The biggest diplomatic scandal of all time – on open stage.
By the Editorial Team, however.no (Knut Lindtner, Norway)
The minerals agreement was the topic of the meeting and this was most important for Ukraine – not the US, since this would ensure that some American groups would operate in Ukraine, and therefore this would require peace in what is left of Ukraine. The agreement is less important for the US, since this agreement was not only about minerals as such but also about the US getting back some of everything it has given to Ukraine in recent years. Now the minerals agreement is probably on hold, perhaps for a long time, and the biggest loser is Zelensky and Ukraine. Not Trump and the US.
The mineral deal was not really about minerals, but about a way to end the war. All the talk from Trump about the US getting back everything that Joe Biden had given to Ukraine was just a way to put makeup on the pig, so to speak. An embellishment of the obvious: Ukraine has lost the war and this deal was Zelensky's "off ramp" - a way to end the war without losing face, far too much. It is obvious after watching the riot in the Oval Office that this is a fact that Zelensky did not consider for even a single second. One can ask oneself why. - Was it because of a little too much cocaine use? - Was it because of hubris? That Zelensky had started to believe in all the praise of himself, as a war hero and a leader who saves the free world?
The Oval Office session was like nothing the world has ever seen before.
It is common for the sitting president to meet both “friends” and “enemies” in the Oval Office, and the parties deliver some courtesy phrases in honor of the media. This is the norm. We all understand that the courtesy phrases are just that, and such meetings in the Oval Office therefore have no weight. They are simply PR.
Zelensky is
probably the only head of state who has ever been in such a session in
the Oval Office who has not understood the rules of this play that it
all really is. It will cost him dearly.
Unfortunately,
it will also cost Ukrainians dearly. They will suffer needlessly because
of Zelensky's actions in the White House. There will be no quick end to
the war now, more innocent Ukrainians will still be killed, for
nothing.
In a video that everyone can see (below), we see that Zelensky could have made it through the press conference if he had kept his mouth shut. But he couldn't. He started talking falsely about history, from 2014 on. Trump and JD Vance let him go on, without interruption. But then Vance took the floor and talked about the forced recruitment that is taking place in Ukraine. Where civilian men are routinely kidnapped on the streets, and sent straight to the front lines. That's when the decline began. For Zelensky. From then on, the race was over and we saw a "dead man walking", only with the difference from a prison, that Zelensky did not understand what prisoners so painfully understand.
Everyone else understood. The Ukrainian ambassador who was present in the Oval Office had a few moments where we saw her realize what a mistake it was to bring Zelensky to the White House. Her body language says it all.
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| Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova |
There were supposed to be meetings between the US team and the Ukrainian team after the press conference in the Oval Office, followed by a joint press conference. This was canceled. Zelensky was almost “thrown out” of the White House. A video shows him being escorted to a car by a female White House staffer. No prominent politicians were there to say goodbye. No clearer picture can be sent than this; Zelensky came to the White House to make a deal, and he ruined it, all by himself. Just like a cocaine-high mafia guy who got too confident in himself.
What happened is a political earthquake. The whole world is talking about this now. For Ukrainians, the defeat in the White House means a lot. They will not get the quick end to the war that they hoped for. For Russia, this means nothing. They can continue the war forever. They have already won, so for them, keeping the war going is no more difficult than so-called “left-handed work.”
What will it mean for the US? – Nothing negative. Now they don't have to send a single dollar more to Zelensky. Many Americans are happy about that, since they have enough domestic expenses to spend the money on. Zelensky's actions, where he literally burned the bridge to the US, give Trump free rein to use the new situation that has now arisen to act as the US's golden ticket out of the quagmire that Ukraine has become. Now Trump can stop all aid to Ukraine, and the blame lies with Zelensky, all alone.
The big question is this: What will it mean for Europe? How will the EU and the EEA countries act now? Increase support even more? Or will they start looking for ways to get out of the quagmire? We don't know. But we will of course look at how they now have to make some tough choices: Help end the war now, now that their "big brother" on the other side of the Atlantic has put the brakes on? Or continue to feed a dying horse, in spite of it? As I said, we don't know the answer to this, but we hope that there are adults in the EU who now put personal prestige aside and instead think about ending unnecessary suffering in Ukraine.
In the video, we see Zelensky talking himself into more and more trouble as time goes on. It is not a smart move to interrupt the two most powerful men in the world, the two men he depends on to find a way out of the war. His body language said it all: a drunken man who rolled his eyes, made faces and was basically anything but a “statesman”. Is this the man the EU will support going forward? – For how long?
2 comments:
Z made 47 look like a statesman?! WTAF??
I do think Z made a mistake but not because he was in any way disrespectful or because he was high (?!) or dressed like a teenager or something. If I was him, I would have walked out when T & V started talking to me like that. THEY were the ones who were disrespectful, aggressive, utterly inappropriate.
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