Newsfront
Ukraine’s New Reality
Peace is coming, but not the way Zelenskyy wants.
F BY JOHN FUND
or three years, ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelen- skyy skillfully led his country through Russia’s invasion.
He fought the vastly more numer-
ous Russian army to a stalemate, secured advanced weaponry from Europe and the U.S., and convinced the world to apply sanctions on Vladi- mir Putin’s main sources of cash. But all that came crashing down
during an explosive Oval Office meeting on Feb. 28 with President Donald Trump.
WHEN AND WHY: Feb. 24, 2022 — Russia launches an unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Speech: On the same day, Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses the nation, claiming the war aims to: End NATO’s influence over Europe End U.S. global hegemony Demilitarize and denazify Ukraine
BY THE NUMBERS: Over 70,000 Ukrainian soldiers killed More than 120,000 Ukrainian soldiers
wounded Over 10,000 Ukrainian civilians killed, including thousands of children At least 19,500 Ukrainian children
forcibly deported to Russia Over $500 billion in estimated economic damage to Ukraine
PUTIN’S BROKEN AGREEMENTS: 1994 Budapest Memorandum — Russia pledged to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in exchange for Ukraine giving up its nuclear weapons. 2014 Minsk Agreements — Ceasefire
agreements aimed at resolving the conflict in Eastern Ukraine, repeatedly violated by Russia before the full-scale invasion.
8 NEWSMAX | APRIL 2025 The two men — joined by
Vice President JD Vance — openly bickered in front of cameras, and the scheduled deal on U.S. access to Ukrainian min- erals and rare earths was put on hold. Some observers blamed Trump for
treating Zelenskyy as a “supplicant” who shouldn’t complain after all the U.S. aid he has received. But, in truth, Zelenskyy failed to read the room. Even South Carolina Sen. Lindsey
Graham, a staunch backer of Ukraine aid, told reporters, “What I saw in the Oval Office was disrespectful, and I don’t know if we could ever do busi- ness with Zelenskyy again.” Zelenskyy failed to take lessons from British Prime Minister Keir
Starmer, who had a successful meet- ing with Trump the day before. Starmer won points with the praise
and gifts that he delivered to Trump. Graham noted Trump “was in a very good mood” after that meeting. Zelenskyy backpedaled after his crash-and-burn confrontation and put out a conciliatory statement on X immediately after being asked to leave the White House. “Thank you America, thank you for
your support, thank you for this visit. Thank you @POTUS, Congress, and the American people,” he said.
OVAL OFFICE/ ANDREW HARNIK/GETTY IMAGES UKRAINE/TYLER HICKS/THE NEW YORK TIMES
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