94Ha Viewpoint
Ukrainian President Zelensky and US President Trump and Vice President Vance staged a heated war of words in the White House, shocking the world. This extremely rare diplomatic storm has made the Russian-Ukrainian war, which was already difficult to end peacefully, even more unsolvable. The Ukrainian team left the White House without being invited to lunch, and the US State Department immediately announced that it would end its support for Ukraine’s power grid repair work. Now, the Russian-Ukrainian front battlefield, which has been delayed for three years, is also facing the risk that the Kremlin may take advantage of the situation to increase its offensive actions.
Dutch NATO Secretary-General Rutte immediately called on Zelensky to try to repair his relationship with Trump and the White House top brass, obviously to prevent the US aid to Ukraine from being suspended. The prospects of the Russian-Ukrainian battlefield will be even more unpredictable, and the direction of the war will be more threatening to Europe.
This press conference, which lasted less than an hour but turned into a hot drama at the end, was called “an excellent TV show” by Trump, who was once a TV host, mainly because of the differences in personality and speaking style between Zelensky and Rutte, as well as the strong gap in their expectations. The strategic goals set by the United States and Ukraine for this negotiation are even more diametrically opposed. Zelensky was worried that the mineral agreement to be signed was not sufficiently guaranteed and he could not explain it to the people. He also did not trust Russian President Putin to abide by the ceasefire agreement. Trump was eager to withdraw from the Ukrainian war and highlight his own achievements. Vance’s repeated speeches were not intended to appease the scene but to stir up conflicts. Zelensky also wanted to “clarify” the historical issues and right and wrong in front of many media, which finally led to a diplomatic etiquette disaster.
European countries supported Ukraine one after another afterwards. Zelensky was warmly welcomed in London, showing that many European countries have been forced to understand that support for Ukraine cannot rely on the United States, but British Prime Minister Starmer’s efforts to mediate between the two sides at the first time also show that there is not a complete lack of sense of reality.
The scene of the war of words in the White House surprised many European countries, and the leaders of Britain and France hurriedly came forward to try to turn the situation around. It shows that in the face of the overall situation of dealing with the threat from Russia, European countries whose defense is weak due to long-term peace lack confidence in NATO’s combat power without the support of the United States. Countries and the European Parliament have supported Ukraine politically, but there have been no actual actions such as armed preparations and military build-up. How to support Ukraine is the key in the future. Whether Russia will take the opportunity to intensify its attacks and retake the occupied Kursk region will be the focus in the next few days.
Zelensky expressed his gratitude to the United States shortly after the incident, and Trump also left a kind ending in his subsequent post: “When he is ready (to accept) peace, he can come back.” This shows that both sides are still trying to save their torn faces and the door to negotiations has not been completely closed.
Whether to end the Ukrainian war involves the Trump administration’s Asia-Pacific grand strategy. Stopping the war as soon as possible is beneficial to the White House, and actively giving up NATO’s leadership and influence on Europe is not the long-term strategic direction of the United States. The positive actions of the British government show that it is striving to fill part of the leadership vacuum left by the United States with the support of the United States. Starmer revealed in the UK yesterday that it will form a “voluntary alliance” with France and one or two countries to provide post-war security for Ukraine. This is an action that takes into account Ukraine’s security needs, which is conducive to Kiev accepting the agreement signed with Washington and then letting Putin accept peace talks.
The Trump administration is eager to unload most of the burden of European security, which is an inevitable trend. The European powers have not yet shown the determination to strengthen their military forces, which is a major concern. However, the future security of Ukraine probably still requires the support of the United States. The relationship between Europe and the United States is entering a stage of deep adjustment, and all parties cannot lack a sense of reality.
In the international order and values established after World War II, the international community pays more attention to the equality between countries. The actions of major powers under the table are one thing, but they will try their best to avoid publicly bullying small countries in words. This diplomatic disaster that has deviated from the script, Trump’s “excellent TV show”, makes people see the cruel international reality nakedly again. Its theme is not “small countries have no diplomacy”, because in terms of land area, Ukraine is not small at all, but the three-year war depends on international support, and being controlled by others will make the diplomatic space embarrassing, which is worth pondering.
How the United States controls the next Russian-Ukrainian battlefield and how Europe prevents Ukraine from completely failing are the keys to whether the Russian-Ukrainian war can end as soon as possible according to Trump’s will. As a world leader, the United States under Trump must demonstrate exemplary leadership and safeguard international order and basic morality, especially in the situation between Russia and Ukraine and in the Middle East that could get out of control. But leaders of Ukraine, the country in question, must also accurately grasp their own interests and the reality of the sudden change in the world situation, and demonstrate more flexible diplomatic skills. As for European countries, returning to the real world and finding a smooth path to long-term peace and stability for Ukraine and Europe itself is a more important action plan besides money and weapons.
