Prof. ST Hsieh
Director, US-China Energy Industry Forum
626-376-7460
November 5, 2023
There are smart politicians, and they are dumb politicians who think they are smart. More dangerous, is dumb, inexperienced politicians suddenly think they are on top of the world and calling all the shots.
Ukraine President Zelenskyy is a loser but has big dreams. The proxy war in Ukraine against Russia did not have to happen, if Zelenskyy were not the President and if Zelenskyy knows his own limits: no government experience, no concept of geopolitics, and no military backgrounds.
Unfortunately, Zelenskyy led the Ukraine for an unnecessary war with Russia, foolishly believed that the US led allies would back him all the way! But Zelenskyy’s dream was unrealistic, and he had no strategy to achieve his goal. Yet the war went on for more than one year and a second winter is looming over Europe.
Zelenskyy kept Ukraine’s loss and casualty as a secret but hyped Russian’s loss as if Ukraine is winning; and he insisted on his demand for peace. Now, the Israel-Hamas war has taken up all the US attention, so Zelenskyy has to play second the fiddler after Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel. Thus Zelenskyy started to challenge Trump, it is nothing but a public media stunt.
Ukraine does need a military strategy, but its goal should be how to end the bloodshed as soon as possible. If Zelenskyy does not give up his demands, the war leads to the destruction of Ukraine.
It may be good news that if Ukraine holds the next election soon and find another leader. Unfortunately, it is Zelenskyy’s call.
Zelenskyy invites Trump to Ukraine to explain why his “peace plan” is impossible
Ukrainska Pravda
Sun, November 5, 2023 at 8:59 AM PST
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, has invited former US President Donald Trump, who promised he would end the war between Russia and Ukraine in one day if he were re-elected as US president, to come to Ukraine.
Zelensky invites Trump to Ukraine: ‘He can’t manage this war’
Lauren Irwin
Sun, November 5, 2023 at 6:00 AM PST·
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has invited former President Trump to his country’s war zone, saying the former president “can’t manage this war.”
Ukraine’s military considering new strategy to move forward, Zelensky says
The Kyiv Independent news desk
Sun, November 5, 2023 at 8:52 AM PST
Ukraine is considering a shift in its military strategy to “move forward faster” and strike Russia “unexpectedly,” President Volodymyr Zelensky told NBC News on Nov. 5.
Zelensky rebuffed recent suggestions that the war had entered an impasse, contrasting with the opinion of Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi, expressed in an interview and an op-ed published by the Economist on Nov. 1.
The pieces emerged five months after the Ukrainian military started the much-anticipated counteroffensive in early June. Focused on several axes in the east and south of the country, the large-scale operation brought limited gains.
Zaluzhnyi’s interview and op-ed offered a sobering view on the state of the war, including by referring to the current situation as a “stalemate,” which Zelensky denied.
“I don’t think that this is a stalemate,” Zelensky said.
Factbox-How Ukraine’s counteroffensive has struggled so far
Reuters
Fri, November 3, 2023 at 6:01 AM PDT·
(Reuters) – Here is a snapshot of the main battlefield developments in Ukraine since the start of Kyiv’s latest counteroffensive in early June.
After Ukraine made spectacular territorial gains in the second half of 2022, hopes were high in Kyiv and among its allies for further significant successes this year along the frontline of up to 1,000 km (620 miles). Western weaponry including state-of-the-art tanks and long-range missiles had boosted such expectations.
But the gains so far have been small, as improved Russian defences proved effective, and any momentum created in the south and east looks to have run out of steam for now.