Thoughts about Odesa: ‘We must overcome betrayal to become independent’

If you’ve been following events about Russia’s bloody war against Ukraine, with its devastating bombardment of civilian targets and infrastructure, then you’d know that promises in the Kremlin are – actually, have always been – rather cheap. They’ll promise one thing, such as stopping destruction of civilian targets only to resume bombing civilian apartment buildings before the ink dries.

This week, in the midst of negotiations and the White House’s delusional belief that Moscow can be believed, Russia attacked Ukraine with 145 drones, two ballistic missiles, and four anti-aircraft missiles, Ukraine’s Air Force said. The attacks targeted the Sumy, Odesa, Poltava, Dnipropetrovsk, Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Chernihiv regions; 72 drones were shot down, the air force said on Wednesday. Then today, at least seven people were killed after Russian launched a barrage of drones across Ukraine.  The attacks, including on the capital, Kyiv, came ahead of ceasefire negotiations. These is the monotonous but deadly repetition of Russia’s attacks against Ukrainian civilians—negotiate, truce, stop attacks, resume attacks, week in, week out.

Russia attacked Ukraine’s historic port city of Odesa during the overnight of March 21, triggering fires as several infrastructure targets were hit as well as a high-rise residential building and shopping center. Regional Governor Oleh Kiper said the drone attack happened while Czech President Petr Pavel was meeting with regional officials in Odesa.

“Significantly, it was during our meeting that the enemy once again massively attacked the Odesa region,” Kiper said in a statement on Telegram.

Pavel said he discussed further direct support for Ukraine during the Odesa meeting.

“I arrived in Odesa, Ukraine, which has been resisting Russian aggression since the beginning of the war. Aid is being from the Czech Republic in the form of combat vehicles, drones, protective vests, mobile jammers that protect residents from drone attacks, as well as medical equipment such as ventilators and hospital beds,” Pavel said on X. “Together with the leadership of the Odesa, Mykolayiv and Kherson regions, we discussed further direct support for the regions that are directly on the front line.”

I asked my wife’s 50-year-old family friend for her thoughts on Moscow’s latest bombing of her hometown. She observed: “I remember how scary it was in 2022 (When Russia’s latest war against Ukraine began on February 22, 2022). How I woke up in the morning and read the news that the ‘orcs’ (Ukrainians’ pejorative description of Russian invaders.)  were approaching Mykolayiv, that in three hours they could be in Odesa, how Russian ships were anchored opposite Odesa, enemy guns were pointed at us, the Russian landing force tried to capture the city several times, how Odesa was closed for 2-3 days with a curfew. We all started praying in the morning and after a few hours the enemy retreated, his plans collapsed... Our guys went out to these monstrosities almost with their bare hands and pushed them back again and again. How many hours did that first long day of the war last? I don't remember when it ended for me personally – in three months or a year and a half, maybe when Kherson and Kharkiv were liberated. But, remembering those very difficult times, I clearly understand that God, his Protection and Help are always with us... otherwise we would not have survived then, in 2022. Ukraine has been defending itself from enemies for a very long time, but it has never learned to defend itself from betrayal. We must learn this lesson in order to finally become completely independent and self-sufficient.”

Ukrainians’ hope for a swift and victorious end to the war is intensified with every Russian drone and missile and every drop of Ukrainian blood. God bless Ukrainians.

For more on this topic, I invite you to visit http://thetorncurtain1991.blogspot.com/.

Trump’s Abandonment of Ukraine & Ukrainian Americans Deepens

Since his inauguration as President of the USA on January 20, 2025, Donald J. Trump has been behaving like an overt Russian asset rather than the duly elected chief executive of the American people.

Trump’s sidling up to Russia’s Vladimir Putin has become more visible by his actions and words every day. Much to the shock of the x-captive nations, notably Ukrainians, and their landsmen in the United States, Trump defiantly switched sides and began promoting Moscow’s line of imperial thinking. He blamed Ukraine for starting the war and he called President Zelenskyy a dictator. In Trump’s mind Ukraine was guilty of all transgressions while Russia was merely doing what others in its place would be doing—defending itself.

