Source: President Trump hosts President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy – February 28, 2025 – The White House | Flickr
Apparel Proclaims the Man
The Trump/Zelensky meeting in Washington was a disaster. From the opening bell, Zelensky starts by choosing to wear his signature black bohemian fatigues. The Ukrainian leader came with the hope of showing the public how international agreement could emerge from transparent diplomacy.
It Didn’t Work
Unfortunately, no one came away happy – not Zelensky, not VP Vance, not President Donald Trump, not the US public.
Zelensky didn’t count on leaving empty-handed. He left, writes Walter R. Mead in the WSJ, “having exposed a massive rift between Kyiv and its patrons in Washington, exposing a tattered relationship with Donald Trump.
Testing the Coalition
Donald Trump apparently “genuinely hates” the war and is bitter about having to engage with it.
It isn’t just that what he sees as a common-sense effort to mediate a solution based on American interests exposes him to denunciation as a pro-Putin Manchurian Candidate. The war tests his coalition. The Ukrainian cause remains broadly popular among Republican voters and lawmakers, and there is a political cost in alienating them. But for many of the MAGA hard-liners at the core of the president’s base, the belief that you can flip Russia by dumping Ukraine is an article of faith.
Before the meeting, Trump had reason to hope paths would open to important, albeit limited, security reassurances for Ukraine. For example, if the U.S. had billions of dollars of investments in Ukraine and thousands of citizens working on mining and refining minerals and building economic partnerships with Ukraine’s burgeoning defense industry, a Russian leader would be a fool not to consider that launching invasions that could kill American citizens or occupy American property would be a calamity.
Zelensky must answer:
Is Ukraine better off accepting the Trump framework and trying to push for more favorable terms inside the process, or is it better off rejecting the framework up front in hopes of forcing Mr. Trump to offer something more appealing?
Zelensky’s Choice
- to work within the framework, the Americans have offered him
- To fight on with diminished and perhaps vanishing American assistance, relying on European economic and military aid together with the fighting spirit of the Ukrainian people to force Russia to agree to better terms.
European leaders are urging the Ukrainian leader to consider a one-month cease-fire. Zelensky must realize, however, that the prospects for meaningful as opposed to theatrical European support seem slim.
It is regrettable that former successive presidents over the years have not offered more support for Ukraine.
But given Mr. Trump’s oft-repeated views, Mr. Zelensky would be wise to accept the minerals agreement and to let negotiations proceed. Sadly, no better offers are coming his way.
Roger Kimball in American Greatness notes that Zelensky does indeed own a suit.
He wore one not so long ago when he met with Klaus Schwab.
Perhaps Putin’s behavior will not bear scrutiny, continues Mr. Kimball.
… what has been happening in Ukraine these past few years is not exactly edifying, as anyone who asks about elections, freedom of the press, censorship, and anti-Semitism will know.
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