Zelenskyy’s Independence Day Pledge: Ukraine will Continue to Fight for its Freedom

No people want peace more than Ukrainians. After more than 1,278 days of fighting against the Russian invaders, Ukrainians are understandably tired and frustrated. They’re in this fight for their existence alone. Except for a handful of allies that are providing Ukraine with a wide array of weapons to stand up Russian aggression, Ukrainians are battling for their lives without external help. 

Unfortunately, their single-handed fight will go on as it has in the past, bringing death and destruction to their people and country.

As President Donald J. Trump raises the world’s hopes for an end to this costly combat, Russian leaders are slapping his face every day by continuing to bomb Ukrainian cities and kill its civilians even as they pretend they’re seeking peace.

Since the Alaska summit, and then the Oval Office meeting and the ensuing days, as Trump, Zelenskyy and Russian officials, including Putin genuinely or not talked about peace, Russia launched hundreds of aerial bombs and drones against Ukrainian targets. Russians didn’t even conceal their intentions. It merely rained death on unarmed Ukrainian civilians, hoping to suppress their support for the war.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is daily confronted by barrage of lies and deviations as he endeavors to save his people, push back or defeat Russian aggressors and even save the integrity of the free world.

While he wants peace, he understands he must defend his nation against Russian aggression and the prospect of re-subjugation. The BBC quoted him as saying: “President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine would continue to fight for its freedom ‘while its calls for peace are not heard,’ in a defiant address to the nation on its Independence Day. We need a just peace, a peace where our future will be decided only by us,” he said, adding that Ukraine was “not a victim, it is a fighter.”

He continued: “Ukraine has not yet won, but it has certainly not lost.”

No one can accuse Zelenskyy of rejecting peace; no one can blame him for opposing the war that Russia brought to his country.

His Independence Day speech was filled with historical references about the nation’s quest for freedom and independence. As Russians declare that there are no such country and nation as Ukraine and Ukrainians, Zelenskyy set the record straight by stating: “When we hear from the enemy every day: ‘There is no such state, there is no such nation.’ And when, every day, we prove the opposite. We prove that Ukrainians exist – and Ukrainians will remain on this land, on this square, where our future generations will stand a hundred years from now. And a hundred years from now, they will celebrate Ukraine’s Independence Day here.”

Asserting that Ukrainians will continue to strike back against Russian aggression, Zelenskyy said “No one can forbid us such strikes because it’s justice itself that delivers them. Just as when Russia attacks us every day – our peaceful cities, our hospitals, our schools, killing our civilians, our children – it receives the ‘Spiderweb’ in response. And this is how justice strikes. This is how Ukraine strikes when its calls for peace are ignored. How many times have we proposed a ceasefire? How many times have we said: ‘We want silence, we seek peace?’ But a dignified, all-encompassing peace – and that is why we count on the strength of the entire world.”

Zelenskyy believes Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggressors has united the free world in an important mission. Not only to save Ukraine but to also to save the free world and stop Russia’s westward incursion.

“Ukraine that can, indeed, in a single day, gather and unite the world’s leaders around itself. Ukraine with which the United States – and the entire world – wants to co-produce drones. Ukraine that has restored the unity of Europe and the United States and now serves as the foundation of this alliance. Ukraine that stands its ground and can defend itself. And that is why Ukraine is heard, Ukraine is taken into account, and Ukraine is listened to. Its place is at the table; it is not told, ‘Wait outside the door.’ It is said, ‘The decision is yours alone.’”

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Ukraine’s fight against the aggressor has united the nation in a cause. It has united the people, the military, the mission and the President. To be sure, there are malcontents egged on by Moscow, but for the most part the nation is united. Just watch the funeral corteges that everyday bring home the bodies of the dead heroes.

And the people, all the people around the world know. They know that Russians are bloodthirsty killers.

“Ukraine has secured its independence. Ukraine is not a victim; it is a fighter. Ukraine does not beg; it offers. Alliance and partnership. The best army in Europe. Advanced defense technologies. Experience in resilience. We say: ‘We need the EU.’ And we do. But the EU needs us just as much. And everyone acknowledges this. And this is how Ukraine is seen – not as a poor relative, but as a strong ally.

