CNN
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Top US officials have suggested that, despite Europe’s acceptance of the Ukrainian president more severely than ever, they may need to abandon their power after his tragic oval office meeting.
The contrast highlighted the most harmful divisions in the Western Alliance, at least since the Berlin Wall fell, reinforced the sense that the “free world” was pushed onto the brink of destruction early in President Donald Trump’s new term.
But the sight of Europe at the deadlock left by Trump’s first bid to end the Ukrainian War can express hope that good can come out of Zelensky’s fiasco of visits. That’s if the continent can create a peace plan to hand it over to the US president, as promised on Sunday.
Still, the fallout from Zelensky’s disastrous trip to Washington is growing.
Trump’s national security adviser Mike Waltz told CNN’s Dana Bash on Sunday’s “coalition status” that the administration is questioning whether Zelensky really wants to end the conflict.
“We need a leader who can deal with us, ultimately deal with the Russians and end this war,” Waltz said. “If it becomes clear that either President Zelensky’s personal or political motivations differ from ending the fight in his country, we think we have real problems in our hands.”
Waltz’s comments underscore the US position that the war must end, as Trump competes for a reconciliation with Russian President Vladimir Putin after Trump mistakenly denounced Zelensky for the attacked invasion.
Moscow on Monday tried to capitalize on Trump’s overture on Putin and its administration’s attacks on Zelensky, which is trying to widen differences between Europe and the United States.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov suggested that “someone has to force Zelensky to change his position,” adding that “someone needs to want Zelensky in peace.” He, of course, mentions leaders who have been under unprovoked attacks for three years in an invasion that killed thousands of civilians, and it was impressive to hear the same message from Putin’s mouthpiece and foreign policymakers in the top Trump administration.
Peskov also sought to trust the European peace initiative announced on Sunday of the summit.
“There was also a statement about the urgent need to provide Ukraine’s funding levels, which is clearly not for peace plans, but for the continued military operations,” Peskov said.
Trump has shown he has not overcome the elliptical office quarrel as he made a new attempt to weaken Zelensky on Monday. The US president, who opposes comments from the Associated Press on Zelensky, wrote that the end of the war was “still very, very far away,” and that the US wrote about social in his statement that he “will not hold back.”
“That’s what I was saying. This guy doesn’t want peace as long as he has American support. Europe said honestly at a meeting with Zelensky that they can’t do their job without the US. What are they thinking?” Trump wrote.
British Prime Minister Kiel Starmer led a gathering of Western leaders in London who welcomed Zelensky as an honorary guest. In a very iconic move, King Charles III gave Zelensky an hour’s audience a few days after he invited Trump to his second state visit. Priority has promised a “coalition of willingness” to arm and defend Ukraine, warning once again that durable peace would require guarantees that US security has not yet been provided.
France and the UK have also proposed a limited ceasefire for a month in Ukraine, French President Emmanuel Macron told the newspaper Le Figaro on Sunday. Zelensky said he was aware of the proposal, but he refused to say whether he agreed to it.
European leadership efforts have Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said Ursula von der Leyen, that Ukrainian allies need to turn the country into “steel porcupines that do not digest into potential invaders.”
How the Elliptical Office Showdown Changed the Dynamics of Peace Efforts, and West
Friday’s extraordinary scene was that Trump and Vice President JD Vance had Zelensky — and ousted him out of the White House — was already an indelible moment in modern foreign policy history.
The bullying of democratic leaders under the illegal onslaught of Russian tyrants who killed thousands of civilians has sent shockwaves across Washington and around the world. Trump’s critics have accused him of denialing all US foreign policy values since World War II and monitoring him along with invaders.
But for Trump’s supporters and key subordinates, Zelensky’s dressdown was a victory. They argue that it represents the “America First” policy that projected strength and changed the country’s global role.
The intense commentary and declaration that the West had recently ended may have been cathartic for all involved. However, they have been of little use to cause peace or to the benefits of major players – Putin has long made his main foreign policy objectives, except that he must enjoy Western divisions.
– Members of Trump’s Cabinet took part in the cable news show on Sunday. Still, Friday’s rage undermined the claim that Trump was a stunning deal maker and the only living capable of ending the war. It is clear that Trump’s only plan was to impose a peace deal on Ukraine after offering multiple concessions to Putin. And the showdown derailed a US proposed contract to exploit Ukraine’s rare earth minerals, which Trump saw as a major personal victory. His claim that he is a global peace director and his quest to win the Nobel Peace Prize look more unrealistic than ever.
