Hatred and Disdain for Russians Keeps Ukrainians Alive while Putin isn’t Changing his Game Plan

Russian führer Putin prides himself on bombing unarmed Ukrainian civilians everyday if President Volodymyr Zelenskyy refuses to acquiesce to Moscow’s demands by surrendering.

Many Ukrainian cities and towns from East to West, and North to South have felt Russia’s wrath. Men, women and children have been pulled from gutted apartment buildings, bodies have been removed from churches, schools, hospitals, supermarkets and train stations. With each relentless wave of drones and rockets the people’s stubbornness is not shattered along with the bricks and mortar but rather their spirit, willpower and unity have been reinforced.

A woman in Odesa, on the Black Sea coast, which has been the target of almost daily bombardments, observed to a reporter, “Honestly, do the Russians think these attacks will change anything? Our hatred and disdain for them have already reached a peak. That’s why we hold on.”

The city, home to one million residents, was plunged into near-complete darkness on December 13, with hundreds of thousands of residents left without electricity, while water and heating services became scarce.

“The emergency situation that arose as a result of the enemy's massive attack on the energy infrastructure has acquired the status of a state-level emergency,” Odesa Oblast Governor Oleh Kiper wrote on Dec. 17.

The story of determination, adaptation and defiance unfolds in this anecdote that I heard on social media: “They’re leaving us without electricity and lights. Idiots! In nine months there’ll be a million more banderite-nationalists in Ukraine. Glory to Ukraine!”

As Odesa and other cities and towns across Ukraine burn and the meaningless talks about how to end the almost four-year Russian war against Ukraine have slowed, Russian führer Putin and his gauleiters continue to offer their spin on their version of ersatz peace.  Depending on the reporter and what he or she heard at deadline, the long and the short of it testifies to Moscow’s unrelenting desire to press on with its conquest of all of Ukraine.

Putin emphasized on Friday, December 19, that Moscow’s troops were advancing across the battlefield in Ukraine and voiced confidence the Kremlin would achieve its goals militarily if Kyiv doesn’t agree to Russia’s unconditional terms in peace talks. However, there are enough reputable voices that contradict Putin’s ecstatic claim.

Speaking at his tightly orchestrated annual news conference that lasted about four and a half hours and revealed nothing new about the Kremlin’s war with Ukraine, Putin declared that Russian forces have “fully seized strategic initiative” and would make more gains by year’s end. However, international media report that Russian cutthroats have been forced back by Ukrainian soldiers near Kupiansk.

The news conference took place in the midst of back and forth peace proposals put forward by President Donald Trump and Putin. Despite the White House’s extensive diplomatic push, Washington’s efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands from Moscow and Kyiv. Though more often than not, Washington and Moscow have been on the same page regarding the demand that Ukraine, the victim, must surrender its land to Russia, the murderous aggressor and invader.

Inasmuch as Russia’s war against Ukraine has been faltering after almost four years with no triumphant victory for Russia in sight, the topic of Ukraine dominated this year’s highly choreographed faux news conference. Pundits opined that this could reflect the Kremlin’s desire to assuage the public after nearly four years of fighting by painting a bravura picture of the soldiers’ glorious victories for mother Russia.

Putin praised Trump’s peace efforts and reemphasized that Moscow was ready for a peaceful settlement that would address the “root causes” of the war, a reference to the Kremlin’s impossible conditions for a deal. Despite Trump’s misguided, historically erroneous conclusion that the war is being waged because both presidents hate each other, at this forum Putin had the opportunity to expound any lie that he wished to promote.

Putin told the audience that he has agreed to make “certain compromises” and “uneasy decisions” at the Alaska summit with Trump in August but again he didn’t elaborate.

However, he, the führer of the invading power, repeated his adamant demands that all the areas in four key regions of eastern Ukraine captured by his forces, as well as the Crimean Peninsula, illegally annexed in 2014, to be recognized as Russian territory. Trump and chief negotiator Steve Witkoff are amenable to Putin’s demand. Trump has even said that, after all, Russian soldiers fought for and seized that territory.

He has also insisted that Ukraine withdraw from some areas in eastern Ukraine that Moscow’s cutthroats haven’t captured yet.

President Zelenskyy has understandably publicly rejected all these demands.

