Zelensky angling for US troops in Ukraine

A friend of mine “translated” Zelensky’s UN speech as follows: Force Russia to the negotiating table; return all territory taken by Russia to Ukraine; have a war crimes trial for Putin and his cronies; send more weapons and money to Ukraine.

I think his summary is fair enough. But it is not the real text. Zelensky really thinks he can get NATO (led by the United States) to commit air power and troops to fight in Ukraine.

That is why he is campaigning for Kamala Harris in US swing states, including Pennsylvania, because he knows that the American troops cannot be dispatched until after Harris wins the election in November.

How do you force Russia to the negotiating table, you ask? You give Ukraine lots of long-range missiles to pummel Russian territory, destroying infrastructure and causing immense civilian casualties.

Here, again, there is a subtext. Putin is weak and unpopular, the Russian state is crumbling, and if things get worse he will be ousted from power, opening the way for a more reasonable and chastised Russia.

Zelensky and others in Ukraine, such as Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s military intelligence, and their friends in the UK, perhaps some at the NSC, promote the idea of an overthrow of Putin supporting the thesis by citing the case of former Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, who died in a jet plane explosion in August 2023 soon after leading a “revolt” against Putin.

Prigozhin, a visible leader of the Wagner group, an illicit billionaire and a “friend” of Putin led a squad of malcontent Wagnerians into an invasion of Russian territory, after Prigozhin claimed that in the battle for Bakhmut the regular army shortchanged him and allowed hundreds of his men to be sacrificed, lacking air cover and