– Zelensky’s cool loss contributed to the diplomatic turbulence, even as Ukraine tried to explain to Trump to Vance why he was skeptical of peace that would not include guarantees after Putin’s repeated contracts. It’s hard to imagine how Zelensky could sit at the table of peace with Trump. And the US president was able to decide to cut down Ukrainian aid, intelligence news and other assistance that could hinder the power of the battlefield.
– Drama in the Oval Office has urged America’s European allies to act urgently. They now intend to protect Zelensky from Trump and want to create a viable framework of peace that can be given to him as the basis for his meeting with Putin. However, if the US leaves Ukraine, Europe’s ability to close the gap is questionable. This is primarily due to its reliance on its erosioned military production bases and US security guarantees to NATO members due to years of reduction in military spending.
House Speaker Mike Johnson has stepped up the waltz warnings regarding Ukrainian leaders. “He needs to come to his senses and return to the table with gratitude, or someone else needs to lead the country to do that,” the Louisiana Republican said on NBC’s “Meeting.”
After breakdowns of the oval office on Friday, Sen. Lindsey Graham, a supporter of Zelensky, chose to prioritize his loyalty over Trump, saying, “I don’t know if I’ll be able to do business with Zelensky again.”
In “The State of the Union,” Bash asked Waltz why he compared Zelensky to British wartime leader Winston Churchill, but on Saturday he introduced him as “the ex-girlfriend I want to discuss.”
“If we wanted to do history lessons, Churchill stood and fought for his people,” Waltz said. “But Churchill also retired from his position in 1945. He was a man for a moment, but then he didn’t move England into the next stage. And it’s unclear if President Zelensky, particularly seen on Friday, is ready to move to Ukraine, where the war has to be ended, negotiated and compromised.”
The Waltz analogy misses an important context. Like Ukraine, Britain did not hold elections during the war due to national emergency. The 1945 election followed the withdrawal of the Labour Party from the National Unity League, but victory in the European War was achieved and peace was secured. However, the British were still fighting in the Pacific War.
Ukraine was scheduled to hold elections last year, but it was delayed while the country was on the forefront under the Russian barrage of Russia, with its military and millions of refugees overseas. This reality calls for Ukrainian leaders to go, underscoring Trump’s claim that Zelensky is a “dictator.” In December, former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, who leads Ukraine’s biggest opposition, told the Diplomatic Forum Council that the election should take place “60 days after our victory.”
Zelensky’s slander in Washington and his embrace in London bare the alienation between the US and its European allies, which have been seized by the Trump administration’s warning that the continent must take primary responsibility for traditional defenses.
The best scenario for the latest European initiative is for the UK and its European Union friends to prove to the US that they are serious about meeting Trump’s call to police the ultimate peace deal, and that a simultaneous promise to maintain the NATO alliance despite the president’s skepticism.
Europe may be betting that Trump needs help in building a peace deal. And while the president’s attempts to build peace have been unstable up until now and have supported Putin’s position, his friendship with the Kremlin Strongman means that he may be the only Western leader who can invite him to the table.
Europeans encouraged the US role more evenly when Waltz said in “Union States” that he “will make Russian concessions on security assurances” in “Union States.”
But Trump has yet to agree with Star and Macron’s call for a US backstop to the UK-led peace forces. The British Prime Minister tried to dismiss a tension proposal with the Trump team on Sunday, saying that he would not accept the US as an unreliable ally.
Still, two top members of Trump’s orbit tried to sabotage European initiatives.
National Intelligence Director Tarshi Gabbard argued that European countries that supported Zelensky after being kicked out of the White House “have no commitment to the cause and values of freedom” and do not believe in peace. Her remarks on “Fox News Sunday” remind us of the topic of Moscow and raise alarms in Europe due to her role as a top US spy.
And Elon Musk, an alliance of Europe’s far-right extremists, who laughed at the London summit with local leaders including priorities. “EU leaders and Zelensky have a flashy dinner while men die at trench,” he wrote in X. How many children never see their father? ”
This story has been updated with additional developments.