After the previous administration designated Ukraine America’s strategic partner, the current White House has stepped back. Its abandonment of Kyiv and Ukrainian Americans is deepening.

Two events took place this week that intensified the rejection.

After eight decades of providing truthful and needed analysis and information to the captive nations behind the iron curtain, President Trump has decided to silence the Voice of America. The VOA is an international broadcaster that operates in nearly 50 languages. USAGM also funds Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Radio Free Asia.

Tech billionaire and senior Trump adviser Elon Musk called for VOA and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty to be terminated. “Europe is free now (not counting stifling bureaucracy). Hello?? 2. Nobody listens to them anymore,” Musk said in an early February post on the social platform X. “3. It’s just radical left crazy people talking to themselves while torching $1B/year of US taxpayer money.”

Too bad that Musk is not in tune with what is happening in the now independent former captive nations otherwise he would know that VOA broadcasts, which kept previous generations informed about what was happening in the USSR and beyond, are still extremely viable and in demand, complementing the other media with its brand of news reporting.

Then, the White House announced that its participation in the commission investigating Russian war crimes in Ukraine has ended. This concerns the International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine (ICPA), which was established to hold Russia’s leadership and its allies in Belarus, North Korea and Iran accountable for aggression that violates the sovereignty of another country and is not conducted in self-defense.

According to sources familiar with the situation, the US Department of Justice has informed European officials about the US withdrawal from the group.

The decision was expected to be announced yesterday in an email to the group’s parent organization, the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust), according to The New York Times.

The Hague-based International Center for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine is a judicial hub supporting national investigations into the crime of aggression committed by the Russian leadership, including President Vladimir Putin, who has been convicted of war crimes, and Moscow's allies against Ukraine.

While the group is made up of specialists from Ukraine, Poland, Romania, and the Baltic countries, the Biden administration appointed a special prosecutor to support the hub’s activities in 2023.

The Trump administration will also reduce the work of the U.S. Justice Department's War Crimes Accountability Team, which was launched in 2022 to investigate Russia for the atrocities it had committed during the full-scale invasion. That’s like allowing all criminals to have their way at ruling their roost.

Ukraine is investigating more than 150,000 possible war crimes committed by Russia as part of its all-out war, including the summary execution of prisoners and targeted aerial strikes against civilians. Russian brutality against prisoners of war and civilians and kidnappings has been condemned by the United Nations and other international organizations.

Since being elected to office, the U.S., at the instructions of Trump, has sought to water down joint statements labeling Russia as the aggressor and the “sole obstacle” to peace.

Despite America’s withdrawal, the International Center for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression said the group remains “fully committed” to holding “those responsible for core international crimes” in Ukraine accountable, Schmid said. The group consists of prosecutors from Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Romania.

It is obvious, therefore, that the progression of steps by the Trump administration leads many to believe, including us, that Trump’s and Putin’s plans and goals for Ukraine are aligned, as Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis observed. His thoughts have been echoed by Finnish President Aleksander Stubb who said, “Putin does not want peace. His original goal was to destroy Ukraine — and that goal has not changed."

Despite what will be the upshot of today’s telephone conversation between Trump and Putin, Moscow has its own plans for Ukraine and the region. A document prepared for the Kremlin by a Moscow-based think tank states that “a peaceful resolution of the Ukraine war cannot happen before 2026,” according to The Washington Post.

The document, drawn up in February, outlines the Russian plan to weaken the U.S. position on the Ukraine crisis by boosting tensions between the Trump White House and other nations as Russia moves ahead with its plans to pick apart the country.

The document, obtained by a European intelligence agency and reviewed by The Post, argues that the current Ukrainian government needs to be fully dismantled. “The current Kyiv regime cannot be changed from inside the country. Its complete dismantling is needed,” the report states. This is proof that Moscow intends to expand its invasion and then evict, destroy and perhaps kill the democratically elected government of Ukraine and in its place install its typical puppets.

The sad irony of Washington’s position is that hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians who immigrated to the United States and their descendants in the 19th century, during World War One, after World War Two and today, have been betrayed by the White House. Today, the President and his minions are implementing policies that do not benefit anyone except Russia.

