President Zelensky’s visit to the Canadian Parliament could prove to be disastrous - Patrick Mercer

There was an unforeseen start to the General Assembly when President Zelensky stoked an already simmering row over grain imports and accused Poland of pretending to be staunchly behind him whilst, in fact, making increasingly hostile moves towards Ukraine. The spat swiftly escalated when the Polish President riposted and compared Ukraine to "a drowning person clinging to anything available… A drowning person is extremely dangerous, capable of pulling you down to the depths."

Since then there have been conciliatory moves, but the fact that Warsaw - Kiev’s firmest ally and a NATO and EU member - has allowed its mask to slip is deeply worrying. Poland is the only Allied country so far to have fully mobilised for war; she permits the vast majority of western, military aid to transit across her land and sends thousands of volunteers to fight in Ukraine - President Zelensky cannot do without her support.

Now, let’s hope this is just superficial and can soon be patched up but, inevitably, there are analysts who see a deep fissure here. Some say that the row was artificially created to divert attention from the bloodily stalled offensive in south and eastern Ukraine, but there’s another much more cynical theory.

Tony Blinken, the US Secretary of State, said earlier this month “The United States is confident that Ukraine will be ready to negotiate with Russia if Moscow makes such a proposal.”

Then President Biden when speaking at the UN said that America, “…like every nation in the world,” wants the war to end, and strongly supports Ukraine “in its efforts to bring about a diplomatic resolution.”

Unfortunately, both comments run directly contrary to those of President Zelensky who has so far ruled out any diplomatic solution, refusing to negotiate with Russia as long as President Putin is in power.

So why are the Ukrainian President’s most important backers contradicting him? The suspicion is that Washington’s tiring of Ukraine’s demands as the threat from China metastasises into a greater problem just as the presidential election looms - yet it cannot drop Ukraine as abruptly, as brutally as Afghanistan was.

Some sceptics even suggest that Poland has been instructed to create a schism with Ukraine, a schism that can then be exploited by the US and developed into a terminal disagreement. We can only wait and see.

Meanwhile, the Ramstein conference certainly pledged more armoured vehicles for Ukraine, but nothing like enough to replace Western kit lost since early June. The news on financial aid to Ukraine wasn’t good either. Although President Zelensky secured another $325m of aid from the White House, it wasn't the $24bn bonanza which he'd expected.

That was mitigated to some extent, though, by a promise from America to provide the ultra long range ATACMS rockets. That promise must be turned into reality, however, if Ukraine is to keep up her attacks deep into Russian held territory. There was no sign, though, of Germany’s promised Taurus cruise missiles which would replenish the depleted stocks of British Storm Shadow and French Scalp missiles which have been used by Ukraine to such good effect.

Then, unhelpfully, right in the middle of these meetings came an apparent leak from MI6 - British Intelligence - suggesting that Russian plans for a three pronged, winter offensive were well advanced. A thrust from the north towards Kupiansk has already started and there are signs that President Putin’s men are massing in an attempt to restore lost ground around Bakhmut, but it was the third approach that was so intriguing.

Now, the leak could be a scam, but it stated that Russia would allow some further, minor advances by Ukraine around Robotina - an area in Zaporizhzhia where some success has been enjoyed - before nipping off their salient and restoring the old front line just before the ground turns muddy in October.

Now, all of this might be dismissed as the fortunes of politics and war, but what happened in Ottawa a few days ago was, I’d suggest, the most serious misjudgment that President Zelensky has made so far. In a speech to the Canadian House of Commons, he introduced the 98 year old Yaroslav Hunka as a true Canadian/Ukrainian hero, a man who had spent the last war fighting Soviet Russia.

Then the House gave the veteran two, standing ovations whilst only the Speaker and a handful of others looked uneasy. The trouble was that Hunka had indeed fought Russia - but as a Ukrainian volunteer in 14th SS Division of Hitler’s army. President Zelensky had introduced a former member of one of the Nazi’s most criminal units into an ally’s inner sanctum.

It’s hard to understand such a lack of judgement by both the Ukrainians and the Canadians, especially when it’s remembered that one of President Putin’s campaign aims is the denazification of the Kiev regime. As Western support for the war starts to totter, those in the Kremlin must be rubbing their hands with glee at such an unexpected gift.

Patrick Mercer is a former MP for Newark and Army colonel.