R. Nesbitt | Red Phoenix correspondent | Maryland–

The sad and combative press conference between Trump, Vance, and Zelenskyy in the Oval Office was a gut-wrenching display of the new, ruthless and money-hungry designs of the American bourgeoisie in the 2020s. Throughout the exchange, which quickly heated up over the issue of Zelenskyy’s complaints of accepting a new ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia, arbitrated by the United States, Trump berated Zelenskyy for “gambling with WWIII” and Vance accused the Ukrainian head of state of ingratitude. It is absolutely rich that the president who blew up the Iran Nuclear Deal, who brought us to the brink of nuclear war with the DPRK, and who has throughout his time in office pumped armaments into Israel, South Korea, and Ukraine is lecturing anyone on gambling with global war.

On paper, Zelenskyy’s protests are reasonable. There are many concerns around Russian occupation of Ukrainian territory as well as Ukrainian hostages, including hundreds of children. Never mind that the escalation of this conflict all began in the winter of 2021, over the negotiation of supplies to be let into separatist villages in the Donbas. Put simply, Putin, who is giving the US State Department a run for its money in fixing elections, who betrays allies like the Republic of Artsakh and Abkhazia when the going gets tough, cannot seriously be trusted to honor any ceasefire for the sake of a diplomatic resolution to this conflict. 

But regardless of Zelenskyy’s valid concerns, his cause has always been underwritten by the mercenary interests of the NA-EU imperialist bloc, even before his presidency and Trump’s first term, even in the purchasing of arms from the NATO states. But the critical issue now is centered around a trade agreement that would open up Ukraine’s rare-earth mineral wealth to American interests in repayment of the $500 billion in aid given by the US to Ukraine. The antagonism of Trump and Vance in the Oval Office conference was very much about strong-arming Zelenskyy into accepting a ceasefire which will be essential for the secure and long-term extraction of the agreed upon rare earth minerals being used to supplement the payment of Ukraine’s military debt to the US. It is the same extortionate character of Trump’s trade policy to undermine the growing competition of Canada, Mexico, and China, while building domestic monopolies and offsetting the costs of tax cuts for billionaires. Other natural resources such as grains and coal from the Ukrainian-held sectors of the Donbas will also be in the sights of the free trade superweapon of the empire’s ruling class. 

Zelenskyy’s hands are not clean either: he already has orchestrated the occupation of large swaths of territory on the frontier with Russia, the Ukrainians possess a large number of Russian POWs that would leverage a successful ceasefire, and Ukraine has already received staggering amounts of aid from the EU and the US to sustain the war against Russia. The goals of the Ukrainian bourgeoisie are a complete destruction of the Russian-backed separatist movement in the Donbas, building up their own military industrial complex, re-annexing Crimea, and likely substantial financial reparations from Russia and Belarus. 

Trump’s high-handed diplomacy is failing him here just as it failed with the DPRK, with Iran, and as it will fail with Canada and Denmark, and it’s unfolding before our eyes. Macron of France has spoken of “no longer being the US’ vassal” and Britain has pledged more aid to Ukraine. Zelenskyy had already agreed to open up rare Earth deposits to the United States.

What is at stake now is how this conflict will progress, how long the ceasefire will last, and who will be the first to escalate the war. Trump, Putin, Zelenskyy, and Macron are all the figureheads for different camps of the global capitalist class, so perhaps it may not be wholly accurate to say that any of them alone are “gambling with WWIII” but in the pursuit of arms deals, rare earth minerals, precious trade routes, and poisonous fossil fuels, the world bourgeoisie as a whole are indeed gambling with WWIII.

Categories: Anti-War, International, U.S. News, Ukraine