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.”

Congress gives Ukraine lifeline

Congress Gives Ukraine a Fighting Chance against Russian Invaders

American lawmakers have extended Ukraine’s lifeline so its armed forces can continue to defend its country against Russian cutthroats that invaded Ukraine the last time in February 2022.

The US House of Representatives on December 10 approved a new $900 billion defense spending bill that includes military aid to Ukraine. 

The bill upholds many of President Donald Trump's national security policies but places limits on his ability to reduce American troops in Europe and withhold support to Ukraine.

The bill reauthorizes the use of the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), a Pentagon-led program that supplies arms to Ukraine through contracts with US defense companies. It states that Ukraine will receive $400 million per year via the USAI for fiscal years 2026 and 2027.

The authorization that will help Ukraine stand up to Russian aggression will also help American businesses and economy.

The legislation bars the Pentagon from reducing the number of troops "permanently stationed in or deployed" to Europe below 76,000 for longer than 45 days. 

It also requires the Defense Department to notify Congress within 48 hours of any decision to restrict intelligence sharing with Ukraine, according to Ukraine's ambassador to the US Olha Stefanishyna. Intelligence sharing is important for Ukraine because of US technological superiority in monitoring Russian activities that threaten soldiers and civilians.

The bill received bipartisan support, passing in a 312-112 vote. It will next advance to the Senate, where it is also expected to win bipartisan approval. 

According to the White House, Trump has not allocated any new defense aid packages under the Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) — a tool frequently used by President Joe Biden. Instead, the  administration is selling arms to Ukraine via NATO partners, using the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL).

Trump has repeatedly stressed that the US is not paying for the war to continue, but rather profiting off weapons sales to NATO.

President Trump is anti-Ukraine – He’ll Get His Comeuppance on Election Day

Flying in the face of his post-World War Two successors of both parties as well as the justified expectations of America’s European leaders and the new, hopeful former captive nations of Russian subjugation, American President Donald Trump has revealed himself to be anti-Ukraine and very pro-Russia.

As a political animal, Trump knows that in 2026 and 2028 he and the Republican Party will have to answer to Ukrainian American voters – those who became citizens this year and the descendants of the tempest tossed who settled in the land of the free and the home of the brave in the 19th century.

I have suspected this since the infamous undiplomatic ambush in the Oval Office but the cumulative manifestations of President Trump’s abusive and flippant comments about Ukraine, President Zelenskyy, führer Putin and Russia have convinced me that America’s Chief Executive is anti-Ukraine while simultaneously favoring Russia and Putin.

Trump’s latest volley came this week, when he castigated Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy for not agreeing to the peace agreement that he had composed with his negotiators and Russian representatives to the talks but without Ukrainians. He warned Ukrainian leaders that Russia, which is much bigger than Ukraine, will win because size wins. Sounds like Trump is flexing his bullying muscles. Trump surely isn’t inclined to help Ukraine defeat and expel Russia from its land. According to his new world order, helping Putin is easier than helping Ukraine and, moreover, it fits his view of the future.

“They have to play ball. If they don’t read agreements, potential agreements, it’s not easy with Russia because Russia has the upper hand. And they always did. They’re much bigger. They’re much stronger in that sense. I give the people of Ukraine and the military of Ukraine tremendous credit for the bravery and for the fighting. But you know, at some point, size will win, generally,” Trump was quoted as saying in Politico.

Trump did not even venture a small suggestion that perhaps the Armed Forces of Ukraine could defeat Russia and force its expulsion with extra arms and support. Russia, Trump concluded without consulting America’s European allies, is too powerful for Ukraine to continue fighting. Trump accused Zelenskyy of stalling progress on a peace agreement by refusing to accept demands that favor Russia and are tantamount to a capitulation for Ukraine. Then he didn’t chastise Putin and his entourage for stalling the talks with an assortment of excuses.

As for his son’s prediction that as a result of Ukraine’s alleged recalcitrance he will distance himself from the peace process, Trump said it’s not correct and it’s also not wrong.

Trump disparagingly demanded that Zelenskyy “is going to have to get on the ball and start accepting things,” adding: “When you’re losing — because he’s losing,” in an interview with Politico. That is, accepting Trump and Putin’s doomed view of Ukraine’s future.

He added: “He [President Vladimir Putin] had no respect for Zelenskyy, didn’t like Zelenskyy. They really hate each other. And part of the problem is they hate each other really a lot, you know. And it’s very hard for them to try and make a deal. It’s harder than most.”

Again, Trump shows that he doesn’t know the issues except for their superficial expressions and doesn’t care to learn and understand them. It’s not a matter of two presidents hating each other. Russia’s national animosity toward Ukraine is centuries old, it’s based on Moscow’s imperial desires, and it has precipitated numerous Russian invasions of Ukraine and bloodshed.

