the U.S. to clash; he is using territorial concessions to provoke it. Ukraine must flip the board and get Putin and Trump into a fight — using long-range strike weapons as the trigger.

Putin will refuse because he knows what that means: the vastness of Russia becomes impossible to defend. Everyone knows how “good” their S-400 air-defense systems are — practically useless for missile defense. That is the gap.

Exploit it.

Trump will be more than willing to sign off on such a deal, because it satisfies his midterm optics and ties Ukraine into the U.S. defense industrial complex — a relationship that would be harder for future administrations to sever. Sometimes you take the lesson from your enemy.

That time is here.

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