Human Events Daily host Jack Posobiec spoke with former State Department official Mike Benz about Europe’s growing role in shaping proposed Ukraine peace terms, with Benz arguing that key decisions are now being driven by major NATO-aligned governments rather than by President Volodymyr Zelensky’s administration.
Benz said the negotiations underway are effectively between President Donald Trump and European governments, not Ukraine’s leadership. “Trump is not negotiating with Ukraine on this peace deal. He’s negotiating with Great Britain and the captured parts of France and Germany who sort of work themselves into Zelensky’s body to negotiate for him,” Benz told Posobiec.
He said Europe is now moving toward more direct military involvement, citing a recent call by former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen for Europe to send forces into the conflict. Benz read Rasmussen’s statement, which called for Europe to “deploy up to 20,000 troops behind Ukraine’s front lines, establish an air shield with 150 combat aircraft and unlock frozen Russian assets.” According to Benz, seizing Russian assets “would cause an absolute firestorm in the international markets.”
Benz said key EU governments are driving policy. “It’s the EU. And that’s Soros town,” he said, claiming Democrats, “the remaining never Trump Republicans,” and European officials are steering Zelensky’s decisions.
"So all stops are being pulled to shore up this seemingly coke-addled, dysfunctional, corrupt government as its corpse is propped up and marionetted by a bunch of EU blobsters and bansters."
Benz said that Ukraine remains without national elections and is embroiled in a large corruption scandal. He said investigators had uncovered “$100 million in embezzled cash, golden toilets, the highest levels of the Ukrainian government,” referencing recent resignations tied to an alleged kickback scheme involving Energoatom, Ukraine’s state-owned nuclear operator. “The ringleader of the scheme was, of course, one of Zelensky’s close business partners,” he said.
He also described European involvement in Ukrainian information controls, highlighting a German-funded project he said monitors social media to suppress narratives critical of the Kyiv government. Benz said the program, called Radar, was part of what he characterized as a broader censorship network tied to USAID.
Posobiec noted what he described as a shift in terms originally proposed under Trump, saying that an initial requirement for a “full audit of aid money” had been replaced with an offer of amnesty that would “effectively absolve or pardon” crimes committed by Ukrainian officials if they agreed to a peace deal. Posobiec said the revised terms were designed to shield Zelensky’s circle and delay accountability.
Benz said the negotiations underway are effectively between President Donald Trump and European governments, not Ukraine’s leadership. “Trump is not negotiating with Ukraine on this peace deal. He’s negotiating with Great Britain and the captured parts of France and Germany who sort of work themselves into Zelensky’s body to negotiate for him,” Benz told Posobiec.
He said Europe is now moving toward more direct military involvement, citing a recent call by former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen for Europe to send forces into the conflict. Benz read Rasmussen’s statement, which called for Europe to “deploy up to 20,000 troops behind Ukraine’s front lines, establish an air shield with 150 combat aircraft and unlock frozen Russian assets.” According to Benz, seizing Russian assets “would cause an absolute firestorm in the international markets.”
Benz said key EU governments are driving policy. “It’s the EU. And that’s Soros town,” he said, claiming Democrats, “the remaining never Trump Republicans,” and European officials are steering Zelensky’s decisions.
"So all stops are being pulled to shore up this seemingly coke-addled, dysfunctional, corrupt government as its corpse is propped up and marionetted by a bunch of EU blobsters and bansters."
Benz said that Ukraine remains without national elections and is embroiled in a large corruption scandal. He said investigators had uncovered “$100 million in embezzled cash, golden toilets, the highest levels of the Ukrainian government,” referencing recent resignations tied to an alleged kickback scheme involving Energoatom, Ukraine’s state-owned nuclear operator. “The ringleader of the scheme was, of course, one of Zelensky’s close business partners,” he said.
He also described European involvement in Ukrainian information controls, highlighting a German-funded project he said monitors social media to suppress narratives critical of the Kyiv government. Benz said the program, called Radar, was part of what he characterized as a broader censorship network tied to USAID.
Posobiec noted what he described as a shift in terms originally proposed under Trump, saying that an initial requirement for a “full audit of aid money” had been replaced with an offer of amnesty that would “effectively absolve or pardon” crimes committed by Ukrainian officials if they agreed to a peace deal. Posobiec said the revised terms were designed to shield Zelensky’s circle and delay accountability.
