Amid Trump’s peace efforts, can Zelensky be trusted?

President Donald Trump has always understood that real peace isn’t just a feel-good slogan—it’s a hard-nosed transaction that demands trust, straight talk, and zero tolerance for backroom games. That’s why his team’s push for a Ukraine-Russia ceasefire feels like a breath of fresh air in a swamp of endless war profiteering. Just this week, as of December 1, 2025, special envoy Steve Witkoff will jet off to Moscow to hash out the final kinks in a revised peace framework, fresh off “productive” talks in Miami with Ukrainian reps and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Trump himself touted a “good chance” for a deal, emphasizing not just an end to the bloodshed but a blueprint for Ukraine’s long-term prosperity—think security guarantees and economic lifelines that actually stick.

If this peace plan lands, it could unlock billions in reconstruction, and let Eastern Europe finally breathe. But here’s the rub: For any of this to hold water, the U.S. can’t afford to bet the farm on a partner whose trustworthiness is disputable.

Enter Ukraine’s leadership, led by Volodymyr Zelensky—a man who’s mastered the art of the dramatic pause but seems allergic to follow-through. As Trump’s envoys shuttle between Geneva, Abu Dhabi, and now the Kremlin, the million-dollar question isn’t just whether Putin will bite; it’s whether Zelensky’s crew can be trusted to honor their word with an agreed-upon deal.

Will they respect territorial freezes, military caps, or those hard-won security pacts? Or will they pull a classic Kyiv—leak, pivot, and vanish like a bad blind date? With shadow forces (hello, deep-state and EU meddlers) hell-bent on sabotaging this, America’s got skin in the game. A flimsy deal means wasted leverage, endless aid black holes, and Putin laughing all the way to the Donbas.

“Witkoffgate” — Anti-Peace Sabotage Attempt

Anyone paying attention to the news cycle knows the warmongers are in overdrive. Just days after Trump’s 28-point blueprint leaked—courtesy of what reeks of Ukrainian military intel playing dirty pool—the so-called “Witkoffgate” exploded.

We’re talking transcribed tapes of Witkoff jawing with Russian advisor Yuri Ushakov, leaked to Bloomberg like yesterday’s trash.

The ploy? Paint Trump’s top dealmaker as a Kremlin stooge, torch his cred, and derail the talks before they hit Moscow. The Kremlin called it a blatant psy-op to “disrupt the process,” and Trump brushed it off as standard negotiating jujitsu.

Coincidence? Hardly. This isn’t Ukraine’s first rodeo in the sabotage circus. Remember the Istanbul direct talks in May 2025? Poof—derailed amid “technical glitches” that smelled like Kyiv’s special sauce. If Zelensky’s team is whispering to leakers while shaking hands with Rubio, what’s to stop them from greenlighting drone swarms the minute Putin signs?

The Mysterious Rare Earths

Then there’s the infamous rare earth minerals fiasco—a masterclass in Ukrainian bait-and-switch. Back in fall 2024, as Biden’s clock ticked out, Zelensky’s shop peddled their “trillions in untapped riches”—lithium, titanium, the works—to the White House for more Javelins and blank checks.

Then Trump won in a landslide, and Kyiv flipped the script, dangling the same shiny rocks at the new Oval Office boss, conveniently forgetting their Democrat sugar daddies, the ones Zelensky rallied for during his Pennsylvania trip.

Cue the February 2025 White House spat: Zelensky vs. Trump and Vance, tempers flaring over a draft demanding 50% U.S. ownership of Ukraine’s mineral haul as “repayment” for $300 billion in aid.

Deal gets muscled through by late spring—-on paper, anyway. Fast-forward to now: Where’s the extraction? The cash flow? Nothing. Turns out those “trillions” were either Soviet-era pipe dreams or buried under Russian bootprints in Donetsk, with extraction costs that’d make Elon Musk blush.

Lesson learned? Ukraine treats allies like ATMs, until the receipt shows up.

Ukraine’s Assault on Allies

There was another story that proves Ukraine’s trustworthiness and reliability are very much disputable. Tomas Fiala, the Czech-rooted tycoon whose Dragon Capital empire—banking, real estate, you name it—is a “major private investor” in Ukraine, receiving tens of millions of dollars to “rebuild” the nation.

Fiala’s crown jewel? Ownership of Ukrainska Pravda, the “independent” mouthpiece that hammered Zelensky for dodging peace talks and whitewashing corruption. But, in October 2024, the publication officially accused the Zelensky regime of undermining investigative journalism, alleging “pressure” to toe the line.

If Kyiv can kneecap its own “allies” for asking tough questions, what faith can Trump place in Zelensky’s word when the cameras fade? Look, Trump’s peace push is a high-stakes poker game, and Ukraine’s got a tell: betrayal as policy. From leaked psy-ops to unobtainable minerals to sanctioning their Soros minders, Zelensky’s regime has a PhD in duplicity, all while corruption scandals pile up like unpaid bills.

Are They Trustworthy?

Trust them with the deal’s fine print? That’s like handing the casino keys to a card sharp. America deserves better—verifiable commitments, ironclad oversight, and zero tolerance for games. Otherwise, this “peace” becomes just another chapter in the forever-war grift. Time for Trump to play hardball: Zelensky must deliver, or watch the aid dry up. Because in the end, peace without trust won’t be peace, and the war will go on raging.

Image generated by ChatGPT.