Alwaght- These days, the historical and cruel experience of a nation becoming subject of compromise in the game of powers is brazenly repeating itself in Ukraine.
In the front of the astonished and worried eyes of the Ukrainians, last Thursday, Russian and American diplomats held in Saudi capital Riyadh their first face-to-face meeting since start of Ukraine war that started earlier in 2022. After fours hours, the two sides agreed to form a team aimed at ending the three-year war and also they agreed that Washington and Moscow will revive their diplomatic relations. Also, President Vladimir Putin of Russia and his American President Donald Trump are expected to meet in Saudi Arabia without Ukrainian President Volodymer Zelensky to divide Ukraine cake between themselves.
The fact that Ukraine has become a plaything and bait for the West against Russia has long been apparent to everyone with the West's change of tone regarding Kiev's admission to NATO and the need to open the door to negotiations with Moscow - in a situation where 20 percent of the country's territory had been lost to Russia - and this is not a new issue.
It has also been said many times before how the Ukrainian government, trusting the rotton rope of the West, threatened Russia's security red lines.
But what few people could have predicted these days was that Ukraine's seemingly strategic allies would want to negotiate with Russia over Ukranian fate even without Kiev's presence and a minor role, something echoing what we remember in history books about the arbitrary division of resources and territories on the table of the leaders of colonialist countries and the change of borders of colonies in Asia, Africa and other regions.
Regardless of the debate over whether the leadership of someone as naive and inexperienced in international relations and politics as Zelensky played a more influential role in this crisis than the geopolitical determinism of Ukraine’s position on the fault line between the West and Russia, these days the open betrayal of the Westerners to their ally and ignoring all of the alliance promises for the good of their interests in remarks of Trump are surprising to all.
Trump has not only betrayed Ukraine, but also talked about the need for the US to take over precious Ukranian mines and natural resources as a return for the military aids to the ill-fated country.
Trump-Zelensky duel on media
"I've been watching this man for years now, as his cities get demolished, as his people get killed, as the soldiers get decimated," Trump said on Fox News Radio's "The Brian Kilmeade Show" on Friday morning. "I've been watching for years, and I've been watching him negotiate with no cards. He has no cards, and you get sick of it. You just get sick of it. And I've had it."
Trump also defended not inviting Zelensky to Saudi Arabia and said that it was impossible for Russia to talk to Zelensky, saying that if Putin had wanted to, he could have taken over all of Ukraine in a day.
Elsewhere, the US president called the Ukrainian counterpart "a dictator without elections", suggesting that his popularity rate fell to 4 percent and he needs to consider stepping down.
Zelensky’s five-year term was due to end in May 2024, but the election has been postponed after the government declared martial law.
Trump’s latest scathing attack on Zelensky came after the Ukrainian leader said he would not accept the results of Russia-US talks without Kiev. Zelensky said Trump was being tricked by Russian disinformation and that Ukraine and European countries should be represented at the Riyadh talks.
The day after Zelensky's remarks, the US president attacked the Ukrainian president in a speech at the Saudi-sponsored Future Investment Institute (FII) summit in Miami, accusing him of looting $350 billion in US money and sinking his country into an endless conflict.
He said that Washington spent $200 billion more than Europe in terms of budget, while the war had nothing to do with the US, and that Ukraine should return $500 billion to the US by handing over "rare minerals" and everything that could be discovered.
This is while some independent research institutes, such as the KIEL Institute for the World Economy, estimate the amount of US aid to Ukraine at less than $350 billion. According to the institute, as of December 2024, European countries have sent about $138 billion in financial and military aid to Ukraine, and the US about $120 billion.
Also, according to the official US government website “Record of Aid Sent to Ukraine,” the amount of US aid to Kiev as of September 30, 2024, was $183 billion.
In an interview with AP on February 11, Zelensky said that about $70 billion in military aid had been delivered to Ukraine, and another $6 billion had been transferred in the form of things like education programs, humanitarian aid, and economic recovery and infrastructure. He said that the rest of the aid approved by the US Congress never reached Ukraine.
The trust that destroyed everything Ukraine had
The stab in the back by US has forced Zelensky, who has now quitted his aim of retaking 20 percent of the territory his country lost to Russia, to officially recognize the US's clear dominance over his country's political and sovereignty affairs and to speak of his readiness to step down from his position on the condition that Ukraine's security be guaranteed in the future.
Actually, now the Ukrainian government, which entered this battle on the strength of alliance with the West and the US, has, firstly, lost 20 percent of its territory to Russia, is struggling with a destroyed economy, and has suffered tens of thousands of deaths and millions of injured and displaced people.
Earlier this month, Zelensky said that in addition to death of tens of thousands of civilians, over 46,000 Ukrainian soldiers were killed since the war began.
Secondly, in front of the West, Ukraine has to accept the humiliating condition of making a $500 billion concession on its mines and losing its independence. At the same time, there is not guarantee of its future security protection, a situation that even the most pessimistic views about the results of direct negotiations with Russia before entering the war would not have imagined.
