British Colonel: Zelensky Brought Putin To The Surface
- 22.05.2025, 16:54
The master of the Kremlin has fallen into a trap.
Russia is still not ready to negotiate the end of the war and is trying in every possible way to extricate itself from the situation in which it is already definitely driven into a deadlock. This opinion in an exclusive interview with 24 Channel was expressed by retired British Army Colonel Philippe Ingraham.
- Russian dictator Vladimir Putin did not come to the negotiations with Ukraine in Istanbul, although he himself proposed them. Why is he so afraid to meet with Vladimir Zelensky in person?"
- I think President Zelensky brought Putin out in the open. Putin called him for a meeting, but he didn't expect Zelensky to actually show up and put so much effort into it.
Putin's message was for Donald Trump, and Zelensky tactically outsmarted him. Trump said Putin would only come to the meeting if he himself was there. However, this actually only embarrassed Putin as well as Trump's team. The US President doesn't know how to handle it yet.
I don't think Putin was even going to show up for this meeting. He probably didn't expect what he proposed to actually happen.
He did it hastily - right after Trump's meeting with President Zelensky at the Vatican, and the visits of Donald Tusk, Emmanuel Macron, Kir Starmer and the new German Chancellor Friedrich Merz to Kiev, the whole "Coalition of the willing," and then Trump's call trying to get a 30-day ceasefire.
Then there was Putin's press conference, which he himself was almost two hours late for. I think it was an impulsive reaction because he just didn't want to go to the meeting.
- You remembered Putin's late-night press conference after the European ultimatum for a 30-day cease-fire in Ukraine. Doesn't it seem to you that Putin was trapped in a trap created by European leaders and Zelensky and didn't know what to do next?"
- There were two people in that trap. The main one is President Putin. We have to be careful. There is a saying in English: "A cornered rat is dangerous." So the situation must be watched carefully.
The second person who has also been cornered is Trump, because his position on who he will support has been unpredictable. We remember the shocking incident in the Oval Office when America's Vice President J.D. Vance suddenly attacked President Zelensky, and Trump supported the attack.
But then there was the reconciliation at the Pope's funeral at the Vatican, the iconic photo of Trump and Zelensky sitting leaning toward each other in dialog. That seemed to change Trump's mind, but it wasn't enough.
Then came the visits of European leaders, the virtual meeting of the "Coalition of the willing," and the phone call to Trump. All of this has backed Trump into a corner, while Putin's actions are only embarrassing Trump and he doesn't seem to know what to do next.