Level of Russian Bombardment of Ukraine Proves that Putin is not Interested in Peace

The latest Russian war against Ukraine is divided into reality and fantasy, woefully delaying a serious discussion of peace and an end to this bloody war.

Despite President Zelenskyy’s better efforts to paint a realistic picture of what Russia is doing to his Ukraine and nation, Russia’s Vladimir Putin abetted by America’s Donald Trump are turning reality into a macabre mélange of fabrications that are nowhere near authenticity.

Trump’s intrusion into peacemaking is based on trusting his close friend Putin and exonerating Russia of all crimes against Ukraine, twisting the truth, calling Zelenskyy a dictator, and putting the onus of peace on the victim.

Recently, Russia has undertaken the following attacks against Ukrainian civilian targets while the White House insists that it is up to Ukraine to return to the negotiating table. At least 25 people have died in Ukraine in the latest wave of Russian strikes, Ukrainian officials say, as the killings show no signs of easing.

・On the evening of March 7 one attack on Donetsk Region killed least 11 people and wounded 40, including six children, local officials said. Homes and infrastructure were hit in other regions, including Kharkiv and Odesa.

・On the night of March 7-8, the Russians attacked a civilian company in Bohodukhiv, Kharkiv Oblast, with a drone, killing three people and injuring seven others.

・On the evening of March 7, the Russians again launched a large-scale drone strike on Odesa, and fires broke out in the city.

・On Friday, March 7, Russia carried out another large-scale missile and drone strike on Ukraine, targeting energy and gas infrastructure in various regions. Strikes have been reported in Kharkiv and the Ternopil, Odesa, and Chernihiv regions, hitting critical facilities. Civilians have been affected.

Russian attacks have intensified in recent days, as the US paused military aid and intelligence-sharing with Kyiv, leaving it blind. It followed last week's Oval Office clash between President Donald Trump and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky.

After the latest Russian strikes, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk observed: “This is what happens when someone appeases barbarians. More bombs, more aggression, more victims.”

Kaja Kallas, high representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, has said that Russia’s recent missile strikes on Ukraine demonstrate Putin's lack of desire for peace. “Once again, Putin shows he has no interest in peace. We must step up our military support – otherwise, even more Ukrainian civilians will pay the highest price,” Kallas, an Estonian, said. 

Estonia, a former captive nation of Russian subjugation, is a staunch supporter along with Lithuania and Latvia of unrestrained support for Ukraine. Indeed, the three Baltic countries openly admit that they fear that Russia’s imperialistic appetite has not been slaked, and they could be next.

President Trump has not shown any compassion whatsoever for Ukraine, its nation and just aspirations. In the wake of the latest bombings of Ukraine, he said that it is easier for him to deal with Russia on achieving peace in Ukraine because, according to him, Russia “has all the cards.” This sounds as if Trump believes that Russia is winning so it would be easier to help it finally defeat Ukraine.

“Right now they (Russia) are bombing the hell out of Ukraine. I’m finding it more difficult, frankly, to deal with Ukraine. But they (Russia) have all the cards,” Trump said at a press conference in Washington on Friday.

Speaking about the shelling of Ukraine by Russia, he said Putin “is doing what anyone else would do” in a war situation. Criminals would take advantage of the open door to rob a bank and likewise Putin is taking advantage of his battlefield reward. 

This heartless attitude permeates the senior staff at the White House and State Department. Ukraine was given “fair warning” by the White House before Trump this week ordered a pause on U.S. military assistance and intelligence sharing with Kyiv, a senior administration official said last week. That’s like passively warning women not to walk along a dark street and if they do and they’re raped, well that’s their fault.

The Republican administration announced the pauses this week after Trump and Zelenskyy’s Oval Office meeting devolved into a shouting match, with the US president and Vice President JD Vance excoriating the Ukrainian leader for being incorrectly dressed and insufficiently grateful for the tens of billions of dollars in US assistance sent to Ukraine since Russia invaded three years ago.

Retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, said the pause is already having an impact on Kyiv, adding that the Ukrainians “brought it on themselves.”