This is precisely what the Coalition of the Willing is about. This was what Washington was about. About that and about ensuring a sustainable, reliable, long-lasting peace. Ukraine will achieve it because it will receive security guarantees – so strong that the thought of attacking Ukraine would never cross anyone’s mind,” the Ukrainian President said.

“This is not just our goal – it is exactly what we want and must pass on as a legacy to our children and grandchildren: a strong Ukraine, an equal Ukraine, a European Ukraine, an independent Ukraine,” he continued. “We are building a Ukraine strong and powerful enough to live in security and peace. So that here, on this square, on our Independence Square, beneath our flags, on our land, our children and grandchildren will celebrate Independence Day. In peace. In calm. With confidence in the future. With respect. And with gratitude to all those who defended Ukraine in this war for independence. To those who endured, who prevailed, who gained victory. Such a goal is worth living for. And this is what we stand for.”

Will the United States and the free world again abandon Ukraine in favor of Russia?

White House Confusion

While Vice President JD Vance’s grasp of the issues and Ukraine’s history has been questionable, he said on Ukrainian Independence Day that Putin will not install a “puppet regime” in Ukraine after the war between Russia and Ukraine has concluded. 

Vance made the remarks in an interview on Sunday with Kristen Welker on NBC News’s Meet the Press while discussing the aftermath of Trump’s meeting and subsequent communications with Putin. Vance also praised Trump’s “energetic diplomacy” while pursuing peace negotiations to end the war.

He said Russia was prepared to make some concessions in peace negotiations, but not everything, as of yet. He stressed that there was still work and a long way to go. However, he did not say concessions is a concept that is alien to Russia’s miliary doctrine.

“But what they have conceded is the recognition that Ukraine will have territorial integrity after the war,” Vance said. “They’ve recognized that they’re not going to be able to install a puppet regime in Kyiv. That was, of course, a major demand at the beginning.”

“And importantly, they’ve acknowledged that there is going to be some security guarantee to the territorial integrity of Ukraine,” he added. “Again, have they made every concession? Of course, they haven't. Should they have started the war? Of course, they haven't. But we’re making progress, Kristen.”

What territorial integrity when Moscow demands Donbas and Washington is ready to submit to it. Furthermore, Trump has said Kyiv can forget about Crimea.

There is a small, anointed cabal of leaders in the Kremlin that make all of the decisions. Putin is the capo di tutti capi, then there’s Sergey Lavrov and the last one is Dmitry Peskov. Former President Dmitry Medvedev talks, complains and threatens like a Chihuahua but does not decide. Even the cabinet members are around only for show. None of them has ever talked about concessions, surrendering something to Ukraine in order to bring about an end to the war. The only truths emanating from the Russian corner office are that Ukraine will never accede to NATO, Russia wants Donbas today but tomorrow it will want all of Ukraine, and its military machine is poised to roll over Eastern Europe, an eventuality that scares the peoples of the former captive nations. 

Russia is also scaring Ukrainians in Donbas who are panicking at the thought of being turned over to Russia, something that some in the free world, like Trump, are hoping for in order to satiate Russia’s thirst for conquest.

Two More Weeks

As if Russia hasn’t used up all of its grace periods. Trump said last Friday he will give Putin “a couple of weeks,” further extending his deadline for potential consequences against Moscow after urging the Russian leader to meet with Zelenskyy in hopes of ending the war.

Asked by CNN’s Alayna Treene if there’s a possibility he does nothing if Putin doesn’t come to the table, Trump said, “We’ll see. I’ll see whose fault it is.”

“If there are reasons why, I will understand that; I know exactly what I’m doing. We’re going to see whether or not they have a meeting, that will be interesting to see, and if they don’t, why didn’t they have a meeting? Because I told them to have a meeting,” Trump said.

