Posted originally on CTH on March 7, 2025 | Sundance

Knowing that President Trump has essentially stopped the Ukraine/NATO/IC/EU offensive combat operations for Ukraine that use western supplied drones/missiles with complete reliance on U.S/NATO targeting, it does not come as a surprise to see Ukraine President Zelenskyy call for a “sky and sea truce.”

Zelenskyy’s proposal for Russia to stop the air and sea combat operations, while simultaneously supporting frontline combat operations, is essentially an EU effort to maintain the fight by counteracting the Trump pressure point.

EU spokesperson Volodymyr Zelenskyy doesn’t factually want a ceasefire; they want a situation that retains the status quo and neuters Russia’s strategic advantage.

EU News – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for an air and sea truce on Friday after Russia bombarded Ukraine’s energy infrastructure overnight.

Writing on Telegram, he reiterated that there must be “silence” in the seas and skies over Ukraine. The “first steps toward real peace must include forcing the sole source of this war, Russia, to stop such attacks against life,” the Ukrainian leader said.

Russia targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure overnight in a large-scale missile and drone attack, Ukrainian officials said Friday.

[…] The attack came hours after Zelenskyy announced that talks with the US on ending the three-year war would take place in Saudi Arabia next week. (read more)

President Trump knows there is no external pressure that can weaken the strategic advantages of Russia.  The only substantive action that would impact Putin would be U.S. military to join even deeper with Ukraine, and that’s not about to happen.

The only option to bring both to the table with the same mindset is to force Zelenskyy (essentially the EU) to accept peace, establish the first framework for a ceasefire then proceed to negotiations for a lasting peace settlement.

Forcing Zelenskyy/EU to accept peace is a matter of stopping U.S. support for the EU/Ukraine war effort.  President Putin is already in a position to negotiate; it’s the intransigence of the EU/Zelenskyy tribe that is the current focus.

In addition to extreme economic outcomes as a result of potential tariffs on the EU, the complete withdrawal from NATO is an arrow in the strategic quiver of Trump.

The game of pretending, albeit weakened, is continued by the EU.  Meanwhile, we keep watching.