“The best way I can describe it is sort of like hitting a mule with a two-by-four across the nose,” Kellogg said at an event Thursday at the Council on Foreign Relations. “You got their attention.”

Zelenskyy, who has always expressed his desire for peace, noted that “the first steps” toward real peace must include forcing the sole source of this war, Russia, to stop such attacks against life.

“And this is something that can be effectively monitored. Silence in the skies – banning the use of missiles, long-range drones, and aerial bombs. And silence at sea – a real guarantee of normal navigation. Ukraine is ready to pursue the path to peace, and it is Ukraine that strives for peace from the very first second of this war. The task is to force Russia to stop the war,” Zelenskyy stressed.

Current developments indicate that the latest iteration of Russia’s war has expanded to include Ukrainians singlehandedly defending their land and nation against Russia and its allies, North Korea, Iran and – the United States of America.

The bloody irony, cynicism and betrayal!

No, President Zelenskyy did not Cave

In the aftermath of the historic debacle in the Oval Office last Friday, February 28, and before last night’s State of the Union address by President Trump, the airwaves, cyberspace and newsprint were filled with speculations about President Zelenskyy’s next steps. Afterall, Ukraine did not achieve what it hoped for, Trump was visibly upset, and he basically asked the Ukrainian delegation to leave the White House. What’s Ukraine to do. It certainly needs Washington’s moral support at least and fully loaded military aid at most.

The following is Trump’s passage about the Russian war against Ukraine that places both and victim and assailant on equal planes. Trump refuses to admit that there is one guilty, criminal party in this centuries-long Russian war against Ukraine.

“I’m also working tirelessly to end the savage conflict in Ukraine. Millions of Ukrainians and Russians have been needlessly killed or wounded in this horrific and brutal conflict with no end in sight. The United States has sent hundreds of billions of dollars to support Ukraine’s defense with no security, with no anything. Do you want to keep it going for another five years? Yeah. Yeah. You, you would say. Pocahontas says yes.

“Two thousand people are being killed every single week. More than that. They’re Russian young people. They’re Ukrainian young people. They’re not Americans. But I want it to stop. Meanwhile, Europe has sadly spent more money buying Russian oil and gas than they have spent on defending Ukraine by far. Think of that. They’ve spent more buying Russian oil and gas than they have defending, and we’ve spent perhaps $350 billion—like taking candy from a baby, that’s what happened—and they’ve spent $100 billion. What a difference that is. And we have an ocean separating us and they don’t. But we’re getting along very well with them and lots of good things are happening. 

“Biden has authorized more money in this fight than Europe has spent by billions and billions of dollars. It’s hard to believe that they wouldn’t have stopped it and said at some point. ‘Come on, let’s equalize. You gotta be equal to us.’ But that didn’t happen. Earlier today. I received an important letter from President Zelenskyy of Ukraine. The letter reads, ‘Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer. Nobody wants peace more than the Ukrainians.’ He said, ‘My team and I stand ready to work under President Trump’s strong leadership to get a peace that lasts. We do really value how much America has done to help Ukraine, maintained its sovereignty and independence. Regarding the agreement on minerals and security, Ukraine is ready to sign it at any time that is convenient for you.’ I appreciate that he sent this letter. Just got it a little while ago.

“Simultaneously, we’ve had serious discussions with Russia and have received strong signals that they are ready for peace. Wouldn’t that be beautiful? Wouldn’t that be beautiful? Wouldn’t that be beautiful?”

That would be beautiful if Moscow would demonstrate its peaceful intentions. Throughout, and even in the course of yesterday’s events, Russia has continued bombing Ukrainian cities and killing Ukrainians.

Nothing in President Zelenskyy’s statement implied an apology. He did express regret that the situation had deteriorated.

The BBC has been reporting the following:

Volodymyr Zelensky said he was ready to work under Donald Trump’s “strong leadership” to achieve a lasting peace days after their explosive Oval Office meeting.

The Ukrainian president described the White House showdown as “regrettable” in a lengthy social media post in the wake of the US announcing a pause in military aid to Kyiv.

