Volodymyr Zelenskyj has finally accepted President Trump’s outline for a peace deal.
And yes, the citizens of Ukraine will breathe a collective sigh of relief in the hope that US military aid is likely to be restored and that the «roadmap for peace» is back on track.
This is what Alexander Temerko, a Ukrainian-born British businessman, writes in the Daily Mail.
When Zelenskyj travelled to Washington last week, Temerko, like all patriotic Ukrainians, hoped the visit would be a success.
And so I watched with growing dismay as the now infamous Oval Office meeting unfolded.
While most European commentators have taken aim at Donald Trump and his Vice President JD Vance, for Temerko it was Zelenskyi who was the villain in this piece.
The first rule of great power diplomacy is to make sure your personal behaviour doesn’t get in the way of achieving your goals.
With his stubbornness and intransigence, Zelensky sabotaged a rare earths deal that was supposed to bring peace to his homeland and lay the groundwork for post-war reconstruction.
He didn’t realise that Trump is a businessman and a negotiator. Zelenskyj should realise how delicate and difficult it is to force a brutal dictator like Putin to talk about peace.
That’s why the White House initially rejected the deal, calling for security guarantees. Here, the Ukrainian president showed a total lack of understanding, says Temerko.
Because while Trump didn’t offer F35s to monitor the skies or Marines to patrol the ground, they suggested something that could be almost as effective.
By placing US contractors in the region, Trump was effectively saying to Putin: «Hands off Ukraine; it’s my business partner now and it’s worth almost your entire GDP.» The idea that the Kremlin would ever authorise attacks on US civilians working in Ukraine is absurd.
The deal wasn’t bad for Kiev economically either. As US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has argued, the mineral plan was a «win-win situation». «We make money if the Ukrainian people make money,» he said on Sunday.
Now that Zelenskyj has come to his senses, Ukraine can face the future with renewed confidence. Without US military support or a minerals deal, Ukraine’s fate would have been left to European allies who are hopelessly ill-equipped to safeguard the country’s security.
Although only 20 per cent of Ukraine’s military equipment comes from the US, these weapons are considered by far the most lethal and cutting-edge.
The US has supplied GPS-guided missiles, Himars missiles and anti-aircraft ammunition. Without this, Ukraine would have been fatally weakened.
It would have taken at least three years to develop Europe’s defence industry to a point where it could be able to support Ukraine without US help. During that time, the Russians could have conquered huge swathes of land.
Temerko believes that Zelenskyj’s leadership has become a liability. US goodwill has given way to an atmosphere of distrust and resentment.
I say this with a heavy heart, but it’s time for him to step down.
His latest blunder is just the latest in a string of mistakes in what has become a mistake-filled presidency.
Zelensky made a big mistake when he sacked Ukraine’s commander-in-chief, General Valery Zaluzhny, in February last year, says the Ukrainian businessman.
Zaluzhnyi built a world-class, NATO-level general staff and military organisation capable of stopping the Russian army in its tracks. Even today, the Ukrainian army, though outnumbered, outperforms the Russians in terms of skill and valour.
But the wrangling between the military and the government came to a head when political appointees increasingly used their positions to profit from procurement contracts – a sore subject in the Trump White House.
Also, Zelensky undermined his legitimacy by cancelling the presidential election that was due to be held in the spring of last year.
Many argue that holding elections in wartime is inappropriate, often citing the UK’s decision not to hold parliamentary elections until the Nazis were defeated in World War II.
But that was then, and this is now. In the digital age, it may not be impossible to organise an election that can even accommodate the millions of Ukrainian refugees scattered around the world.
The bureaucratic challenges should be insurmountable if the political will is there, says Temerko.
This is also Donald Trump’s position. Trump wants a minerals deal and an immediate ceasefire, and then an election in Ukraine.
I would like to see Mr Zelensky resign to make way for a government of national unity.
A new government should involve people like ex-president Petro Poroshenko and Kiev mayor Vitali Klitschko, as well as former parliamentary speaker Dmytro Razumkov and ex-prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, says Temerenko. For obvious reasons, pro-Russian parties should not be involved.
If I had my way, the presidency would go to a former soldier: General Valery Zaluzhnyi.
The general is still a national hero, and since he is now Ukraine’s ambassador to London, Temerko meets with him regularly.
I am not blind to Zelenskyj’s talent and achievements. He showed exemplary bravery at the beginning of the war when he memorably turned down the offer of an evacuation plane with the rousing slogan: «I need ammunition, not a lift.»
Temerko also emphasises that he is no friend of Putin, having been forced to flee Russia in 2004 when he was vice-chairman of Russia’s largest oil and gas company Yukos, following the arrest of the company’s chairman.
Putin attempted to extradite Temerko from the UK in 2005, but failed after a judge ruled that the action was «politically motivated».
Since Russia made its first incursion into Ukraine in 2014, he has worked to promote British and European support for the country of my birth.
The positive thing about Zelenskyj’s mishandling of Trump is that, for the first time since Brexit, it has brought Europe’s big beasts together and it has galvanised Europe to gear up in the face of the Russian threat.
But Temerko believes Ukraine’s future is at a crossroads. That’s why he’s calling on Zelensky to step down and make way for a new leader. For the good of Ukraine.
