The world was left stunned after President Donald Trump turned nasty during a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office last week.
Trump and his sidekick JD Vance sneered and prodded the Ukrainian president as they sat down to hash out a proposed minerals deal. The meeting had been hailed by Trump and his entourage as Ukraine’s only option for securing the military aid that it so desperately needs to defeat Russia’s encroaching armies.
Trump told Zelensky that Ukraine owes the US a debt of gratitude, one that should allow Washington to plunder the country’s rich mineral reserves. Trump even claimed that the US was so instrumental in Ukraine’s current ability to fend off Putin that without them, Ukraine would suffer a quick and humiliating defeat. “With us, you have the cards, but without us, you don’t have any cards,” he said.
But Ukraine’s president has plenty of routes he could choose to follow, even if the relationship with the US continues to sour. Many believe that it is far more urgent for Putin to bring this conflict to an end.
Outlast
Trump may think that Zelensky is all out of cards, but that’s far from the reality on the ground. While it’s true that Ukraine is fighting for its survival against a much more powerful aggressor, it is Putin who has sustained the heaviest losses, and would be far better off if Trump’s so-called “peace” plan became a reality sooner.
While Putin thought he would have seized Kyiv in 72 hours, he finds himself in a war that has dragged on for three years, with an estimated 350,000 dead soldiers and an additional 750,000 who have suffered serious battlefield injuries. Last year the Russian army supposedly had its second wind, but all they captured was 5,000 square miles, and lost 480,000 troops snatching it All that Ukraine has to do is to “outlast Russia”, according to Dr Mark Hilborne, Senior Lecturer in the School of Security Studies.
“It’s important to remember that Ukraine’s industrial output in terms of weapons has increased both in volume and in the ability to produce increasingly long distance strike options,” he explained.
“Ukraine essentially only has to outlast Russia, and Russia is at the moment in a critical situation in terms of being able to prosecute this war much beyond another year. American support, while incredibly helpful, may not be crucial.”
While Trump the peacemaker wants to bring this conflict to a sharp end, Zelensky realises that victory is within reach, and that it will come from perseverance.
Trump has made previous threats that the Musk-owned Starlink internet satellites, which have been vital for Ukraine’s battlefield victories, could be withdrawn. But this shouldn’t be an issue as “Poland has covered the cost of these”, the doctor added.
If Ukraine sticks to its guns and ignores the White House’s deluded calls for a ceasefire at such a pivotal moment, there is every reason the world could see Ukraine triumph over Putin. Dr Hilborne said: “With the support of Europe, Ukraine should be able to last further military conflict, although obviously at great cost in terms of blood and treasure”.
Apologise
Shortly after the Oval Office spectacle, US Secretary of State called on Zelensky to “apologise” for turning the meeting into “the fiasco for him that it became”, adding that it was the Ukrainian statesman who was the “anatagonistic” party.
While Zelensky said he would be happy to bow to one of Trump’s demands – the signing of the mineral deal to grant access to Ukraine’s mineral resources – there’s very little chance of him publicly apologising.
However, some experts believe that offering an apology could be a shortcut for the Ukrainian leader to get what he needs. International affairs author Professor Anthony Glees believes that Trump, JD Vance, and even Putin, were hoping that Zelensky would be fired up so they could paint him as the agitator who refuses to come to the negotiating table.
The professor tells The Mirror: “I thought Zelensky should offer to apologise – for letting himself be bullied by Trump and Vance – because this was precisely what Trump, Vance and above all Putin did not want him to do.”
The rest of the world would understand the apology was merely a means of securing what he needed for Ukraine, and that it would be a way to “wrong-foot the three of them”, he said.
“Far from demeaning him, it would further enhance our view of his courage,” he added.
Resign
Having personality clashes with the leader of the world’s largest superpower is not ideal, and many will be wondering whether it’s worth Zelensky offering his resignation in the hopes of a better outcome for Ukraine and its people.
Zelensky mentioned the possibility of his resignation – but it would be a large price to pay if Trump wants him to step down. Speaking at London Stansted Airport after meeting with allied European leaders in the UK, he vowed that he would not quit – but did say he would step down if Ukraine could join NATO. I am exchangeable for NATO,” he told reporters. “I have said that I am exchanging for NATO membership, then it means I have fulfilled my mission.”
Zelensky has long petitioned for Kyiv to be brought into the NATO fold. If Ukraine were to join the alliance, it would automatically be granted strong protections against a marauding Russia, forcing alliance members to intervene militarily while Russian boots are on sovereign Ukrainian soil.
Professor Glees said: “I think Zelensky has now come up with an alternative way of trying to get back in step with Trump’s White House, by offering to resign in return for NATO membership. It’s perhaps a safer way of doing what an apology might do but it is riskier because NATO membership is a long way off right now and Trump, Vance and Hegseth have ruled it out as ‘ unrealistic’.
“Putin wants Zelensky gone. For that reason alone we should all insist that from our view point Zelensky should go nowhere and stay exactly where he is. The Ukrainians will have their election when the war is over as we did in 1945 – when Churchill was voted out.”