Zelensky said “it was time to make things right,” after Trump had accused him of not being ready to come to the negotiating table.

The Ukrainian leader also outlined the first stages of how the war could be ended.

“We are ready to work fast to end the war, and the first stages could be the release of prisoners and truce in the sky – ban on missiles, long-ranged drones, bombs on energy and other civilian infrastructure – and truce in the sea immediately, if Russia will do the same,” he wrote. “Then we want to move very fast through all next stages and to work with the US to agree a strong final deal.”

Zelenskyy poignantly said that Russia will have to undertake the same peace-driven steps that Ukraine will.

The following is his statement to the Ukrainian nation about what happened and his hopes regarding Ukraine’s relations with the United States:

Dear Ukrainians,

Today, many people have the same question: what will happen next with U.S. assistance?

I have instructed Ukraine’s Minister of Defense, the heads of our intelligence agencies, and our diplomats to contact their counterparts in the United States and obtain official information. People should not have to guess. Ukraine and America deserve a respectful dialogue and a clear position from one another. Especially when it comes to protecting lives during a full-scale war.

Of course, in Ukraine, we have been receiving various signals for weeks now, and there has already been a precedent for aid being halted. There was a suspension of humanitarian aid, of energy aid. There was also a halt in military aid – at the end of January, but at that time, everything was quickly resumed. We saw the risks. Therefore, our agencies – both military and special services – managed to develop action algorithms for any developments in the situation. This is not 2022 anymore. Our resilience is stronger now. We have the means to defend ourselves. But for us, maintaining normal, partnership-based relations with America is essential to bringing the war to a real end. None of us wants an endless war.

Ukraine will always be grateful to the U.S. for all the support that has been and is being provided, and which is working to preserve the now rather fragile foundations of security in Europe. After all, this is not just about our country. It is about everyone in Europe. We seek constructive cooperation. Partnership-based relations. We can only regret what happened at the White House instead of our negotiations. But we must find the strength to move forward, to respect one another, just as we have always respected America, Europe, and all our partners, and to do everything together to bring peace closer. And I thank everyone who is supporting Ukraine in this effort.

Today, I have already spoken with the President of Finland, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the Prime Minister of Greece, the Prime Minister of Croatia, the NATO Secretary General, and the leader of Germany’s CDU party, Friedrich Merz – the very party that won the recent Bundestag elections. Clear support for Ukraine. Thank you. There is very important news from the European Commission about significant funds for Europe’s defense. For us, this primarily means additional air defense – more systems, more missiles, and increased ability to protect our cities and villages, our positions. And all of this creates a solid additional foundation for efforts to bring the war to an end. We will continue consultations, and new joint steps will follow. Ukraine deserves peace. Ukrainians deserve respect.

And one last thing.

We know that the Russians have not changed their positions or demands regarding Ukraine. They will insist on reducing our army, they will seek a legal renunciation of our territories, as well as a significant political deformation of Ukraine with the weakening of the Ukrainian Constitution. But I will say that, in fact, as long as we all in Ukraine stand together and stand strong, as long as we are here, no one will succeed in this – peace will be dignified.

Glory to Ukraine!

Questions remain about America’s resumption of military aid to Ukraine, when will both sides meet again and who will be present at the talks.

The last paragraph in Zelenskyy’s remarks is every important in that it emphasizes what Zelenskyy and other Ukrainian officials as well as their supporters have been saying for months and years. Russia is hellbent on establishing circumstances that will allow it to seize all of Ukraine and return it to its prison of nations or else it will continue bombing Ukraine and its people back into the Stone Age. What divine or human power can guarantee that Russia will not continue that in a year or in a decade?

Russia Overestimated Its Strength & Oval Office Duo’s Intelligence

Just three days after President Trump and Vice-President Vance experienced a meltdown in the presence of President Zelenskyy of Ukraine, the Kremlin’s chief parrot expressed the terrorist regime’s horror at the inept behavior of its assets and suggested that others must be found to force the Ukrainian leader to accept its peace terms.

