Russian Trojan Horse in Ukraine

Europe Says Long-Term Russian Presence in Ukraine is Trojan Horse for more Invasions 

Any plan that foresees the continued presence of Russian troops in eastern Ukraine for the sake of an unsecured peace is being regarded by European officials as a classic Trojan horse.

One of the plans that is being circulated calls for the establishment of an economic free zone in the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts with the stationing of Russian cutthroats.

European officials have expressed their concern that this US-brokered peace deal in Ukraine could be exploited by Russia, paving the way for a re-invasion of territory in the war-battered nation’s eastern Donbas region or other regions, according to Bloomberg News and  other news outlets.

The fear is that the US plan for a demilitarized zone would give the Russia cover to deploy covert forces in the contested area pending another invasion, according to people familiar with the matter. The Kremlin might then use hybrid tactics, including so-called false flag operations, to undermine US security guarantees and manufacture the premise for a new invasion, they said.   

Russia is demanding that Ukrainian forces withdraw from the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions — including territory Russia doesn’t control. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has adamantly refused to cede any Ukrainian land to the Russian aggressor. NATO supports Kyiv’s position.  Europe’s main objective in the coming weeks is to ensure that any peace deal doesn’t contain a Russian Trojan horse. 

The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on those concerns.  

Russian fuhrer Vladimir Putin will likely retain his maximalist goals of subjugating all of Ukraine not merely the eastern oblasts and then reconstituting the evil Russian empire.

Peter Ricketts, a former British national security adviser, said the Europeans were right to be concerned by the US proposal for a demilitarized zone. Once American attention drifted elsewhere, Putin could “create incidents as pretexts” — such as protecting Russian speakers, to move in, he said. 

“This would leave the rest of Ukraine vulnerable to the next Russian advance,” Ricketts said. “So this is not just a technical point, but a fundamental issue — for Ukraine and for European security.” 

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte this week warned of a threat beyond Ukraine’s borders, saying Russia will come for the rest of Europe if its warmongering isn’t checked now. 

“We are Russia’s next target. And we are already in harm’s way,” Rutte said in Berlin. “We must be prepared for the scale of war our grandparents and great-grandparents endured.”

“There is one question I — and all Ukrainians — want to get an answer to,” Zelenskyy told Bloomberg News on Monday. “If Russia again starts a war, what will our partners do.”