The Kremlin has also insisted that Ukraine abandon its bid to join NATO and warned that it wouldn’t accept the deployment of any troops from members of the military alliance members and would view them as “legitimate target.”

Putin also has repeatedly said Ukraine must limit the size of its army and give official status to the Russian language — demands he has made from the outset of the conflict.

Putin rejected Western claims about Russian plans to attack European nations as “sheer nonsense” aimed at deflecting public attention from domestic problems. Nonetheless, the former captive nations of Russian subjugation are convinced that if Ukraine falls, their independence will also come to an end.

Putin particularly singled out NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte for his statements about the Kremlin’s aggressive intentions, pointing out Trump’s recently published national security strategy that doesn’t name Russia as a direct adversary. “How can you prepare NATO for a war with Russia if the main member of NATO doesn’t consider us as an enemy?” Putin insisted.

This omission by Trump shows how dangerously different his policies regarding Russia and the newly independent nations are from his predecessors of either party.

As it faces Russian assaults across the front line, relentless attacks on its energy facilities, the strikes against civilian targets and the murder of innocent men, women and children, Ukraine desperately needs cash infusions from its Western allies.

On Friday, December 19, European leaders agreed to provide a massive interest-free loan, but they failed to bridge differences with Belgium that would have allowed them to use frozen Russian assets to raise the funds.

The leaders tried to reassure Belgium, where most of the frozen assets are held, that they would protect it from any retaliation from Moscow if it backed the plan, but the leaders eventually opted to borrow the money on capital markets. Using Russian assets to help Kyiv would have amounted to “robbery,” Putin said.

Putin bragged to NBC news that he has done everything to end the war and the proverbial ball is in Ukraine’s court.

Allowing Russia to have a say in the matter of peace in Ukraine is immoral and unjust. With Trump and Witkoff parroting Putin’s demands and game plan, who is on Ukraine’s side? And Ukraine is on the verge of being raped and sacrificed again by the mighty champions of freedom and democracy.

Odesa, Ternopil, Kyiv, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia and other Ukrainian towns and cities will just have to burying their dead while waiting longer for peace to come to them.

United Nations Rez condemns Russian war vs Ukraine

 UN General Assembly Condemns Russian War vs Ukraine

The UN General Assembly, in its resolution on human rights violations in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, has condemned Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha welcomed the decision.

The resolution, titled "Situation of human rights in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, including the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol,” covers the human rights situation in all territories of Ukraine that have been temporarily occupied by Russia and provides for enhanced monitoring of the systemic violations committed by the Russian occupation administration against the local population.

In addition, it clearly condemns Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, reaffirms Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders, and stresses the non-recognition of any attempts to change the status of Ukrainian territories.

The resolution also expresses serious concern about the militarisation of the occupied territories, the forced mobilisation of their residents into the Russian Armed Forces, the persecution of journalists, human rights defenders and civil society representatives, as well as the destruction of cultural heritage, including in Crimea.

“This year's document has been strengthened with new provisions that directly condemn torture, inhuman treatment and other gross human rights violations suffered by Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilians who are being held unlawfully. The resolution builds on the findings of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the crimes of the Russian Federation, which confirm cases of enforced disappearances and torture both in the occupied territories and in Russia itself."

The document further condemns Russia's refusal to provide information about the fate of abducted and captured Ukrainians.

The UN General Assembly has called on Russia to ensure unimpeded access for the ICRC to places where prisoners are being held, to guarantee proper medical care, to carry out a full exchange of prisoners of war, and to release all those who are being held unlawfully, including Crimean Tatars, civilians, political prisoners and journalists.

The UN also demands that Russia immediately cease its aggression and withdraw all its troops from the territory of Ukraine.

Foreign Minister Sybiha welcomed the adoption of the resolution.

“Ukraine has initiated this resolution annually since 2016. The document strongly condemns Russia's aggression, reaffirms Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and demands an immediate end to the war and withdrawal of Russian forces. The resolution strengthens international monitoring of grave human rights and humanitarian law violations and underscores the imperative of accountability,” Sybil’s said,

A total of 79 countries voted in favour of the document, 16 were against and 73 abstained. Those voting against included Russia, Belarus, North Korea, China, Iran, Burkina Faso, Eritrea, Sudan, Mali, Zimbabwe, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Cuba and Nicaragua.

