Volodymyr Zelensky’s second meeting with Donald Trump in 2025 went a helluva lot better than the first.
That’s the lowest of low bars. In late February, Zelensky was a party to one of the saddest spectacles ever to unfold in the Oval Office, where Trump and JD Vance set about berating and embarrassing a man who continues to evidence almost superhuman grace under fire.
Many (most) observers interpreted Trump’s February 28 in-person scolding of Zelensky as tantamount to a repudiation of America’s NATO Article 5 commitments. No, Ukraine’s not a member of alliance — which is in many ways the crux of the issue — but the message to the Baltic states, and perhaps to everyone under the American security umbrella, seemed clear enough: Depending on the circumstances, you might be on your own.
Zelensky declined to wear a proper business suit again, but this time he put on a button-up which seemed to please Trump. Some on the American right chastised Zelensky in February for sticking with the attire he’s donned more or less every day since the start of the war: Dress designed to demonstrate his commitment first and foremost to the men and women in Ukraine fighting tooth and nail to preserve their right to self-determination.
It was clear early on that no grand bargain — no “take it or leave” it — offer to Vladimir Putin would emerge from Monday’s meetings, which also included a who’s who of European leaders including Friedrich Merz, Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron, Ursula von der Leyen, Giorgia Meloni and Trump’s fake bestie Mark Rutte.
Merz wants an immediate ceasefire, and as discussed briefly in the editorial accompanying Sunday evening’s mailer, there’s no clarity on whether Trump cares about that anymore. Following the summit with Putin in Alaska late last week, Trump suggested there’s no need for a ceasefire given how close a final peace agreement allegedly is. Color me skeptical, and it should be noted that every day there isn’t a ceasefire is a day people die.
Trump emphasized Monday that the remaining issues aren’t “overly complex,” and described Putin and Zelensky as “two willing parties.” Sure. Maybe. But “willing” to do what, exactly? Putin wants the Donbas. All of it. He controls most of it, but he apparently wants Zelensky to hand him what he doesn’t currently hold in Donetsk, as well as relinquish any Ukrainian claim on Crimea. That’d be a bitter pill, and it still isn’t clear whether it’s even on the table for Zelensky.
It appears Trump may try to persuade him with some manner of “Article 5-like” (to use Steve Witkoff’s description) commitment to Ukraine’s security, but Zelensky will be forgiven for harboring doubts about whether the US would live up to whatever the stipulations of that commitment turn out to be. It’s very difficult to imagine Trump going to war with Putin’s Russia under any circumstances to do with Ukraine, so any “guarantees” to that effect wouldn’t be worth the paper they’re written on.
Ultimately, the only thing that’s going to bring this war closer to a resolution (ephemeral or not) is a meeting between Trump, Zelensky and Putin. That’s coming, probably. “A trilateral meeting seems the sensible next step,” Starmer said.
Trump, who gets further and further away from his 24-hour timeline for ending the war with each passing second, said “we’re going to know whether or not we’re going to solve this [in a] week or two weeks.”
Just prior to Zelensky’s arrival at The White House, Russia bombed Zaporizhzhia and Kharkiv, killing a dozen and wounding scores. What’s the over-under on how many people will die in Ukraine between now and Trump’s “a week or two weeks” timeline?
I don’t think Putin will ever agree to be in the same room as Zelenskyy. Heads of state don’t have to go through the metal detector, and Putin knows there’s a chance Zelenskyy would seize the opportunity to just shoot him in the face. Of course, I don’t think Zelenskyy would actually do that. He knows Russia’s response to such an affront would be total war, to say nothing of the probable loss of support from Western leaders. That said, I guarantee he’s fantasized about it. Still, Putin didn’t get where he is by not being paranoid about his own personal security. Remember the cartoonishly long conference table during Covid?
Zero chance of that. Other reasons aside, the most important is that Russia’s war on Ukraine is bigger than Putin. It would be some sort demonstrative revenge, sure, but it would be impossible to predict who Ukraine is negotiating with after that, and there are way too many Russians in leading positions happy to rebuild the empire.And as you note, it might well trigger no holds barred response w.r.t. to nukes and what not. In summary, in would have the opposite of any desired effect to assassinate Putin, no matter how right it would be.
A more down to Earth argument for Putin refusing to see Zelensky is that Putin is a coward and doesn’t want to look him in the eye.
You say coward, I say… cowardo? cowato? clamato? Clamato. There it is. Along with vodka, the main ingredient in a Bloody Caesar, which fits Putin perfectly.
And he sticks the landing!
I think the most telling quote I read about yesterday’s meeting was this; “Trump called Putin in between meetings with Zelensky and the European officials this afternoon to loop him in…”
Trump says, “We’re willing to help them with things, especially probably … by air because there’s nobody that has the kind of stuff we have.”
“especially” is a godless heathen who takes all the shrimp from the mixed meat plate at lone star, and “probably” is an expression used by someone whose life lacks any joy or happiness to convey sarcasm and pull others into his black hole.
All of his very serious sounding statements always contain qualifiers so that he can go back later and say he didn’t mean it. He is by far the most assuredly unassured president in US history, probably.
I’m nominating Trump for the Noballs Appease Prize.
H-Man, at this point Ukraine needs a “Go Fund Me Account” for the $100 billion the country needs to fight Russia by buying US weapons which comes out to a little over $20 a head (5 billion contributors) if you exclude Russia, China and India from the world population of 8 billion. I do believe Putin would have to rethink his war strategy with that kind of war chest.