Trump's outburst should give Zelensky serious pause for concern

"The Ukrainian revolution of 2014 (also known as the Euromaidan Revolution or Revolution of Dignity; Ukrainian: Революція гідності, Revoliutsiia hidnosti) took place in Ukraine in February 2014, when a series of violent events involving protesters, riot police, and unknown shooters in the capital, Kiev, culminated in the ousting of the elected Ukrainian President, Viktor Yanukovych, and the overthrow of the Ukrainian Government" (Wikipedia)

This revolution in Ukraine led Putin to invade and annex Ukraine's Crimea, and to start a war with Ukraine in the Donbas, a war that has led to the loss of thousands of lives.

Zelensky gained the presidency of Ukraine but a few short months ago, and the major platform that led to his political success was his political promise to end the war with Putin and bring peace to the inhabitants of the Donbas .... peace to Ukraine.

Little did President Zelensky know that within 3 months of his election victory on 21 April, a fateful telephone conversation held on the 25 July between himself and President Trump would lead to the opening of a formal impeachment inquiry into Trump.

As reported by the BBC,

"Democrats will open a formal impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump over claims that he sought political help from Ukraine, US media reports say. 

...
Last week reports said US intelligence officials had complained to a government watchdog about Mr Trump's interactions with a foreign leader, who was later revealed to be the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky. " (BBC : 24 September, 2019) (my emphasis)

It has since transpired that Trump was using the releasing of US military aid for Ukraine as a quid pro quo to bribe Zelensky to trawl for 'political' dirt against Joe Biden, the current front runner of his democratic opponents in the 2020 US presidential elections.

 MSNBC : 25 September 2019

As early as August of this year,  Natasha Bertrand of Politico reported that,

"The Trump administration is slow-walking $250 million in military assistance to Ukraine, annoying lawmakers and advocates who argue the funding is critical to keeping Russia at bay.

But the delays come amid questions over Trump’s approach to Russia, after a weekend in which the president repeatedly seemed to downplay Moscow’s military intervention in Ukraine and pushed for Russia to be reinstated into the Group of Seven, an annual gathering of the world’s largest advanced economies. " (Politico : 29 August 2019) (my emphasis)

 MSNBC: 25 September 2019

And in light of his impending formal impeachment, Trump is now desperately trying to shift the blame for his slow-walking of $250 million in US military aid for Ukraine onto the EU.

 BBC : 24 Sept., 2019

This outburst of Trump should give Zelensky serious pause for concern about the impending Normandy Four meeting between himself, Putin, Merkel, and Macron.

Indeed, Zelensky should now ask himself whether Trump's telephone tête-à-tête's with Putin, PRIOR to his own call with Trump, were not instrumental in Trump's current outburst about withholding US military aid for Ukraine.

If so this should, for Zelensky, shed new light on what Putin may have promised him in those calls between himself and Putin.

It is not co-incidental that, as reported by Vladimir Soldatkin (right),

"Russia is ready to take part in a four-way summit in Paris [the Normandy Format: Putin, Merkel, Macron, Zelensky] to try to breathe life into the stalled Ukrainian peace process but has strict preconditions for such a meeting, a senior Kremlin aide said on Friday." (Reuters : 13 September 2019) (my emphasis)

The strict preconditions that Putin has set forth for this Normandy Format meeting are :-

• The rival armed forces in eastern Ukraine should be separated on either side of the line of contact
• The wording on a special status for the Donbass region should be agreed, and
• There must be a preliminary agreement on what the summit’s conclusions should be. (ibid Soldatkin) (my emphasis)

One may indeed ask whether these preconditions of Putin were part of the telephone conversation discussions held between himself and Zelensky.

Zelensky should also bear in mind the Merkel's and Macron's hidden agendas in having this Normandy Format meeting as soon as is possible. (cf.my Blog Entry 14/09/2019)

For Zelensky, political truth is turning out to be dangerously stranger than fiction.

MSNBC : 25 September 2019

(to be continued)