Zelensky now believes west never wanted Ukraine win.

 INCREMENTAL ESCALATION TO KEEP UKRAINE IN FIGHT

GOAL WAS TO WEAKEN RUSSIA

The charade is still ongoing, keep Ukraine fighting, give them just enough to hold on, but never enough to win. A Ukrainian win would be very dangerous to the world order, but a weakened impotent Russia will help to maintain western supremacy. It seems that has been the plan from the beginning and both Russia and Ukraine have suffered greatly from the great Ukraine project.

After 27 months of war, it is now very clear, Ukraine can not prevail in this conflict. Russia is probably stronger than when the war started. The west is probably now weaker than when this war started.

When this conflict began Russia had less than 200 thousand soldiers, never enough to conquer Ukraine and hold the territory.  The Russian goal was to force negotiations for a neutral Ukraine and to keep NATO off its doorstep. The wests goal was to tie up Russia and bleed it in the hope of some kind of internal revolution. The best laid plans can often go astray.

If the west would have given Ukraine what it eventually gave them after this conflict started, they could have pushed Russia back to its borders. Russia had a small army, without combat experience and not very well organized. The reality is no one wanted Russia to actually lose or Ukraine to win, just to weaken Russia and hopefully to open it up for exploitation, Ukraine was the tool or hammer to achieve that goal. 

Russia has survived everything that the west has thrown at it, economic warfare at every level, continuous warfare on their border, but it is now stronger and better equipped and with an army of over 1.3 million. It has also resigned itself to an economic divorce from the west and is looking to and swiftly moving into economic alliances to the east and south. This reality will have dire economic repercussions to Europe and to the western world.

So the charade is continuing, but clearly just that. Ukraine will not become a member of NATO or the EU. Rumors or threats of NATO troops is just more smoke to keep Ukraine fighting, hopefully until after the upcoming elections. New NATO members are warned by western intelligence,  Russia will invade them, its goal is to rule the world. The reality is, Russia does not need more real estate, it just wants real security on its borders.

The west hopes Ukraine will indeed fight to the last Ukrainian, and if their hoped for miracle of weakening Russia does not happen, then move on to the next plan to rule the world.