Contributed by Joe Montero

The world watched the extraordinary Volodymyr Zelenskyy v Donald Trump and JD Vance fight just days ago, and the fallout from this keeps on coming. Zelensky had obviously gone to the Whitehouse aiming to deliver a bruising. Trump and Vance were determined to put Zelenskyy in his place. This begun outside the front door when Trump made fun about how his guest was dressed. This was a calculated act of humiliation.

It got worse once in front of the camera’s and ended when he was thrown out of the Whitehouse. Zelenskyy was unable to contain himself and acted in a way that ensured he did not come out of it well.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump

On hindsight it is not hard to realise that a showdown was inevitable. Although the meeting on the day was supposed to be about signing a rare earths agreement, both sides had other things in mind, and behind this is the reality that President who ended the war and doing it loudly. He can then avoid the humiliation of being the loser and heap all the blame on his predecessor Joe Biden.

Far more important is that Donald Trump represents the ascendency of a new dominating wing of American corporate capitalism. The old manufacturing-based guard has mostly dwindled and moved much of its manufacturing operations out of the country. So have others. The Silicon Valley high tech moguls have risen, and they have merged with an important section of finance corporate capitalism. A case in point has been the support for Trump from the Mellon camp.

Image from Truthdig: The Mellon dynasty with its current head Tomothy Mellon (centre and to the front) who is one of Donald Trump’s most important financial backers

The interests of these two groups of corporate America have diverged. The old guard insists that the status quo of American dominance overall all international markets remain. The new guard isn’t precious about this and insists that the focus should be squarely on concentrating on high tech dominance. They realise that leadership in most traditional fields has already been ceded, and that this reality must be recognised.

Strategically, the difference is that the old guard insists on maintaining the global system of United States absolute dominance. The new guard insists on a partial withdrawal, moving into a world of spheres of influence. Their conception is a world divided into the interests of the United States, China, and Russia. This is the definition of the multi-polar world Trump, and his team have been talking about. A postscript is the intention to drive a wedge between Russia and China and eventually take on the latter.

This is the reason for the shift from the military option to more focus on diplomacy for now. It won’t work because their view of the world does not match the reality. Neither China nor Russia is going to play along with the Trumpian view of the world. Both have moved on, and this is u by the rise of the BRICS trading alliance.

In any case the war is being won by Russia on the battlefield. Russia will determine the conditions of the peace, and there is no way to avoid this.

The above map comes from the BBC, which is vocal supporter of Zelenski and the war. But there is no way of hiding Russia’s advance along the battle line, although it is underestimated here significantly.

The following map is an intelligence map revealing the front line more clearly and marking the battles beyond it on 24 February 2025. The line is continually moving westward. The Ukrainian army can’t stop this.

The old guard to whom Zelenskyy now seems to be tied to, still believes in a unipolar world that no one must challenge under any circumstances. The Unipolarity tend towards the Democrats, and the multipolarists toward the Republicans. SouthFront is a pro-Russian analysis and intelligence organisation using experts. This and the BBC map are remarkably similar.

Europe comes into the mix. Its elites come into the mix. This is a group of spent former colonialist nations, whose economic and political leaders dream of a comeback, and they seek to position themselves to grab as much of the Ukrainian spoils as they can. They want access to the mineral resources, and they want to be on the multibillion-dollar opportunity of reconstruction when the fighting ends. They want the war to continue until they are in a stronger position.

Image from NATO

Given these circumstances, a blowup in Washington this week was almost inevitable. Ukraine is no more than a pawn to further ambitions. Neither the United States or Europe give a stuff about their tool’s people or its sovereignty.

Zelenskyy has made it clear he wants the war to go on. He made this clear at this meeting with Trump and Vance. He said that he does not want a peace deal with Russia, unless, in effect, NATO is stationed on Ukrainian soil. This is what the insistence on European troops on the ground and at least United States air cover means. Zelenskyy aims to impose defeat on Russia. Trump was right when he told his guest that he is on the losing side and has no cards in his hand. Trump is right in saying that the need is for an end to the fighting, and to bring this about the reality on the ground, must be accepted.

To recognise this doesn’t mean one must be a Trump fan. Opposing Trump on this issue just because he is Trump, or because of the delusion that this war is about Ukrainian sovereignty and democracy, is foolish. The best evidence is that the Zelenskyy regime has already handed much of the country over. Mostly to United States interests. War has devastated the economy. Many businesses facing going to the wall have been sold to the American. Others have put themselves into massive debt to American banks. They are syphoning the life out of the place. Now there is the pressure to grab Ukraine’s mineral resources and pay back up to $500 billion. Ukraine is being milked for all it’s worth.

There is no doubt that this is a proxy war immediately waged against Russia. Those who insist this is about an unprovoked invasion by Russia cannot get that Ukraine’s trouble have internal causes, influenced by western intervention over decades. Mainly from the United States, since the 1990’s, and escalated with the events of 2014 and the 2015 American backed coup. This was always a project for “regime change” through destabilisation, and material and political support for American proxies. For Russia, this was about NATO encirclement and a very real nuclear threat on Russia’s doorstep.

The eastward thrust of NATO is ultimately about reaching China’s northern border. It’s the intended end game of the Ukraine conflict. That Trump is prepared to skuttle NATO is not a bad thing. It at elast gives a breathing space from the drive to more conflict.

This truth must get out there. Those who do not understand this will continue to stand against a peace deal. They will continue to be de facto supporters of war.

Once again, it is important to remind the remaining supporters of Ukraine’s regime that the regime and its western enablers have lost the war. They can’t revers this reality, and the longer it takes to sign a peace deal the more the number of people who die needlessly, and the more ground that is lost to Ukraine. This means major concessions are inevitable. NATO will not go into Ukraine. Russian speaking regions will not go back, and others will likely secede. Ukraine will remain neutral.