'Zelensky's near-impossible dilemma as he fights war on two fronts against Kremlin and Trump treachery'

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is being forced to fight a war on two fronts - against Kremlin attacks on his civilians and Donald Trump ’s depraved and inexplicable respect for Putin. Trump’s baffling approach to Ukraine has broken out yet again into treachery, with a diesel deal with Putin, calling for Zelensky’s replacement and demanding Kyiv stop hitting Russia ’s oil refineries. Washington is even threatening to stop the procurement system that provides Ukraine with weapons to press Kyiv to halt its deep strikes on Russian energy infrastructure. And it is even, reportedly, threatening to withdraw intelligence sharing with Ukraine. It is creating a near-impossible dilemma for Zelensky- how to respond to Trump’s attempt to neuter his troops in defending against Putin’s war on Ukraine, whilst maintaining diplomacy. Trump is basically ordering Ukraine to stop defending itself even as its civilians die daily from ballistic weapons strikes and drone attacks on homes throughout the country. This at a time when Ukraine, after months of steadily dismantling Russia’s ability to pay for its vile war on Ukraine, was gaining leverage, whittling down Moscow’s war machine. It is difficult to imagine how Zelensky just about keeps his cool, merely calling the diesel deal a “gift” to the Russian President instead of saying it as it is - bloody and bullying cowardice. The almost hidden hand of Putin keeps hovering over the chess board and making deadly moves against Kyiv, exerting deadly influence over Trump and undermining Ukraine. It has edged precarious diplomatic tensions inside NATO towards a tipping point. There is no equivalence here - Putin is killing Zelensky’s civilians as Kyiv dismantles Moscow’s ability to fund its war on Ukraine for a year, steadfastly trying to avoid harming civilians. Zelensky was forced to vaguely accept Trump’s crazy announcement of a fuel accord between Ukraine and Russia - but Putin ordered attacks on Ukraine within hours, hitting power plants and more civilian targets. Trump’s approach is impossibly cruel, trying to force Ukraine to stop doing the one thing that was giving it leverage against Moscow’s war on it, hitting its energy infrastructure and taking the war to Russia. And he is forcing Zelensky to speak out against the American President - almost certainly leading to a weakening of his own country’s position and creating major challenges for the UK and the rest of the coalition against Russian aggression. The US President, mired in a worsening Middle East crisis with his popularity waning daily and facing midterm demolition, is in trouble and he knows it. And when cornered, bullies always lash out at what they perceive to be the weakest around them, in this case Ukraine, which is defending against the threat of oblivion. His ridiculous claim of an energy ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine lasted hours before Putin broke it, making Trump’s assertion look even more ludicrous than before. But Trump has set the scene for continued attacks on Zelensky, continuing to dress up Ukraine’s defence against Russia as somehow being disobedient. Zelensky has even offered to hold elections if Putin agrees to peace, perhaps knowing what the rest of the world apart from Trump knows - that the Russian leader will never stop the war. Unless he is toppled or forced to do so.