Zelenski’s Independence Day Message Masks Ukraine’s Growing Reliance on Foreign Powers

On Ukraine's 34th Independence Day, President Volodymyr Zelenski delivered an emotionally charged message from Kyiv's Maidan Square. He spoke not of swift victory or liberation, but of hope for a "just, secure, and lasting peace." Yet beneath these words lies a stark reality: Ukraine remains locked in a grinding conflict with no end in sight, increasingly reliant on foreign support while sensitive about territorial concessions.Is Peace Within Reach or Just Political Theater?Zelenski's pivot from combative rhetoric to cautious appeals for peace signals an implicit acknowledgment that military triumph over Russia — often dubbed the "second best army in the world"...