A few hours before the Ukrainian delegation arrived in Saudi Arabia, ahead of the meeting with American representatives, a former Russian Defense ministry official and head of a Russian armaments manufacturer, now a British national and a Conservative Party donor, Alexander Temerko, called for the Ukrainian president to resign.
Temerko is well-known in the British Conservative circles. He has been a prominent donor of the Conservative Party before and after the large-scale invasion of Ukraine. He has also denied being an agent of the Kremlin and described the former PM David Cameron, whose bust he bought for the Carlton Club, once the nerve center of the Tory Party, as a “friend.” He uses the same term for Boris Johnson, whose bids for the premiership he supported in 2016 and 2019.
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More recently, Temerko made a donation to John Wittingdale MP, the current vice chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Ukraine.
In an article published in The Telegraph, the tycoon called for a complete overhaul of Ukraine’s political system. He wrote:
“Following a mineral-security deal, let Donald Trump and his team secure a ceasefire, create an agreement for security guarantees during this ceasefire, form a Government of National Unity from Ukraine’s societal leaders, hold presidential elections – followed a month later by parliamentary elections (as the constitution requires) – and empower a new Ukrainian government.”
Zelensky Confirms Kyiv Ready for 30-Day Ceasefire, Says Washington ‘Must Convince’ Russia
There are a number of simple lies, or as his evident idol, Trump, may prefer, post-truths in article written by the conservative donor.
He asserts that Zelensky “claims to want to return to the minerals deal he scorned,” yet it was not the Ukrainian president that stormed out of the White House. He was shown the door after what appeared to be a well-prepared ambush involving the partner of Republican Congresswoman (and frequent amplifier of Kremlin’s lines) Marjorie Taylor Green, and the US vice president, JD Vance.
Temerko emphasizes that “Through all of this, he [Zelensky] stripped himself of the role of an equal partner and has become, instead, a client,” continuing that “Europe now holds the cards Zelensky wished to have; the well-worn phrase “No discussions on Ukraine without Ukraine” no longer holds weight.”
In fact, Trump has been in contact with Putin before his election as president, and since the inauguration, without any Ukrainian involvement. He has promised the Russians to block Ukraine’s entry into NATO and conducted negotiations with Russia in Saudi Arabia with no Ukrainian presence.
Perhaps the most honest statement in Temerko’s piece is: “The truth is, only Trump has the ability to create a lasting peace, and only his plan will be decisive.” The honesty lies in its alignment with the Kremlin’s stance. Russia simply cannot negotiate with Europe, which has taken a firm position of defending Ukraine. Having already broken promises to Ukraine on negotiations and arms deliveries, with President Biden’s allocations still unfulfilled, having also cancelled intelligence sharing, Trump went above and beyond to decrease the US resilience against Russian cyber threats and voted with Russia against Ukraine in the United Nation. For Moscow, Trump is clearly the preferred negotiating partner.
It is curious that Temerko did not phrase it this way. Instead, he states that “President Trump is not an enemy; but rather one of Ukraine’s most sincere friends.”
The former head of a Russian defense firm continued to comment on President Zelensky’s conduct: “He should have been expressing gratitude: No world leader has done more to elevate Ukraine’s economic profile than Donald Trump.” he writes, implying that Ukraine’s president should have practically fallen at Trump’s feet for a deal offering no security guarantees beyond the unsubstantiated “trust me, bro” attitude of the US president. A deal that would have been disastrous for Ukraine in the long run.
Never mind that Zelensky and every other Ukrainian official have already thanked the US countless times.
Temerko went on to suggest a unity government for Ukraine, involving the major opposition parties – evidently referencing the negotiations that have taken place between Ukrainian politicians and the US, putting a big question mark over the integrity of the politicians participating in those talks.
No matter that Russia has never adhered to a ceasefire agreement, that Ukrainian territory remains occupied, that more than one hundred thousand war crimes will be unpunished, or that over thirty thousand children are still held by the Russians, together with prisoners of war and other civilians. These are not the points Temerko wanted to raise.
One question remains. While Temerko asserts that “Putin’s Russia is a brutal aggressor, and an enemy of Europe, the West and democracy,” a risk-free statement for someone evidently comfortable in the UK and not planning to return to Moscow, he continues to donate heavily to the Conservative Party, thereby increasing his personal influence in UK politics. In the three years since Feb. 24, 2022, and now as he lectures on Ukraine’s future, how much has he donated to Ukraine’s armed forces?
The views expressed in this article are the author’s and not necessarily those of Kyiv Post.
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