WSJ Reports that German Chancellor Attempted to Convince Zelensky to Drop NATO Aspiration to Avert War, Zelensky Refused

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Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky

The original article at Wall Street Journal is behind a paywall, so I’ve only been able to see a couple of excerpts and summaries by other outlets such as the one below from RT. A few thoughts come to mind.

First, if this report is true, then German Chancellor Schotz, after Zelensky’s refusal, should have publicly declared that Germany’s official position on Ukraine’s membership in NATO would be to veto it. The fact that he did not shows that at the moment of truth, Schotz chose to defer to a provocative agenda and the ridiculous position of Ukraine’s president, at the expense of Europe’s long-term stability and security. Ditto for Macron of France. Neither had the backbone to be a true statesman in the runup to this war.

Another thing this report reveals is that Zelensky – far from being the one-dimensional superhero he is being made out to be in western media – is an arrogant fool who wildly misjudged his leverage and the people of his country are paying a horrible price for it. – Natylie

Zelensky rejected peace offer days before Russian offensive – WSJ

RT.com, 4/3/22

German chancellor Olaf Scholz had offered Volodymyr Zelensky a chance for peace just days before the launch of the Russian military offensive, but the Ukrainian president turned it down, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) has reported.

Scholz had made what the US outlet described as “one last push for a settlement between Moscow and Kiev” less than a week before the Russian forces were sent into Ukraine on February 24.

The chancellor told Zelensky in Munich on February 19 “that Ukraine should renounce its NATO aspirations and declare neutrality as part of a wider European security deal between the West and Russia,” the paper writes. The daily also claims that “the pact would be signed by Mr. Putin and Mr. Biden, who would jointly guarantee Ukraine’s security.”

However, Zelensky rejected the offer to make the concession and avoid confrontation, saying that “[Russia’s President Vladimir] Putin couldn’t be trusted to uphold such an agreement and that most Ukrainians wanted to join NATO,” the WSJ reports, without revealing its sources for the information.

“His answer left German officials worried that the chances of peace were fading,” the report points out…

Read full article here.

4 thoughts on “WSJ Reports that German Chancellor Attempted to Convince Zelensky to Drop NATO Aspiration to Avert War, Zelensky Refused”

  1. No mystery. At that time, the task for Zelensky was to provoke a war in Donbas, so that sanctions could be installed, with that decision in the US but needing a pretext. It all worked, only the result was much more than expected.

  3. Whatever is happening on the ground militarily in Ukraine, it is the information war that is the key factor. The information war is as brutal and cutthroat as the military war. It is pretty clear that the US/NATO/CIA etc. are winning the information war very handily. The images of corpses and destroyed cities create powerful, gut-wrenching responses. Controlling hearts and minds is as important as any military success. Let’s face it—the goal is to turn Russia into a pariah state and all Russians into butchers. Where does this end?

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