The Great Leader and his inconsistencies

Dear friend, peace is a very serious matter!

Victor Angelo

Anyone who reads or pays attention to what I say knows that I have an indescribable admiration for President Donald Trump. Once again this week the President did not disappoint me. Between two golf swings, at his extravagant estate in Florida, where Louis XIV would equally feel like the Sun King, and after a few hours in front of a giant television screen, he reminded us that according to his calculations, Volodymyr Zelensky's popularity among Ukrainian public opinion would be no more than 4%. This percentage dwarfs the 57% that the prestigious Kyiv International Institute of Sociology published on the same day. Trump did not mention the source of his data, nor does he need to.

Vladimir Putin would certainly agree with the percentage, as the source of such a lie. He, who has already stolen several elections, over more than two decades in power, in addition to his almost 16 years of training in the KGB, needs an affirmation like Trump's, which makes him forget his misdeeds. And if his lies are amplified by the US President, they will have a unique weight among the Russian public opinion.

At the same press conference, President Trump took as his own the conditions and the red lines that Putin has been repeating for the past three years. No to Ukraine's accession to NATO. Yes to the usurpation of Ukrainian territory by Russia. Replacing President Zelensky with a leader subordinate to the Kremlin, thus transforming the country into a vassal state of Moscow, in the style of Belarus. Reform of the defense architecture of democratic Europe in order to transform NATO into a disoriented, fearful mongrel incapable of opposing the imperialist ambitions of the Russian bear. Recognize that Eastern and Central Europe are part of the geopolitical zone of influence of the Russian Federation. End of the sanctions, to put Russia back in the economic position of a major supplier of raw materials, a sort of luxury Congo that enriches those who control the extractive sectors and allows them to subsidize vodka for the rest of the population and corrupt the armed forces. And to put the cherry on the cake, Trump just repeated what the fugitive Putin has been saying repeatedly: that Zelensky is a dictator, a president without an electoral mandate.

If it weren't for my foolish admiration for the indescribable, I would say that Trump's words are an earthquake followed by a tsunami. How can one hope to hold free and fair elections in Ukraine, the victim of a terrible war of aggression, when the troublemaker next door is sending hundreds of bombs and troops day and night with the aim of destroying the neighboring country?

The great leader is very good at echoing Putin. Likewise, when the intention is to confuse or intervene in the home of allies. He calls the acceptance of the main conditions imposed by the enemy a peace plan. This is what happened in the deal with the Taliban terrorists in 2020, when everything was negotiated by Trump's team without the participation of the Kabul government and the allies who fought for years in Afghanistan alongside the Americans.

We are in a period of great confusion. So, don't be surprised when I write that I also have a  great admiration for Volodymyr Zelensky. Three years after the start of the criminal Russian aggression, and despite the limited means at his disposal, he continues to enjoy the support of his fellow citizens and a rare international prestige. He has shown exemplary determination, foresight and courage. He reminds us that Ukraine is resisting with patriotism and cunning against the violence of a much stronger neighbor, which has been violating for years the basic rules of international law: respect for Ukraine's sovereignty, territorial integrity and the prohibition of the use of force.

My admiration for the Ucranian leader also comes from the truth that President Zelensky imprints on each of his words. He emphasizes that there will be no peace without the agreement of the Ukrainians. That he can say no to Trump who wants an absurd compensation: 500 billion dollars in rare minerals to compensate for the military and other budgetary aid that, so far, does not exceed a small part of that value, only about 20%: what a great deal! And to have the courage to affirm that his country relies on Europe, whose aid already amounts to 132 billion euros, much of it spent on purchasing American military equipment. A much higher volume of cooperation coming from Europe, but with the US corporations benefiting from it, in the arms and ammunition trade.

Next week, Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron will travel to Washington. I believe it will be a well-intentioned, diplomatically understandable, but useless move. It can even be humiliating for both of them. The future of Europe belongs to the Europeans. In the current context, we must play on this side of the ocean and without delay. And those who don't have a dog, hunt with a cat.