“But I’ll know in two weeks what I’m going to do,” Trump added, repeating a timeline he’s repeatedly issued to determine Putin’s willingness to end the war in Ukraine. What is unknown is why is Trump being so magnanimous? Why does he want to give Putin a break? Why doesn’t Trump want to choose sides – Ukraine’s – and strive for its victory and Russia’s defeat?

His latest comments come as the momentum around peace talks has stalled, with no sign that the bilateral meeting the White House has pushed is happening. Lavrov said earlier on Friday that there were no plans for a meeting between the two leaders. Despite hopeful headlines in newspapers around the world about a bilateral meeting to end the war, nothing could be farther from the truth. Unless Russia has the upper hand, unless it wins everything that it can, unless the United States will pledge to stay away from Moscow’s ill-gotten gains, Russia won’t budge toward a summit.

After Trump met with Putin in Alaska last week and hosted Zelenskyy and European leaders at the White House earlier this week, he’d teased a bilateral meeting, potentially to be followed by a trilateral meeting he would join. 

“You understand that I wanted to have a meeting with those two. I could have been at the meeting, but a lot of people think that nothing’s going to come out of that meeting. ‘You have to be there.’ Maybe that’s true. Maybe it’s not, but we’re going to see in the meantime, people continue to die,” Trump said Friday. Trump repeated his two-week timeframe several times. “We’ll see what happens. I think in two weeks, we’ll know which way I’m going, because I’m going to go one way or the other, and they’ll learn which way.” 

We’ll see September 5, 2025.

Why Don’t US Presidents Know their Russian Counterparts?

Why are American presidents so ignorant about Soviet/Russian leaders? Why aren’t they better briefed by the CIA and other American intelligence agencies about the enemy? Why don’t American leaders or their righthand advisers know everything there is to know in a timely manner about their adversaries – topline as well as bottom line.

You may recall that a couple of weeks ago, ahead of the Alaska summit, President Donald Trump observed that he will “feel out” Russian dictator Putin on ending the war in Ukraine. It is dangerous for the leader of the free world, who has boasted of his close relationship with the Russin despot, to admit he has to feel out Putin. If Trump had only read American newspapers, he would have a clear answer and understanding about Putin’s aggression and desire to re-subjugate Ukraine.

Franco Ordoñez of NPR, and probably other journalists caught this brag and wrote: “President Trump said on Monday that he plans to use a Friday summit in Alaska to gauge whether Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to end his war on Ukraine — and said he’d been disappointed in the past with Putin’s actions.”

On the other hand, perhaps Trump is covering his mistakes and misjudgments about knowing or not knowing his arch nemesis and sometime buddy. Afterall, Trump is known for bragging, deceiving and outrightly lying.

In the April 2022 edition of Vanity Fair, Bess Levin observed: “And speaking of Putin, elsewhere in the interview, the former president (Trump) apparently couldn’t help himself from boasting, yet again, about how tight he was with the man currently responsible for the slaughter of innocent people (Ukrainians). ‘I knew Putin very well. Almost as well as I know you, Sean (Hannity),’ Trump said, as images of body bags were flashed across the screen. ‘I will tell you, we talked about it, we talked about it a lot, he did want Ukraine, but I said, ‘You’re not going into Ukraine.’ He would never, ever have gone into Ukraine [on my watch].”

So, who are you going to believe – that Trump or this Trump or none of them?

This malady of not knowing the Russian adversary is not only afflicting President Trump. In the fall of 1989, President George H.W. Bush was preparing to meet Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in an equally unusual location – at sea – in preparation for the following year’s arms summit. Bush met Gorbachev for the first time in December 1989 at the Malta Summit that was held aboard a Soviet cruise ship. It came less than a month after the fall of the Berlin Wall and was widely seen as a symbolic ending to the Cold War. 

The New York Times trumpeted in a page-one banner headline: “Bush Will Meet Gorbachev to Get Better Acquainted in Talks at Sea Next Month.”

It will offer the two leaders “a chance to put our feet up and talk,” Bush was quoted as saying.

American presidents’ gap in understanding of who their adversaries are is certainly detrimental to the United States, the free world and the former subjugated nations of Russian aggression, such as Ukraine.