Speaking to the German tabloid Bild, Trump said: “He (Zelenskyy) needs to get his act together and start accepting things.” In an interview with Politico released Tuesday, Trump pressed Zelenskyy to accept the US proposal that Ukraine cede territory to Russia, arguing Moscow has the “upper hand” in its nearly four-year-old invasion, and that Zelenskyy’s government must “play ball.”

Bloomberg reported earlier that European leaders still hold out hope that Trump will return to his earlier view that Russia is responsible for the ongoing war in Ukraine, but they are also preparing for the worst-case scenario, in which the United States “forgives” Russia and leaves Ukraine with no assistance. Apparently, even Europe accepts the possibility that the pressure on Ukraine will be so unrelenting that it will be forced to accept any conclusion. This will repeat in the 21st century the historical immoral and criminal scenarios of betrayal of Ukraine by foreign powers.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), a longtime support of Ukraine, criticized Trump on Monday, accusing him of favoring Russia over US allies in Europe as part of his new National Security Strategy. Schumer, a regular speaker at the Ukrainian community’s Holodomor commemoration at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, wrote, “Moscow is now endorsing Trump’s National Security Strategy. Trump is selling out our allies in Europe and putting Russia first — the inevitable result of rolling out the red carpet for Putin in Alaska.” He added sarcastically, “This photo should be on the front cover of his so-called ‘Strategy,’” referring to a past meeting between Trump and Putin in Alaska.

Putin, speaking earlier this week with pro-Kremlin advocates, reaffirmed his long-held false claim the Ukraine’s Donbas and other Ukrainian territories are Russia’s “historic territory” and vowed to fulfill his war goals. “We will certainly take it to the logical conclusion,” he said.

The logical conclusion, of which Putin speaks but the White House is silent, is the complete subjugation of Ukraine and its people by Moscow. Putin had been quoted as threatening the annihilation of all Ukrainians if they don’t give in to his demand. He said Russia will fight even until the last Ukrainian is alive.

For his part, President Zelenskyy has steadfastly reaffirmed his unwavering refusal to cede any Ukrainian territory, resisting US pressure for painful concessions to Russia as he moved Tuesday, December 9, to rally more European support for his country. Their support is reminiscent of Western European allies’ alliance against Nazi Germany.

“Undoubtedly, Russia insists for us to give up territories. We, clearly, don’t want to give up anything. That’s what we are fighting for,” Zelenskyy told reporters in a WhatsApp chat late Monday.

“Do we consider ceding any territories? According to the law we don’t have such right,” he said. “According to Ukraine’s law, our constitution, international law, and to be frank, we don’t have a moral right either.”

Zelenskyy’s remarks suggest he will not bend to pressure from Putin or President Trump, whose negotiators had proposed Ukraine give up its eastern region of the Donbas – about 20% of the country’s territory – as part of a plan to end Russia's war on Ukraine. That is a significant act of surrender.

According to Ukraine’s unified national mission, the country, government, military and people, will not surrender to Russian ultimatums. Having said that, imagine what that means. All segments of Ukraine, military and civilians, easterners and westerners, farmers, professionals, and intellectuals, adults and students are committed to standing up for Ukraine. The alternative, understandably, is the annihilation of which Putin spoke.

European powers rallied behind Ukraine on Monday after Trump lashed out at Zelenskyy a day prior, accusing him of not reading the US-proposed peace plan to end the Russia-Ukraine war. They, representatives of NATO countries and newly-independent ones, are well aware of what they may expect if Russia defeats Ukraine.

“We stand with Ukraine,” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Monday as the leader was hosting German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Zelenskyy and French President Emmanuel Macron in London. 

Starmer said if a ceasefire is to be reached, it needs to be “just and lasting,” stressing “it is so important we repeatedly set out the principle that matters about Ukraine are for Ukraine.” 

The backing from the UK prime minister came after Trump said on Sunday that he was a “bit disappointed that President Zelenskyy hasn’t yet read the proposal, which was as of a few hours ago.” 

Starmer, Macron and Merz strongly back Kyiv, with the UK leader saying Monday the push for peace was at a “critical stage,” and stressed the need for “a just and lasting ceasefire.”

Merz, meanwhile, said he was “skeptical” about some details in documents released by the U.S. “We have to talk about it. That’s why we are here,” he said. “The coming days … could be a decisive time for all of us.”

European leaders are working to ensure that any ceasefire is backed by solid security guarantees both from Europe and the US to deter Russia from attacking again, a realistic possibility. Trump has not given explicit guarantees in public.

Zelenskyy and his European allies have repeatedly accused Putin of slow-walking the talks to press ahead with the invasion as his forces make steady gains while waves of missiles and drones pummel Ukrainian infrastructure.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also alleged the Trump administration was undermining Ukraine and US interests for personal and political gain.

If Ukraine falls to Russian aggression regardless of Trump’s warped reasoning, it will be a dark day that will live on in infamy. It will answer the question of “Who lost Ukraine.” Trump did.