Is Zelensky ready for Putin now stepping up his war with Ukraine?

The pressure to halt NordStream2 has increased beyond the ability of Merkel to ensure its completion before she heads into the political sunset in September of this year.

As reported by UNIAN,

"The new German government headed by a new chancellor who will replace Angela Merkel in September after the federal elections may freeze the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.

"Even more encouragingly, the third of Germany's left-of-center parties, the Greens, has found its moral and geostrategic compass. Its leaders, Annalena Baerbock and Robert Habeck, are demanding a stop to Nord Stream 2. Among Merkel's own Christian Democrats and the smaller Free Democrats, there are also stirrings against it," Bloomberg reported.
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    "And at some opportune moment, she knows, a new conservative-Green government could then announce the obvious: that this pipeline should never have been built, and will never contain anything but air," the publication said." (UNIAN: 8 February 2021) (my emphasis)

Even Gazprom, Putin's piggy-bank, now has to admit that,

"The final stretch of the construction of the controversial pipeline now looks even more uncertain, and even Russian gas giant Gazprom has warned investors that the Nord Stream 2 project could be suspended or entirely discontinued due to extraordinary circumstances, including “political pressure.” (Tsvetana Paraskova (right): Oil Price: 20 January 2021) (my emphasis)

No longer does Putin have the silence of former US president Donald Trump that allowed himself and Merkel to push ahead with Nord Stream2, even in the face of EU members such as Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia putting up a staunch defense to scrap this geopolitical attempt of Putin to cripple the economy of Ukraine.

Indeed, US President Biden, in his first call with Putin, has made it clear that,

"President Biden spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, the first call between the two leaders since Biden was elected president, and pressed the Russian leader on the SolarWinds hack and the poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
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The White House also said Biden “reaffirmed the United States’ firm support for Ukraine’s sovereignty” and “raised other matters of concern, including the SolarWinds hack, reports of Russia placing bounties on United States soldiers in Afghanistan, interference in the 2020 United States election, and the poisoning of Aleksey Navalny.” (Morgan Chalfant : The Hill : 26 January 2021) (my emphasis) (below: Rachel Maddow: MSNBC : 28 January 2021)

Yet even with this powerful swing against the completion of Nord Stream2 by President Biden, Zelensky questioned the democratic status of the US in light of the Trump inspired attempt to have the US presidential election results overturned.

As  Solomiia Bobrovska (left) writes,

"The Ukrainian leader’s comments on the January storming of the US Capitol represented perhaps the most troubling segment of the entire interview. While most observers have characterized the events of January 6 in Washington DC as anything from an insurrection to a terrorist attack, Zelenskyy appeared to draw direct parallels with Ukraine’s two pro-democracy post-Soviet revolutions." (Atlantic Council : 2 February 2021) (my emphasis)

And whilst Zelensky is drawing a rather false and inept political parallel between the Maidan 2014 Revolution of Dignity and the terrorist attack on the Capitol in Washington, UNIAN informs us that,

"Escalation of the war in Donbas has been reported as Russia-led forces mounted 13 attacks on Ukrainian positions on February 6, having wounded three Ukrainian soldiers. One more was injured and another two were killed in a booby-trap blast on that day.

Enemy troops used proscribed 120mm mortars, grenade launchers, including anti-tank ones, as well as large-caliber machine guns, and rifles, the press center of the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) Headquarters said in a morning update on Facebook on February 7." (UNIAN : 7 February 2021) (my emphasis)

The Covid-19 pandemic may be ravaging the inhabitants in the Donbas and Ukraine's Crimea under the military control of Putin's proxies and Red Army soldiers but Putin will not relent in his war with Ukraine.

As reported by UNIAN,

"In response to a request by an UNIAN correspondent in Russia to elaborate about the topics that were discussed at the meeting of the Security Council chaired by President Vladimir Putin February 5, the Russian leader's Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said the issue of supporting Russian compatriots was on the agenda....                     

When asked by UNIAN whether Ukraine is part of the "Russian world" for the Kremlin, he [Putin's mouthpiece Dmitry Peskov (right)] said: "Of course, there are a lot of Russians and Russian speakers in Ukraine – they all belong to the 'Russian world,' and it would be really stupid to deny cultural, historical ties, and common roots. (UNIAN : 8 February 2021) (my emphasis)

The impending halting of Nord Stream2, turning it into a pipeline that will, in the words of Annalena Baerbock, " never contain anything but air" (ibid UNIAN: 8 February 2021), will redouble Putin's efforts in his war with Ukraine.

Is Zelensky ready for Putin now stepping up his war with Ukraine?

(to be continued)