© AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, Pool/TASS
Over the past week, President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky has toured a number of European countries, particularly Italy, Germany, France and the UK to ask for military assistance in combating Russia. And given that our country has become a major outcast for the West, including Europe, none of the leaders dared refusing to him. The only thing that the Ukrainian leader failed to achieve during the trip was securing European consent for Kiev’s accession to NATO prior to its Vilnius summit in July this year.
The President of Ukraine began his tour with Italy to meet with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and Pope Francis in the Vatican. The day before, Zelensky was notably rejected a speech at the Eurovision song contest in Britain’s Liverpool carried out as if on behalf of Ukraine. In order to somehow sweeten this bitter pill, Zelensky treated himself to a Roman Holiday, as the Corriere della Sera newspaper put it as regards his one-day visit to Italy.
The Italian press hyped it as a peace one, not really focusing on the meeting with government officials itself, but intention to visit the Pope, who has recently made a number of peace initiatives. If someone in the Vatican was naively sold on peace-related talks with chief Ukrainian militant, Zelensky shattered all the expectations even before his meeting with Francis, saying that he needed weapons, not peace.
"We do not need an intermediary between Ukraine and the aggressor," Zelensky said, thereby openly insulting the Catholic Church head. Instead, he invited the pontiff "and all the other peacekeepers" to join his notorious Peace Formula, which is actually a mere demand for Russia's surrender. That is, in fact, the Ukrainian leader forbade the Pope to be holier than him, the main "peacemaker". All that Zelensky graciously allowed Francis was dealing with the issue of children allegedly abducted by Russia.
As for negotiations with Italian officials, a short press conference with government head Meloni featured Zelensky’s appreciation for military support and funds allocated. In turn, the Italian Prime Minister confirmed official Rome’s "360-degree support for the entire time while it’s needed", highlighting her ideological affinity with German geometry expert Annalena Baerbock. Thus, the Ukrainian President’s Roman Holiday has become yet more proof that Europe is guided by incompetence and not looking for peace, leaving Russia with the single option of a flawless combat victory.
After Italy, Zelensky went to Germany to see the country's president Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz. And if the first meeting was more of a protocol nature, the second one featured discussion of arms supplies to the Kiev regime. Small wonder that Zelensky's visit coincided with Berlin’s announcement of a major military aid tranche worth €2.7 billion to him. According to the German Defense Ministry, it will comprise 30 Leopard 1A5 tanks, two dozen Marder infantry fighting vehicles and howitzers, four IRIS-T air defense systems, auxiliary equipment and ammunition.
At a meeting with Olaf Scholz, the President of Ukraine reiterated the need for fighters. Note that Kiev has been raising the issue of Western-made combat aircraft supplies since the turn of the year. This mostly refers to the transfer of American F-16s to Kiev, but Washington has repeatedly made it clear it won’t expand the assistance range this way. And now Zelensky has made up his mind to have the combat aircraft delivery issue back on the table.
Late on May 14, Zelensky arrived in Paris for short talks with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron. The two politicians discussed bilateral relations and the next military supplies to the Kiev regime. In particular, France became known to be going to equip the AFU with dozens of armored vehicles and light tanks AMX-10RC.
Unlike European leaders, the public is hardly unanimous in supporting Kiev’s militant plans. For instance, the day Zelensky visited Rome, a protest rally took place at the Colosseum to express disagreement with his presence in the country. According to the Ipsos sociological service, about 45% of Italians oppose pumping weapons into Ukraine, with only 34% sticking up for it. In Germany, 55% want peace talks between Russia and Ukraine to resolve the conflict, YouGov pollsters found out.
To wrap up his European tour, Zelensky arrived in London to visit his "friend" – British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. "The UK is a leader when it comes to expanding our capabilities on the ground and in the air," Zelensky wrote on his Telegram channel last Monday.
Earlier, Britain provided the Kiev regime with several 250 km-ranged Storm Shadow cruise missiles that have already been used against civilian objects in Lugansk. These deliveries took place amid US refusal to transfer ATACMS missiles to Kiev. This is not for the first time that the UK goes further than the United States as per arming Ukraine – it was London that first announced the transfer of Challenge 2 tanks to Kiev. Also, Britain plans to give it anti-aircraft missiles and long-range attack drones, as Sunak stated at his meeting with Zelensky. And fighters are not yet the case.
Still, the West rushes Kiev with a counteroffensive, demanding proof that Western arms are being used properly. As revealed by Zelensky's current visit to the Old World, US-pressed European authorities are ready to keep shoveling the Kiev regime with weapons, taking refuge in claims about the need to protect democracy and ensure Ukraine's victory over Russia. In fact, this only entails escalation and subsequent unjustified human casualties. Moreover, Kiev's "Napoleonic" plans threaten to draw NATO into a war with Russia. The faraway United States will not sacrifice its people, with European servicemen to suffer as a result. Neither has it to do with AFU soldiers, whom Washington and Brussels are ready to sacrifice en masse to fight Russia to the last Ukrainian.