After the clash in the Oval Office, European leaders leapt to Zelenskyy’s defense, which also angered Vladimir Putin and his Kremlin associates. At a summit in London on Sunday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said they had agreed to draw up a Ukraine peace plan, a Coalition of the Willing, to present to the United States. Starmer also announced a new British 1.6 billion pounds ($2 billion) deal that would allow Ukraine to purchase 5,000 air-defense missiles. Basically, no country in Europe has supported President Trump’s position, which is only matched by Putin.

Responding to the summit, the Kremlin said the London summit was an attempt to continue the war, not to seek peace, but also noted the divisions between Europe and the United States.

As further evidence that Putin and his American assets achieved very little in the Oval Office, the meeting’s demeanor quickly deteriorated and came to a sudden conclusion at Trump’s insistence. It seems that the Kremlin overestimated the mental ability of Trump and Vance to ridicule Zelenskyy into submission. The Ukrainian president held firm with his points, noting that the Kremlin has not ever fulfilled any accord that it has signed. Trump declared that Zelenskyy would not be invited back to the White House until he demonstrates that he wants peace.

“We see that... a fragmentation of the collective West has begun,” Dmitri Peskov, the Kremlin’s chief liar said. “There remains a group of countries that rather constitutes the party of war, which declares its readiness to further back Ukraine in terms of supporting the war and ensuring the continuation of hostilities.”

Following Moscow’s playbook, Trump placed the onus of peace on Ukraine, the country that is fighting for its existence after being invaded by Russia. The aggressor, a term which will not be heard from White House officials, in Trump’s mind has done nothing wrong and does not have to reply to any questions.

Sunday’s meetings in London with 18 European countries as well as a photo session with King Charles was icing on the cake for Ukraine. It showed that European countries, the Coalition of the Willing, as they called themselves, support Ukraine for the long run. The peace proposals were palatable for the key players but they were despised by Moscow and Trump.

Zelenskyy noted that a deal to end the war between Ukraine and Russia “is still very, very far away,” adding that he expects to keep receiving American support despite his recent fraught relations with President Trump. “I believe that Ukraine has a strong enough partnership with the United States of America” to keep aid flowing, he said hopefully at a briefing in Ukrainian before leaving London.

Sadly, however, today Trump ruled to cease all military aid to Ukraine, an act of punishment that was forced by the Kremlin.

Dmitry Peskov praised U.S. foreign policy under President Donald Trump , saying it “largely coincides” with Russia’s vision in a reversal he said was previously “impossible to imagine.”

The comments from Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov come as Trump has upended the U.S. approach to Russia's war in Ukraine by holding peace negotiations with Russia, without representation from Ukraine or its European allies. 

“The new (U.S.) administration is rapidly changing all foreign policy configurations,” Peskov said in an interview aired Sunday on Russian state media. “This largely coincides with our vision.”

The assimilation of American leadership by the evil empire is moving apace.

Polish Hero ‘Disgusted’ by Trump’s Treatment of Zelenskyy

Lech Wałęsa, the world renowned Polish hero, statesman, dissident, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who served as the president of Poland in 1990-95, in a letter to President Trump expressed his “horror and disgust” with the White House’s “offensive” treatment of President Zelenskyy of Ukraine last Friday.

The full translated text of the letter follows:

Dear Mr. President,

We watched with horror and disgust the report of your conversation with the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. We find your expectations of respect and gratitude for the material assistance that the United States has provided to Ukraine, which is fighting Russia, offensive. Gratitude belongs to the heroic Ukrainian soldiers who shed their blood defending the values of the free world. They have been dying on the front lines for over 11 years for these values and the independence of their homeland, which has been attacked by Putin’s Russia.

We do not understand how the leader of a state that is a symbol of the free world cannot see this.

We were also outraged by the atmosphere in the Oval Office during this conversation, which reminded us of scenes of interrogations by the Security Service (the Polish communist KGB) and the courtrooms of communist courts. Prosecutors and judges, led by the all-powerful communist political police, also explained to us that they held all the cards, and we held none. They demanded that we cease our activities, claiming that thousands of innocent people were suffering because of us. They deprived us of our freedom and civil rights because we did not agree to cooperate with the authorities and did not show gratitude to them. We are shocked that you, Mr. President, treated President Volodymyr Zelensky in this way.

