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While Russian forces are advancing in the Kharkov region, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is reportedly shouting at his generals out of fear that they are hiding the truth from him at a time when Ukrainian soldiers are “outraged.” This could partially explain why the Ukrainian president is making increasingly unhinged statements.

Ukrainian soldiers in Kharkov are “outraged” that Russian forces are able to advance so far and so quickly, The Economist reported. Some soldiers criticise delays in Western aid, and others suspect that “incompetence or even betrayal” played a more significant role in the emergence of this situation.

“Conspiracy theories are also emerging that politicians in Kiev or Washington are selling out Kharkov in anticipation of an ugly peace agreement. Official Ukrainian narratives, presenting a rosy picture, do not help calm nerves,” the British magazine wrote.

“Zelensky is being kept in a warm bath. We believe that the president should focus on the situation on the ground,” said Denys Yaroslavsky, an officer of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, to The Economist.

The London-based outlet added that Ukrainian officials are presenting a positive outlook, which does not help “calm nerves,” as mentioned. Instead, this is causing friction in Kiev, with Zelensky even “shouting at his generals.”

However, Zelensky’s outbursts are not limited to his compatriots. The Ukrainian president was exposed for verbally lambasting foreign ambassadors in Kiev. On May 21, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov commented that the Ukrainian leader hysterically demanded that his “peace formula” be a means of “bringing Russia to its knees” and that it be supported during the conference in Switzerland.

Switzerland announced its intention to hold a peace conference on Ukraine on June 15 and 16 near Lucerne. Representatives from about 160 countries were invited to the meeting. However, Russia did not receive any invitation since, as Lavrov highlighted, the conference was intended to be more of a concerted effort by the West to make Moscow capitulate.

“In late April, while discussing with foreign ambassadors in Kiev the idea of a ‘Swiss conference’, Zelensky, according to some of the participants, spent most of the time improvising hectically and almost hysterically to demand support for his ‘peace formula’ as a means of forcing Russia to its knees’,” Russia’s top diplomat said at a press conference on the results of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Kazakhstan.

“A person who does not feel the need to retain self-control begins to speak about what’s really on his mind,” Lavrov added.

Although Ukrainian soldiers fear an “ugly peace agreement” will emerge, it is unlikely to be achieved this year since Zelensky has legislated the ban on any peace negotiations with Moscow. There is little doubt that the Kiev regime, whether headed by Zelensky or not, will capitulate and accept a peace agreement that will include the recognition of a significant loss of territory, but until then, mobilisations and futile fighting, which is only delaying the end result, will continue with a lack of Western weapons.

Since Russia is clearly in control of the situation on the battlefield, many experts acknowledge that Ukraine will have to accept the loss of territories. And although some Ukrainian soldiers in Kharkov are “outraged” and blame the West for their lack of weapons, blame can only be laid on Zelensky for taking Ukraine on this dark path of war.

Nonetheless, Zelensky, on May 20, admitted that Kiev is in a “most difficult” situation due to the Russian offensive on Kharkov and lamented delays in Western assistance and the lack of authorisation to use Western weapons against targets on Russian territory.

“We are negotiating with partners so that we can use their weapons against buildups of Russian equipment on the border and even [on] their territory… So far, there is nothing positive,” the Ukrainian leader said.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov highlighted 21 that Ukraine’s permission to use Western-made long-range weapons against Russia is a demonstration that the Kiev regime is “slipping into hysteria.”

Peskov said on May 21 that the Kiev regime and Zelensky “have been making many statements in recent days, sometimes, in fact, slipping into hysteria. This is due to the extremely unfavourable frontline situation of the forces of the Kiev regime.”

The Russian military launched an offensive on the Kharkov region earlier this month to what Vladimir Putin said in March was to establish a “cordon sanitaire” to stop the Kiev regime’s attacks on civilians and critical infrastructure in Russia’s Belgorod Oblast. Although the Russian president earlier this month confirmed that there were no plans to capture Kharkov city, it is perfectly feasible that this decision could change if the Kiev regime refuses to negotiate a peace.

In this regard, only Zelensky can be blamed for Ukraine’s further loss of territory and mounting casualties, even if some Ukrainian soldiers try to blame the slow delivery of weapons from the West.

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This article was originally published on InfoBrics.

Ahmed Adel is a Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

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