The rapidly approaching August 2021 will become the semantic axis of the year for Ukraine, including two events at once, competing for the right to be the main one.

First, the country will celebrate the 30th anniversary of independence, which will include honoring the "great Ukrainians" who brought Independence to the world fame, and will end on August 24 with a grandiose military parade by Ukrainian standards.

And just a week later, on August 30, marking the 30th anniversary of the state that was born when he was still a teenager, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will visit the United States, a country whose unrelenting shadow has hung over Ukrainian independence from the first days, growing every year. and becoming more and more dense for Kiev.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy stubbornly pursued meetings with Joe Biden, who took office as the new president of the United States in January, throughout the year, but Donald Trump's successor was clearly in no hurry.

The huge efforts of Ukrainian diplomacy, which tried to knock out an invitation for Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the June NATO summit in Brussels, where he could talk with President Biden, ended in nothing.

Joe Biden first met with Vladimir Putin, and the leaders of the United States and Russia talked about Ukraine very little for Kiev.

Probably, the current president of the United States may have more than one good reason not to have the same interest in the Ukrainian topic, which was shown in Washington during the days when he was vice-president in the administration of Barack Obama.

On an official visit to Washington in April 2005, the president of the first victorious Maidan, Viktor Yushchenko, was given the same honor to address both houses of the US Congress as Nelson Mandela and Lech Walesa.

His speech was interrupted by applause eight times.

And only then, after the speech, he gave autographs to congressmen, like a real Hollywood star.

Since then, only 16 years have passed, but in fact - like a whole era.

Who today remembers the main American triumph of Kiev, which turned out to be a false start?

Viktor Yushchenko has long gone to the bottom, does not appear in front of the cameras and retrained as a quiet beekeeper, being left alone with his bees.

Over the past decade and a half, relations between Washington and Kiev have undergone major changes, which not only passed before the eyes of Joe Biden - after all, he was one of their main characters.

Ukraine has become for him not only a personal story in connection with his son and the Burisma case.

While holding the post of vice-president and being the American curator of Kiev, in December 2015, Joe Biden visited Ukraine and delivered a speech forgotten today in the Verkhovna Rada, some fragments of which even then sounded unexpectedly and very harsh in relation to the Ukrainian authorities.

“This is your time. Your responsibility. Each of you. I hope you will forgive me for telling you such things, but each of you has a responsibility - use this opportunity to respond to the challenges of history and finally build a united Ukrainian nation that will stand the test of time ”, - was broadcast then by Joe Biden. He also said that "Ukraine has one more struggle, a historic one, against corruption." “I never tell people from other countries what to do. But you will not find a single democracy in the world where the cancer of corruption is so rampant. You will not find any such country, ”said the US Vice President, speaking about Ukraine.

Today, six years old and already occupying a chair in the Oval Office of the White House, Joe Biden cannot help but realize that all his long-standing calls to the Ukrainian political class have remained a voice crying in the wilderness.

Neither a united Ukrainian nation, nor a fight against corruption (only its imitation), nor democratic reforms.

And only the demands, demands and again demands addressed to the United States and its European partners: give even more, accept NATO and the EU, introduce sanctions against Russia.

And nothing else.

And so many years.

All this cannot but cause a backlash.

At a time when the credit of trust in Kiev has been pretty much squandered, Ukraine has not aroused the interest of the American political class for a long time as it used to.

Preparing for his visit to Washington, President Zelensky would probably give everything to get the opportunity to appeal to the US Congress, as President Yushchenko once did.

Probably, with his artistry, he would have coped with this role brilliantly.

The ovation that the actor needs so much would have been even greater.

But only this is no longer needed by anyone here.

Ukraine is fed up, tired of it.

The train has left or is about to leave.

As a man and politician of the new generation, with an extraordinary mind, resourcefulness, subtle instinct and, apparently, also lack of principles, Vladimir Zelensky could not help but notice the cooling of interest on the part of the American patron, and throughout the year he was looking for conceivable and inconceivable ways to change the situation in your favor.

Back in April, he sent a new ambassador to Washington, Oksana Markarova, who received her master's degree from Indiana University and is closely associated with the Ukrainian American Natalia Yaresko, who headed the Ukrainian Ministry of Finance.

The new ambassador was faced with the daunting task of rebuilding Washington's shattered confidence, establishing dialogue with the Biden administration, and strengthening bipartisan support for Kiev in the US Congress.

However, this problem has not yet been resolved, which, apparently, will force President Zelenskiy to play a risky game during his visit to Washington.

Or even, one might say, go for broke.

A suitable case for this is the ongoing scandal over the agreement between the United States and Germany on Nord Stream 2.

The architects of the gas deal, President Biden and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, have come under a barrage of criticism both domestically and internationally, where even the closest allies opposed the project.

“The decision to build the Nord Stream 2 (NS2) gas pipeline, taken in 2015, just months after the Russian invasion and illegal annexation of Ukrainian territory, led to a crisis of security, confidence and politics in Europe.

This crisis is significantly exacerbated by the refusal to try to stop the launch of the NS2 pipeline, ”says a joint statement by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and his Polish counterpart Zbigniew Rau.

"Poland and Ukraine will work with their allies and partners to confront NS2 until the security crisis it causes is resolved," promised Dmitry Kuleba and Zbigniew Rau.

On the eve of Vladimir Zelensky's visit to the United States, Kiev is trying to open not only the European, but also the American front against Nord Stream 2, taking an unprecedented step.

Despite reports of the growing concern of the Biden administration about the excessive zeal of the Ukrainian side on the issue of Nord Stream 2, which creates serious problems for the White House in its relationship with Congress, Verkhovna Rada Speaker Dmitry Razumkov actually played against the US President by sending an open letter to the Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi.

In his message, the head of the Ukrainian parliament demanded to continue the policy of sanctions that would prevent the completion and commissioning of Nord Stream 2.

“I call on the US Congress to refrain from approving any agreements that would threaten the energy security of Europe and pose a threat to the national interests of Ukraine and the United States,” wrote Dmitry Razumkov.

In the unfolding new game on the American political field, President Zelensky makes the main calculation that the majority of Nord Stream 2 is not supported by both Republicans and Democrats.

In this regard, according to his logic, the Biden administration, forced to conduct defensive battles with American lawmakers, simply cannot afford to take drastic steps towards Kiev in order not to receive new charges of surrendering the interests of Ukraine, and will be forced to endure all the whims of Zelensky.

In turn, presenting itself as the main victim of the Nord Stream 2 agreements, Kiev will try to make Joe Biden fall in love with itself again.

And not just to hear warm, but useless words of support, but to convert the scandal, which has already become an internal American one, into maximum dividends.

The demands of the Ukrainian side are reminiscent of the tale of a fisherman and a fish.

The position of the fisherman who has caught the goldfish continues to grow.

So, the head of the company "Naftogaz of Ukraine" Yuriy Vitrenko said that in connection with the deal on "Nord Stream - 2" Ukraine needs ... to be admitted to NATO.

“Since our concern is primarily about security, NATO membership is likely to solve this problem,” he said.

In general - to walk, so to walk.

And we will extend the transit agreement with Russia for ten years, and at the same time we will also join NATO.

It will only be necessary to show Ukrainian character and perseverance and push on Washington.

And there is no one in this situation to tell Volodymyr Zelensky: "Do not get in front of Bat Biden in the heat."

And then, not even one hour, you will replay yourself.

You will anger the powerful overseas patron and remain on the seashore at a broken trough - with nothing.

The point of view of the author may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.