The history of the 20th century shows that every time the United States tried to distance itself from democratic values and its European allies, it ultimately became a threat to itself. President Woodrow Wilson realized this when in 1917 he decided to enter the United States into World War I. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt understood this when, after the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, he decided that the war to defend America would be waged not only on the Pacific front, but also in Europe – in alliance with the states attacked by the Third Reich.

We remember that without President Ronald Reagan and US financial support, the empire of the Soviet Union would not have been destroyed. President Reagan was aware that millions of enslaved people were suffering in Soviet Russia and the countries it conquered, including thousands of political prisoners who paid for their devotion to democratic values with their own freedom. His greatness lay, in particular, in the fact that he did not hesitate to call the USSR the “Evil Empire” and began a resolute struggle against it. We won, and today a monument to President Ronald Reagan stands in Warsaw opposite the US Embassy.

Mr. President, material aid – military and financial – cannot be equivalent to the blood shed for the independence and freedom of Ukraine, Europe, and the entire free world. Human life is priceless, it cannot be measured in money. Gratitude belongs to those who sacrifice their blood and freedom. For us, the people of Solidarity, former political prisoners of the communist regime that served Soviet Russia, this is obvious.

We call on the United States to fulfill the guarantees provided together with Great Britain in the Budapest Memorandum of 1994, which expressly states the obligation to protect the territorial integrity of Ukraine in exchange for the abandonment of its nuclear arsenal. These guarantees are unconditional – there is not a single word in it that such aid should be considered an economic exchange.

Signed by: Lech Walesa, former political prisoner, Solidarity leader, President of Poland and other former political prisoners, opposition figures and Solidarity representatives (list of signatories left unchanged).

Ukraine Must be Turned into ‘Steel Porcupine’

What a difference attitude makes. Two days after being insulted by President Trump and Vice-President Vance at the ambush at the Oval Office, Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy flew to Great Britain to meet with obliging European and NATO leaders in an historic summit at which the participants demonstrated a genuine desire to help Ukraine persevere against Russia.

Europe is “at a crossroads in history,” Great Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer was quoted as saying as he hosted 18 leaders at a Lancaster House summit in London to discuss a new plan for peace in Ukraine after three years of war.

The UK, France and others pledged to work with Ukraine on a plan to stop Russian aggression across Ukraine, and discuss that plan with the US, “and take it forward together,” the prime minister said. 

Addressing  Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was sitting alongside him, Starmer added: “I hope you know that we are all with you and the people of Ukraine for as long as it takes. Everyone around this table.” That was certainly a dramatic change from what the Ukrainian team felt in the White House.

Among those in attendance in London were the French president, Emmanuel Macron; the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, the Canadian prime minster, Justin Trudeau; the Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni; and Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission.

The participants expressed a sincere desire to preserve Ukraine’s independence and sovereignty as it fights to stave off Russia’s invasion.

Many Ukrainians and non-Ukrainians expressed their deep indignation and condemnation of America’s callous abandonment of independent Ukraine in favor of terrorist Russia, the enemy of mankind. Relations between the USA and Ukraine began to deteriorate earlier in the week, when Trump asked why Ukraine didn’t give in to Russia’s invasion for the sake of peace and why it started the war, and it culminated with American president’s accusation that the Ukrainian president is a dictator.

Since the end of World War Two, the United States has been recognized for championing the aspirations of Ukraine and the other captive nations as a bulwark against Russian imperialism. The United States has stalwartly supported their objectives beginning with the 1959 Captive Nations Week Proclamation and gratefully culminating in their independence and sovereignty in 1991.

President Trump today laid waste to this policy in the trap in the Oval Office on Friday, February 28, 2025, that ensnared President Zelenskyy. President Trump and Vice-President Vance violated all diplomatic protocols by insulting President Zelenskyy, demanding that he surrender Ukraine to the designs of Moscow and even questioning why he didn’t wear a business suit. To be sure, President Zelenskyy deserves an apology from the White House for the Trump’s calling the Ukrainian president a dictator.