The UN General Assembly adopted an Ukraine-initiated resolution on strengthening international cooperation and minimising the aftermath of the 1986 disaster at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant. The document was supported by 97 countries.  The United States, Russia and Belarus voted against it.

They even Mock Adversaries in the same Manner

President Donald J. Trump and Russian führer Vladimir Putin have more in common than meets the eye.

They both mock people in the same manner.

On November 14, you may recall that Americans were aghast when Trump, meeting with reporters aboard Air Force One, mocked a female journalist’s insistent questioning. According to a host of published reports, when Catherine Lucey asked a follow-up question regarding the recently released files related to Jeffrey Epstein, Trump cut her off, pointed a finger, and snapped, “Quiet! Quiet, piggy.”

The incident attracted a great deal attention and was widely condemned, although the White House defended the remark, stating President Trump “is very frank & honest with everyone.”

Putin also lost his cool and lashed out at Western leaders during an annual meeting with his defense ministry on December 17, calling European leaders “piglets” and declaring that the goals of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine would be met “unconditionally.”

If Russia's demands were not met through diplomatic efforts, Putin warned that Russia would “liberate” what he claimed were its “historical lands” on the battlefield.

Piggies and piglets of all farms unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains!

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. 

Ukraine, Its Security and Sovereignty, and the Future

In addition to defeating and expelling Russia from Ukraine, the government of Ukraine is faced with an enduring long-term threat once the guns have silenced.

What should the free world leaders do with Moscow’s recidivist voracious desire for aggression and grabbing Ukrainian land even after a peace treaty is signed by representatives of Kyiv, Moscow, the European Union and other interested parties? It’s happened in the past regardless if a supposedly unbreakable treaty is signed or not. And the usual victim has been Ukraine.

While this topic is on the agenda of the peace talks, no one except for the representatives of Ukraine are treating this seriously.

Last summer, I wrote that Andriy Yermak, then head of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s Administration replied to my question that the concept of a Ukrainian victory is not bandied about lightly in Kyiv. The government is not merely trying to save Ukraine but it is also fighting to defeat Russia, Yermak said.

Then a few weeks later, Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Andriy Sybiha, speaking with Ukrainian civic activists ahead of the 80^th Session of the UN General Assembly, reiterated similar comments, saying that Ukraine has already won the war. After more than three and a half years of fighting against the second largest army in the world, Ukraine certainly won such a distinction. However, he cautioned, Russia unfortunately will not disappear with the end of hostilities. Even in victory and peace, Ukraine will continue to face at times an aggressive Russia and at other times a vicious neighbor that has crossed the frontier into Ukraine. Consequently, Ukraine, with the help of the United States and the free world, must be eternally vigilant, prepared and armed to preserve its independence.

Yermak and Sybiha’s message one the hand is encouraging for all Ukrainians and people of good will everywhere. But on the other, with visions of historical Russian massacres of unarmed Ukrainian civilians and destructions of cities, towns and infrastructure, another gory specter materializes. Russia had brought death to Ukraine on swords and now it brings death on drones.

The war on the ground is hard fought. Russians capture one town only to be evicted by Ukrainian soldiers who are then expelled by the aggressors.

The saddest chapters are those that are written at night and the early morning, in the frigid cold, when Russian drones and missiles strike apartment buildings, peoples’ homes, ripping apart walls and exposing bedrooms and children’s toys, like they did in Ternopil a few weeks ago.

An explosion rocked Kharkiv’s Shevchenkivskyi district, Mayor Ihor Terekhov reported on December 3. “According to preliminary information, there are casualties as a result of the enemy strike on Shevchenkivskyi district,” Terekhov wrote on his Telegram channel. He later reported that the body of one deceased person was found under the rubble at the site of the explosion in Shevchenkivskyi district, and as of 14:32, two people were known to be injured.

Four people were killed and 40 wounded in a Russian missile attack on the eastern-central Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Monday, December 1, Ukrainian officials said.

The attack came amid an intensified diplomatic push to end the nearly four-year war, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visiting Paris on Monday, a day after his team held talks with US officials. Zelenskyy has been travelling to many national capitals to solidify support for this nation.

Vladyslav Haivanenko, the acting governor of the surrounding Dnipropetrovsk region, said on the Telegram messaging app that 11 of those injured in the strike were in a serious condition. He said the search and rescue operation had been completed.

