Yesterday was Vladimir Putin’s biggest day of the year: Victory Day — the 80th anniversary celebration of what Russians call “their” victory over Hitler’s Axis powers in 1945. And from all reports, it was a roaring success.

But not everyone came to the party. China’s President, Xi Jinping, was there, of course . . . seated next to Putin in the viewing stand in front of the Kremlin wall in Red Square. And leaders from other Putin-friendly nations attended, despite fears of possible drone attacks by Ukraine (which didn’t happen), and detours necessitated by the refusal of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia to permit the visiting dignitaries’ planes to fly through their air space en route to Moscow. But only one EU country — Slovakia — was there, represented by its Prime Minister, Robert Fico, as was EU-hopeful Serbia’s President, Aleksandar Vucic. The rest of the West stayed at home.

The Western leaders weren’t idle, however. They were busy scheduling meetings to be held today, May 10th, in Kyiv, with some attending virtually. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that leaders of the “Coalition of the Willing” — a group of Western nations pledged to continue defending Ukraine against Russia — will be in attendance. According to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the group will include, in addition to himself, French President Emmanuel Macron, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and President Zelensky. [Ivana Kottasova, CNN, May 9, 2025.]

Starmer said that the group’s purpose is to “ratchet up pressure on Russia’s war machine” until Putin agrees to a ceasefire.

The United States has not been excluded from these talks. Both Zelensky and Macron have spoken with Donald Trump several times, and Macron commended Trump on “his strong call for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire.” He added in a statement on X:

“We must all work towards this goal without delay, false pretenses, or dilatory tactics. Ukraine has already expressed its support for such a ceasefire nearly two months ago. I now expect Russia to do the same.”

And further, he said that if Russia should fail to accept the proposal, France was “ready to respond firmly, together with all Europeans and in close coordination with the United States.” [Id.]

Calls were also placed to both Zelensky and Trump on Thursday by the leaders of ten northern European countries — the United Kingdom, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Finland — that form a security alliance known as the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF). According to Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson:

“Our message to both presidents was that we are committed to a just and lasting peace in Ukraine. We also conveyed our full support for the proposal for a 30 days ceasefire and continued European and US commitment to the peace process.” [Id.]

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It is encouraging to finally see the leaders of the European nations that are most at risk from Putin’s aggression working in concert with the United States, instead of arguing over who should step forward to take principal responsibility. They need to stop Putin’s endless stalling tactics and force him to sit down to serious peace negotiations . . . starting with a meaningful ceasefire. And that can only be accomplished through a solid, united front. Let’s hope today’s meetings will prove to be the beginning of that process.

Still, it all depends on the reaction of this guy, doesn’t it?

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
5/10/25