Volodymyr Zelensky, Donald Trump, and J.D. Vance at a meeting in the White House.
Photo: Brian Snyder / Reuters / Scanpix / LETA
It is evident that the scandal in the Oval Office of the White House between Presidents Trump and Zelensky, joined by Vice President Vance, was akin to the movement of tectonic plates. French President Emmanuel Macron stated that small countries without nuclear weapons now need to think about protection because the US no longer provides it. The head of European diplomacy, Kaja Kallas, said that it is time to find a new leader of the free world; UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, after talks with Macron and Zelensky, said that together with Ukraine they will work on a «plan to cease hostilities». This plan will then be discussed with the United States. Thus, the initiative to end the war, at least as of March 3, 2025, crossed the ocean, slipping from Trump's hands and being picked up by Europeans. And finally, President Zelensky was received by King Charles of the United Kingdom, who, unlike Trump and the not yet sobered-up far-right journalist Glenn, was not embarrassed by Zelensky's military uniform, as he refused to wear civilian suits in solidarity with soldiers and officers on the front.
Macron and Zelensky, Lithuania, July 12, 2023. Photo: www.globallookpress.com / Presidential Office of Ukraine
Kaja Kallas. Photo: Konstantin Sednev / IMAGO / Global Look Press
Keir Starmer and Volodymyr Zelensky. Photo: Ukraine presidents offices
Summit of European leaders on Ukraine in London. March 2, 2025. Photo: gov.uk
King Charles III of the United Kingdom and Volodymyr Zelensky. Photo: AP Photo / Joe Giddens
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was advised not to go to a meeting with US President Donald Trump in Washington. The main advisor was General Kellogg, who was in Kyiv as a special representative for Ukraine and Russia, but who was clearly sidelined. American media reported that Trump did not want this meeting either, especially after he called Zelensky an «unelected dictator» and accused Ukraine, not Russia, of starting the war. But Zelensky wanted to meet Trump before he met with Putin, especially after Ukraine and Europe as a whole were bypassed in negotiations in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), where US and Russian delegations met.
Russian-American negotiations on Ukraine in Riyadh. Photo: vesti.az
In short, Zelensky called French President Macron, who called Trump—they had just embraced in Washington, and Trump agreed to meet on Friday, February 28.
The summit was supposed to have a whole program: a conversation in the Oval Office, lunch, signing an agreement on the development of rare earth elements by American businesses in Ukraine in exchange for 50% of the production—an agreement, according to people involved in its drafting, extremely beneficial for Ukraine, as it essentially offered a kind of «Marshall Plan» for Ukraine after the war. It is clear that any development requires the construction of roads, infrastructure, and so on—that is why Putin also offered Trump joint development of the Arctic. After signing the agreement in the presence of congressmen and senators, a joint press conference of the two presidents was to be held.
In the morning, a congressional delegation came to President Zelensky's hotel, including representatives of both parties, including the head of the defense committee and one of Ukraine's main lobbyists, Republican Lindsey Graham. They kicked the press and cameras out of the room and filled Zelensky with advice. The main thing was not to react to barbs and not to respond, not to fall for provocations.
It is said that Lindsey Graham asked to join Trump's plane to persuade him «not to hit» Zelensky, and Trump, in turn, invited Graham to the front row in the room where the rare earth elements agreement would be signed.
President Trump started with barbs: he met President Zelensky at the entrance to the White House and said «O, you dressed up», implying that Zelensky came again in his wartime uniform. What happened next in the Oval Office was watched by 100 million people on the CBS platform. Zelensky spoke about the need for security guarantees for Ukraine from the US, otherwise Putin would break everything again, as he had broken all agreements signed by Macron and Merkel before. In response, Vice President Vance attacked the president of the warring country, saying that his trips to the front were propaganda and nothing more. President Trump joined Vance, stating that Zelensky was playing like in a casino, with the potential to lead the world to a third world war, while he had no good cards in hand.
At this point, Zelensky lost his composure, cutting off Trump, saying that he was not playing cards here, and, shouting over Trump and Vance and speaking simultaneously with Trump, tried to prove his point. For Zelensky, for whom US support is of absolutely crucial importance, he needed to hold back. But he also understood that the cameras were left in the Oval Office for a reason, and that Putin was watching, and Ukraine was watching, and soldiers and officers on the front would see it. He could not afford to bend, to show fear. He did not show it, but he was literally thrown out of the White House, offered to go home, the lunch was eaten by press service staff, the signing of the agreement and the press conference were canceled. Trump wrote on his social network that Zelensky is not ready for peace, that he can return when he is ready.
After this, the conservative Hudson Institute also canceled Zelensky's speech. At six in the evening, he arrived at the Fox News channel, where he gave an interview.
Volodymyr Zelensky. Interview with Fox News. Photo: Fox News
It is said that Lindsey Graham begged Zelensky to apologize to Trump, the Ukrainian delegation tried to arrange a meeting of the presidents the next morning. Trump watched Zelensky's interview on the way to Mar-a-Lago, Zelensky did not apologize and, after finishing the interview, went to the airport. The hope of quickly fixing the situation died.
Zelensky flew to London, where he was received like a native. On Saturday morning, the State Department announced that it was canceling the program to restore Ukraine's power grids. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is called little Marco by Trump. It seems he is right, the hope that Rubio would become the senior in the house did not materialize.
We can only hope that after all that has been experienced, Zelensky's heart does not break. In Ukraine, his rating soared from 40-something percent to 90. And we can only guess how close the world came to the situation of September 1, 1939, when World War II began...
Mark Kramer, director of the Cold War Studies Center at Harvard University:
«...What do I think about the foreign policy of the Trump administration? I find it appalling. For nearly 80 years after World War II, the US government supported democratic allies abroad and cooperated with them in
fighting threats from autocratic adversaries. The Trump administration has turned this long-standing policy upside down. The United States under Trump supports ruthless tyrants in the Kremlin, abandons democratic allies around the world, and neglects them. It is not surprising that official propagandists in Russia enthusiastically applaud Trump for his patronage of Putin and his desire to allow Russia to benefit from its aggressive and conquest wars...»
* Evgenia Albats is declared a «foreign agent» in the Russian Federation.