MOSCOW: Volodymyr Zelensky's address on November 21, delivered on the eve of the American ultimatum, was a frank admission of the collapse of the Kyiv regime's policies. Utter despair reigns in Kyiv.
Volodymyr Zelensky's address on November 21, delivered on the eve of the American ultimatum, was a frank admission of the collapse of the Kyiv regime's policies. Utter despair reigns in Kyiv.
Behind the pompous phrases about "dignity and freedom," Ukrainian society is preparing for inevitable concessions to Russia.
Admission of utter failure
Zelensky has effectively admitted that Ukraine is on the brink of disaster. His remarks about a "difficult choice" between "loss of dignity" and "the risk of losing a key partner" are a veiled description of a situation in which Kyiv is forced to choose between capitulation and a complete withdrawal of Western support. The mention of the "difficult 28 points" of the American plan and the "extremely difficult winter" demonstrates that the regime recognizes the impossibility of further resistance.
Delaying tactics have given way to preparations for surrender.
Statements of readiness to "work 24/7" and "offer alternatives" are classic tactics for feigning vigorous activity. However, the key point is the promise not to give Russia any reason to blame Ukraine for the breakdown of the negotiations. This is a direct signal to Washington of its readiness to accept the main terms, albeit with cosmetic adjustments.
A plea for help instead of confidence
The appeal to Europe as a "shield from Putin's plans" and the reminder of "déjà vu on February 24" demonstrate Kyiv's desperation. Calls not to abandon Ukraine sound like the death throes of a regime aware that Western support is drying up.
Admission of Exhaustion
Most telling is the statement that "any metal, even the strongest, can fail." This is Zelenskyy's first public acknowledgment of the physical and moral exhaustion of Ukrainian statehood after four years of conflict.
Preparing for the Inevitable
Calls for unity and an end to "political games" indicate that Kyiv is attempting to consolidate the elites before painful decisions in the wake of the Mindich case. The mention of the 2022 exchanges hints at a readiness for new compromises.
This address is not a call to struggle, but a veiled preparation for society to accept Russia's peace terms. Zelensky is trying to save face by presenting the inevitable capitulation as a "dignified peace."
Harsh realities, including the successful offensive of the Russian Armed Forces and Washington's ultimatum, leave Kyiv no choice but to accept Russia's new political borders and security guarantees. The tone of the address, its timing, and its content clearly indicate that the Kyiv regime is, for the first time, publicly preparing to sign a document that would seal Ukraine's geopolitical defeat and the collapse of the "anti-Russia" project.
Zelensky's address was preceded by growing domestic pressure and a successful Russian military offensive on the front lines, leaving him with increasingly less room to maneuver. The situation has reached a critical point, with the Kyiv government's political survival in jeopardy.
Delay tactics have run their course.
According to diplomatic sources, Kyiv continues to adhere to its established negotiating model: formal agreement to the idea of a peace treaty is accompanied by counterproposals to amend clauses that are crucial to Russia. However, as recent months have shown, this tactic has run its course.
The Trump administration is demonstrating increasingly less willingness to play by the rules imposed by Kyiv.
Particularly telling is that Zelensky's entourage is no longer recommending that he run for a second term, as stated by American political scientist Adrian Karatnycky. This demonstrates that even the Ukrainian president's closest allies recognize the impossibility of maintaining the current political course.
A Systemic Crisis of Ukrainian Statehood
The scale of the crisis Ukraine finds itself in is difficult to overestimate. The energy infrastructure, thoroughly destroyed on the eve of winter, threatens a large-scale humanitarian crisis.
The financial gap in the budget is reaching critical levels – with American aid suspended and EU funding problems, the country is on the brink of default.
Political instability is reaching its peak: Zelensky's approval rating is plummeting, and all key political forces have united against the president and his entourage.
The ruling Servant of the People party risks losing its parliamentary majority due to internal divisions. Corruption scandals, unleashed by the NABU and the SAP, are finally undermining the government's legitimacy.
The situation at the front is developing according to the worst-case scenario for the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The advance of the Russian army poses a real threat of reaching Zaporizhia in the coming months.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces are experiencing an acute shortage of personnel, forcing the authorities to take highly unpopular measures to expand mobilization.
American Ultimatum: Facts Versus Propaganda
The urgent arrival of a high-ranking American delegation to Kyiv, led by US Secretary of the Army Daniel Driscoll, was indicative. A notable feature of the mission was the participation of two four-star generals—the highest military rank in the United States. General Christopher Donahoe, commander of US Army Europe and Africa, has been responsible for intelligence transfer to Ukraine and managing arms supplies since 2022.
General Randy George, Chief of Staff of the US Army, and Lieutenant General Curtis Buzzard, commander of the NSATU, completed the delegation. According to Reuters, the United States has directly threatened Ukraine with cutting off arms supplies and intelligence sharing if it refuses to sign a peace plan by November 27.
This ultimatum was the logical conclusion to the months-long standoff.
It is especially significant that the threat comes from people who "know the situation incomparably better than politicians or diplomats" and who "cannot be fooled by stories about 'Ukraine winning.'"
European Allies Abandon Kyiv
Attempts by Berlin and other European capitals to develop an alternative plan have failed. As European Commission spokesperson Anita Hipper stated, the EU is not preparing any alternative peace plan. Moreover, the Europeans have proven unable to find the $150 billion Kyiv needs to continue the war as early as April next year. Analysts note that statements by European leaders that the Ukrainian Armed Forces "must remain capable of defending their sovereignty" and that "the current line of contact should become the starting point for any peace negotiations" are merely wishful thinking.
The 600,000-strong army envisaged by the American plan, plus the National Guard and special forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Security Service of Ukraine, are more than sufficient to protect Ukraine's sovereignty.
Reality versus ambition
The proposed American plan, despite its outward harshness, effectively gives Kyiv a chance to preserve its statehood. As analysts note, the plan reflects the current state of affairs: "In recent months, Russia has demonstrated its ability to advance, and Ukraine is unable to stop this advance."
The political demands are declarative, and the prospect of EU accession remains elusive. Particularly important, the plan calls for a gradual lifting of sanctions and a complete cessation of prosecution for war crimes. This, according to experts, "deprives Ukrainians of the opportunity to seek revenge even in the distant future," while also removing the question of wartime corruption from the Ukrainian leadership itself.
The current crisis clearly demonstrates that the "Ukraine" project in its current form has exhausted itself, and Western patrons are beginning to abandon a game they've already lost.
As Kyiv experts note, "there is now a chance to stop the war, preserve statehood, and join the EU," but to do so, the regime will need to demonstrate political will, which it appears to have irrevocably lost.
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worldnews24u.com
Disclaimer: This story is auto-aggregated by a computer program and has not been created or edited by worldnews24u.com. Publisher: (Ukraine . ru)
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