It’s hard to remember a more painful public spectacle in the Oval Office than the one that unspooled Friday afternoon.
A meeting between President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, on the one hand, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, on the other, dissolved in acrimony. Afterward, Zelensky and his delegation were asked to leave the White House before what had been a planned lunch and the signing of a rare-earths agreement between Ukraine and the U.S.
After a long, somewhat touch-and-go exchange of views in front of reporters, things broke down when Vance opined that, after President Biden’s ineffectual tough words, it’s time for diplomacy. Zelensky related the diplomatic failures after Russia’s first invasion of Ukraine in 2014 and asked Vance if that’s the kind of diplomacy he’s talking about.
Vance, and then Trump, too, reacted by berating Zelensky. They belittled his country’s position in the war, called him an ingrate, and made open threats about abandoning his country.
This was shocking behavior, especially when it is unimaginable that they’d ever dare treat Vladimir Putin in a similar fashion. But it is Zelensky’s misfortune to lead a beleaguered, relatively small country dependent on U.S. aid, putting him in the position of a vulnerable supplicant.
President Trump issued a statement after the unpleasantries saying that Zelensky is not interested in peace, although, surely, he would have been perfectly content not to have his country invaded by Russia twice. What Zelensky and the Ukrainians want is guarantees that any deal won’t result in renewed Russian aggression down the road, with Ukraine even harder-pressed to defend itself. This is not only an understandable concern, but one that it is in our interest to address, since further Russian adventurism would be costly in human terms and dangerous to the West.
All this said, knowing Trump’s ego and Vance’s hostility in advance, it was a signal diplomatic failure on Zelensky’s part to get sucked into making argumentative points. The upside of critiquing Trump and Vance in public was nil, while the potential downside — which, unfortunately, Zelensky is now experiencing — was enormous.
One hopes that this doesn’t represent a fundamental breach in U.S.-Ukrainian relations. With President Trump, blowups can happen quickly, but so can reconciliations.
Regardless, the episode is a disturbing reflection of the resentment the president feels toward a partner whose fundamental offense is wanting to defend itself and regain its sovereign territory. Now, it is going to be painful for Zelensky — or any Ukrainian leader — to sign the dotted line of even a reasonable settlement. That may require pressure, but not like this.
“Keep your friends close and your enemies closer” shouldn’t mean kicking your friend to the curb.