Jaw-dropping, unprecedented and hugely consequential for the future of Ukraine and Europe.
Friday night’s Oval Office meeting between Zelensky and Trump was a disaster. It was supposed to be a signing ceremony for their big minerals deal. In 39 days, Trump has forced Ukraine and Russia closer to peace talks.
Yet yesterday we saw an emotionally brittle American leader egged on by his Vice President. The two men attempted to publicly humiliate Zelensky, who they repeatedly called ungrateful and disrespectful – for not saying thank you to them, for daring to disagree with several blatant untruths they told about the war, and even for not wearing a suit.
Perhaps Ukraine’s President showed too little diplomacy when it might have benefited his people. Realpolitik will prevail. However he did retain his dignity. The provocations came from Trump and JD Vance, whose crass attempt to embarrass Zelensky will delight their supporters but dismay America’s allies.
Putin must be laughing his head off. Across the Atlantic, European leaders must quickly decide how far they are willing to go in providing security guarantees to Ukraine – starting this weekend at their crunch defence summit. This is the consequence of leaning on an unreliable ally.
The shock waves are rippling through European capitals. Politicians, intelligence chiefs and generals went to bed last night to a new order. One UK security source told our reporter: “The world has changed in the last 90 minutes.”@olyduff
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