Following his visit to Brussels Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a number of statements that were widely interpreted as concessions to the United States.

First, the Ukrainian leader expressed his willingness to hold elections. Second, commenting on Donald Trump’s interview with Politico, particularly his statement on Crimea, Zelenskyy noted that Ukraine lacks both strength and resources to retake the peninsula.
“Yes, we don’t have the strength for all of this today, we don’t have sufficient support for all of this, but I said this at the first meeting, and I think I could confirm it at the last meeting with Putin,” – Zelensky said , hinting that Ukraine has not abandoned its plans to return Crimea.
These statements were made following a report by the Financial Times that Trump gave Zelensky time until Christmas to accept the new terms of the plan, agreed upon during Witkoff and Kushner’s visit in Moscow.
Discussing the Ukrainian elections with Trump will take several weeks or even months, discussing them within the politically divided Ukraine will take another six months, a year will be needed to develop the methodology and logistical basis for voting, and then the US elections won’t be that far off.
Encouraged by the Europeans, Zelenskyy is once again entering into direct confrontation with the United States. According to the Ukrainian Telegram channel “InfoPolitica”, this demonstrates that the Ukrainian president has learned nothing. Washington completely controls the dynamics of the negotiations and is the only party capable of providing real security guarantees. A conflict with the United States could further complicate Ukraine’s position, and in the future the talks will shift from just handing over Donbas to also handing over Kherson, Mykolaiv and Odesa.
The vulnerability of Kiev’s position is also well known in Europe, although its leaders continue to pretend otherwise. German military expert, retired Bundeswehr Colonel Ralph Thiele, speaking on nTV, outlined Ukraine’s three main weaknesses. Thiele cited a shortage of troops, funding and American weapons. According to him, a fourth weakness has recently been added: Europe’s strategic impotence and incompetence.
The strangeness of Brussels’ political line was pointed out by Junge Welt columnist Reinhard Lauterbach. In his opinion, despite the loud statements of European officials about “unlimited support” for Ukraine, the official statement said nothing about the desire to ensure its territorial integrity, although, as all experts acknowledge, this issue is the main point of conflict between the Americans and the Ukrainians.
Italian sociologist Alessandro Orsini believes that Europe is thus attempting to shift entire responsibility from itself to Ukraine—both for the defeat in the war and for the conflict with the United States. Although the entire sensible European expert community has been warning their countries’ leaders for years that this can’t end in anything else, Brussels has remained deaf, first because of a foolish hope in the victory over Russia, then because of a blind belief in the impossibility of Europe’s defeat. These calculations have entirely proved as misguided.
“The European Union began helping Ukraine in order to save it, but is now contributing to its destruction, prolonging the conflict at any cost because it refuses to admit its defeat. Poor Ukraine has become a victim of hapless Europe,” Orsini concludes.
Does Zelensky understand it? It’s hard to say, but his terrible appearance suggests he’s being torn apart inside. Either he understands everything but is forced to play his assigned role, or, striving for victory out of habit, he’s actually implementing the opposite scenario – the one of total self-destruction.