Hombre Heroes and Ukrainian Peace

President of the United States Joe Biden and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy perhaps are the most discussed individuals today. Both adore each other as 'Hombre Heroes', especially since together they have jolted the global economy with the continuing war in Ukraine and tethered Europe to Washington.

In his recent tête-à-tête with Biden at the White House, Zelenskyy awarded him with Ukraine's 'The Cross of Military Merit'. Biden publicly eulogised Zelenskyy as the hero, assuring him of every possible help by the US. The US had invited Zelenskyy to Washington to boost the image of Joe Biden in the wake of waning European support to America's 'Kill Russia' campaign which advances America's economic and strategic interests.

Biden's public display of being afflicted by dementia and blabbering on a tangent when his teleprompter malfunctions proves he is a puppet of America's deep state. Zelenskyy is prepared to go to any length to please his mentors in Washington at the cost of lives of Ukrainians' and destruction of his country.

Biden also feels indebted to Zelenskyy for helping him divert attention from America's shameful exit from Afghanistan under Biden's tutelage. This is why Biden says that the views of both match.

The US engineered a coup in Ukraine in 2014 to install a US-lackey regime and kick start genocide in the Donbas region of Ukraine. Simultaneously supply of water and essentials were cut off to Sevastopol, Russia's only warm water port, because of which Russia captured Crimea.

Comedian Zelenskyy who used to play the piano with his pants down was cultivated by the US and installed as the president in Ukraine on May 20, 2019. He fitted American requirements including accelerating the genocide in the Donbas region.

History shows that America's hands are soaked in blood over past decades or rather centuries with bombings, invasions, assassinations and genocide all over the world. Human rights and genocide are executed, used or ignored depending on what the US wants. American genocide in Vietnam and the Mỹ Lai massacre on March 16, 1968 are just one example among dozens.

Ukraine's heightened genocide in the Donbas region was the final instigation for Russia to launch special operations in Ukraine; more than inclusion of the Baltic State in NATO neglecting the promises made when Soviet Union broke up.

The reasons why Russia launched special operations in Ukraine because of the genocide in Donbas are similar to why India invaded East Pakistan in 1971. But the US-led West and their think tanks never talk of the Pakistan army's horrific genocide in East Pakistan.

Naturally they cannot be expected now to criticize Pakistan army's continuing genocide in of Baluchistan since past few years. Indian forces liberated Bangladesh, handed over power and came back. That is what Russia wants to do after the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) emerged with proper voting in these regions.

But the above does not suit American warmongering plans. That is why Biden, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin, said, during Zelenskyy's visit, "he thought he could break NATO, he thought he could break the West, he thought he could break the alliance, he thought he could be welcomed by the Ukrainian people that were Russian speaking — he was wrong, wrong, and wrong."

The "wrong, wrong and wrong" shows Biden's frustration because he knows that Russian forces would not leave these regions unless they are recognised and Ukraine stops attacking them.

The recent revelation of Qatar successfully bribing Eva Kaili, vice president of the European Parliament, indicates how easily the US would have bought European leaders. In addition the US used the Anglo-Saxon ideology and brainwashing that Russia will gobble up their countries.

The same combo was used against the visiting prime minister of Finland and Sweden to expand NATO further and widen the encirclement of Russia. China is also using the money and the communist ideology to keep Nepal under its thumb.

But Biden's fear was evident at the joint press conference with Zelenskyy where he admitted that European leaders don't want war with Russia and a third world war. Whether or not Europe finds is conscience pricked with America covering up the genocide by Ukrainian forces as revealed in French media, they certainly are reluctant to continue fuelling the war in Ukraine at the cost of their economies.

Moreover, Biden is bent upon upping the ante in Ukraine by supplying the Patriot missiles and other advanced weapons to Kiev, perhaps also with American crew to man the Patriot systems disguised as Ukrainian troops.

Alarm bells probably also rang in Europe with the United Nations saying that nuclear war is possible; plus an assessment which six targets in the US are most likely to be hit in the event of a nuclear attack. Interestingly, the assessment is that while the US lives under a nuclear 'Sword of Damocles', big cities like New York and Los Angeles need not worry about being struck by nukes since focus would be on military targets. But there is no assessment of what will happen to Europe if nuclear war erupts.

Information warfare is important in conflict but can hardly hide the ground situation in the present age. The US is portraying that Ukraine is winning the war and can oust Russians from Donbas and Crimea. Crimea is called Ukraine's jackpot target, as if Russia would not flatten Odessa.

America declared Independence from British rule on July 2, 1776 but today Britain can't stop wagging its tail to the US. An article in 'The Guardian' says that Ukrainians' are winning because it is the revenge of history. But there is no mention of the Nazi culture in Ukraine induced by the US and why Ukrainian troops are displaying Nazi and NATO flags alongside their own.

The lingo mirrors the American version; even saying that half of Russia's military capability has been destroyed with the US spending just 5.6 percent of its annual defence budget.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi telephoned Zelenskyy on December 26 and urged him for peace in Ukraine. Zelenskyy congratulated Modi for India having assumed the presidency of G20 and asked support for his peace plan. But looking at Zelenskyy's 10-point peace plan it is obviously drafted by the Biden Administration.

It includes demands like: Russia to withdraw completely from Crimea, DPR and LPR; Justice, including the establishment of a special tribunal to prosecute Russian war crimes, and; building security architecture in the Euro-Atlantic space including guarantees for Ukraine. The last two would be completely one sided (favouring Ukraine with the UN also doing America's bidding) and the security architecture implies formalizing the NATO presence in Ukraine who are already present inside.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said, "Our proposals for the demilitarization and denazification of the territories controlled by the regime, the elimination of threats to Russia's security emanating from there, including our new lands, are well known to the enemy. The point is simple, fulfill them for your own good or otherwise, the issue will be decided by the Russian army."

It is evident that Biden intends to continue pushing Russia against the wall unmindful when the final redline may be crossed. But another view is that Biden actually wants nuclear war in order to nuke Russia and join the ranks of Harry Truman who bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki with nuclear weapons.

The only chance for peace in Ukraine appears to be if Europe breaks ranks with the US or at least their leaders tell Biden that they will no more fuel the war in Ukraine at the expense of their country's economy.

According to Belgium's Bruegel Institute, €705.5 billion were allocated across European countries to shield countries from rising energy costs since the start of the energy crisis in September 2021. This would have gone up manifold with the war in Ukraine. In addition is the US-induced EU price cap on Russian oil and now Putin has decreed that Russian will not supply oil from February 2023 to countries who directly or indirectly joined the price capping sanctions.

All this while America's arms and oil industry is enjoying an economic boom. Refusing supply of Russian oil has also contributed to the unprecedented rise of Japan's debt to 232 percent of its GDP and servicing debt requiring 22.6 percent or more of Japan's annual budget. But Europe has an alternative to either continue writing its own epitaph or stand up to the US.

Lt General PRAKASH KATOCH is an Indian Army veteran. Views expressed are the writer's own.