Russian strikes against civilian targets are considered war crimes, a topic which Moscow insists cannot be covered in the negotiations. Ukrainians, including President Zelenskyy, feel otherwise. Ukrainian journalist and one of the country’s most prominent human rights activists, Maksym Butkevych, spent more than two years in Russian captivity. He told Euronews Moscow is deliberately trying to avoid inevitable responsibility.

When the first version of the US-Russia plan was leaked to the media two weeks ago, Moscow sought to include a specific demand: amnesty for Russian forces for all they had done since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022.

“All parties involved in this conflict will receive full amnesty for their actions during the war and agree not to make any claims or consider any complaints in the future,” the alleged 28-point plan suggested.

This demand caused significant outrage in Ukraine, where people and authorities have been meticulously documenting all of Russia’s alleged war crimes for further investigation to hold Moscow accountable.

“While I was still in captivity, my fellow prisoners of war would come to me and ask whether they would be able to testify, for example, before the International Criminal Court or other bodies that could bring those who had done this to us to justice,” Butkevych said.

Russian soldiers have also been executing unarmed Ukrainian prisoners of war, another barefaced war crime.

The rhetorical question of what to do with Russia persists? Why can’t President Trump and his team close the deal as they’ve said they could in a short time? As I have written in the past, Russia doesn’t care about a peace deal to end the war, it doesn’t care how many of its soldiers and citizens are killed, it doesn’t care about its public image. Moscow is holding fast to its goal, which is to ultimately enslave all of Ukraine and its people. Nothing else matters. Its leaders have unabashedly proclaimed this on numerous occasions though sadly President Trump and his team have failed to hear and comprehend the meaning.

As for why are the negotiations failures? The answer clearly is their ignorance of the issues involved and stubbornness to comprehend them.

During one of the roundtable sessions in Florida a few days ago, Secretary of State Marco Rubio was asked by the journalists to assess the talks and he demonstrated the Administration’s ignorance of the issues. Rubio replied, “This is about ending a war in a way that creates a mechanism and a way forward that will allow them to be independent and sovereign, never have another war again, and create tremendous prosperity for its (sic) people.”

This quote appeared differently in the news media but it’s the version that I also heard on television. I mention this here because of the word “them.” It’s not a mere lapsus linguae, a slip of the tongue. It underscores the ignorance of the issues and careless or premeditated disregard for them as well. Rubio’s wish to create a mechanism to allow Ukraine and Russia to be independent and sovereign means both countries are equal, both are guiltless, both have the same right to independence and sovereignty and both can create prosperity for its (sic) people.

This mindset will maintain false parity between aggressor and victim ad nauseam. It will show Moscow that the free world is not blaming it for this bloody war but actually supports the Kremlin’s demand to keep the Ukrainian lands it seized because, after all, the Russians fought and won it as Trump said.

This line of thinking disqualifies the Trump team from arbitrating peace between Ukraine and its age-old nemesis Russia.

A colleague and friend of mine, Serhiy Kvit, former minister of education of Ukraine and president of the ancient, storied Ukrainian institution Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in Kyiv, ventured an explanation why the talks have failed and why they will continue to fail: the United States is not a trustworthy friend and advocate of Ukraine.

“At the international level, the main indicator of Ukraine’s current and potential allies is not the political self-identification of their parties within national contexts, but the extent to which they respect Ukrainian sovereignty and understand Ukrainian national interests. It is not words that matter most, but actions – although words are important too, as they shape our reality. Mutual respect, from which trust grows, remains the key criterion for determining who Ukraine’s true friends are – that is, those who deserve respect and trust in return,” Kvit wrote in an article that will appear in the next edition of The Ukrainian Quarterly.

With major national elections coming up in 2026 and 2028, Ukrainian Americans can take this message of victory and Russian crimes to President Trump, their elected representatives and the entire Washington establishment.  If they don’t unequivocally support Ukraine, then surely Ukrainian American voters won’t support them.

Nobody wants the war to end more than the President of Ukraine and the people of Ukraine. Nobody wants Ukrainians to defeat Russians more than Ukrainians around the world. Nobody wants justice more than Ukrainians everywhere. Listen to them.

But Ukrainians, more than Washington and Moscow, want a just peace, one point that will see Russian cutthroats leave forever Ukraine.