It should be noted that Ukrainian American voters, wholeheartedly support the Ukrainian nation in its fight to survive and its President Zelenskyy in his Herculean task of convincing the Western alliance of the nation’s righteous, existential fight.

The emphasis on negotiations to resolve this latest iteration of Russia’s war is a nonstarter as President Zelenskyy said because the Kremlin has violated every agreement it was party to in the past three years since Russia invaded Ukraine. Furthermore, how do you negotiate with someone who wants you dead – as President Zelenskyy pointed out – and you want your people to live. What is the negotiable midpoint between death and life.

Starmer, who welcomed a visibly shaken Zelenskiy on Saturday with a warm hug, said Britain, Ukraine, France and some other nations would form a “Coalition of the willing” and draw up a peace plan to take to Trump. “As you heard from the cheers on the street outside, you have full backing across the United Kingdom,” Starmer said. “We stand with you, with Ukraine, for as long as it may take.”

Coming out of the summit meeting, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Europe must put Ukraine in a position of strength, which included economic, energy and military resilience.

She emphasized the “importance” of providing security guarantees to Ukraine to turn the war-torn country into a “steel porcupine” that would be “indigestible for potential invaders” like Russia.

Then, she spoke about the need to “urgently” rearm the European Union and unleash a  “surge” in defense spending that can meet the new geopolitical situation.

“We really have to step up” and “prepare for the worst,” she said. Von der Leyen said she would present a “comprehensive” defense plan to EU leaders when they all meet on March 6 for an emergency summit in Brussels.

Here are some key takeaways, according to Britain’s The Guardian:

1. Ukraine must be put in strongest position for future negotiations.

Starmer added another £1.6bn in UK export finance for Ukraine to “buy more than 5,000 air defense missiles, which will be made in Belfast,” on top of the £2.2bn loan he had announced on Saturday. This would be vital for protecting critical infrastructure now, and strengthen Ukraine in securing the peace, when it comes, he said.

2. There will be a “coalition of the willing.”

Any deal must be backed by strength so Russia cannot breach it, Starmer said.

“Not every nation will feel able to contribute but that can’t mean that we sit back,” the UK prime minister said. “The UK is prepared to back this with boots on the ground and planes in the air together with others, Europe must do the heavy lifting,” Starmer added.

3. The plan must have strong US backing.

While Europe would do the “heavy lifting,” backing from the US was needed. “We are working with the US on this point after my meeting with President Trump last week,” Starmer said.

“We agree with the president on the urgent need for a durable peace, now we need to deliver together.”

The US was not seen as an “unreliable” ally, Starmer said when asked. It was a “strong and reliable ally” to the UK, adding that he had spoken with Trump on Saturday night.

“The discussions we have had today, particularly on the coalition of the willing is on the basis that this is a plan that we will work on with the US. That is the purpose of the plan.”

4. Leaders agreed to keep military aid to Ukraine flowing.

Starmer said they agreed that any lasting peace must ensure Ukraine’s sovereignty and security “and Ukraine must be at the table.”

He added: “In the event of peace deal we will keep boosting Ukraine’s own defensive capabilities to deter any future invasions.”

5. Leaders will meet again very soon

Starmer said: “We are at a crossroads in history today, this is not a moment for more talk, it’s time to act, time to step up and lead. And united around a new plan for a just and enduring peace.”

6. NATO chief says talks were ‘really positive.’

The NATO chief, Mark Rutte, said that “more European countries will ramp up defense spending” but did not go into specifics. He described increased defense spending as “very good news” and reiterated the need for “more of a fair balance” with the US. He told reporters the first step was to make sure there is a peace deal before there are discussions about how to guarantee it.

The future of humanity and American decency not to mention the Ukrainian nation’s democratic existence is in the free world’s hands. The only answer is for the United States of America to support Ukraine’s victory in this fight against Russian aggression. Wishful thinking and fake belief in Putin’s humanitarianism will never succeed as its national mission is to destroy Ukraine and Ukrainians. Ukraine must have the wherewithal to negotiate from a position of strength with its loyal allies.