Zelensky in DC

Trump was caught on a hot mic telling European leaders today after his meeting with Zelensky that Putin might agree to a peace deal with Ukraine just to help him out and do him a personal favor so he can look good: "I think he wants to make a deal for me. Do you understand? As crazy as it sounds."

  

It IS crazy. Batshit.

Present at the meeting today at WH: UK PM Keir Starmer, Italian PM Giorgia Meloni, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, French President Emmanuel Macron, NATO Sec-Gen Mark Rutte, EU President Ursula von der Leyen.

And, Zelensky.

When Trump met face-to-face with Zelensky before the cameras, he was very low energy and accommodating, trying to save face after his disaster in Alaska with Putin by claiming that he just wants peace and the war to end and he will do everything possible to help Ukraine. No specifics were announced, no deals or agreements, just more of the same nonsensical whining about how unfair it is that he doesn’t get any credit from the world or the press for his skills as a negotiator.

But, he's already added this war to his imaginary deals ending wars. Today, it jumped from six to seven.

Rep. Marge Greene’s boyfriend Brian Glenn, who went after Zelensky at the last meeting because he wasn’t wearing a suit, complimented Zelensky for wearing a suit jacket this time (but no tie). Zelensky replied: “And you’re still wearing the same suit as last time. I changed, you didn’t.”

[...]

Foreign affairs journalist Olga Nesterova: “Both Trump and Zelensky were on their best behavior. If you listen carefully, Trump delivered all Russian standpoints. Fox confirms WH message that ‘Trump will make a case for land swap, but it’s up to Ukrainian people to accept it. Plus no NATO.’ So Ukraine will be blamed (if there is no deal). NOTHING IS NEW.”

After the meeting with Zelensky when Trump met with the rest of the European leaders, he seemed much less enthused about this meeting, which he clearly didn’t want. He led off by commenting that Putin should be included in the next meeting.

… German Chancellor Merz suggested that there should be a precondition to Putin’s involvement : "I can't imagine that the next meeting would take place without a ceasefire. So let's work on that and let's try to put pressure on Russia because the credibility of these efforts we are undertaking today depends on at least a ceasefire from the beginning of the serious negotiations."

Trump then said he disagreed and a ceasefire was not necessary before the next meeting with Putin.

Perhaps because he knows there won't be one.

French President Macron: “When we speak about security guarantees, we speak about the whole security of the European continent and this is why we are all united here with Ukraine on this matter. You can be sure that Europeans are very lucid about the fact that they have their fair share in the security guarantees for Ukraine, but their own security is clearly at stake in this situation.”

Will there be a future where Europe trusts the US again?  Not in my lifetime, I'm sure.

UPDATE 01:31 pm:

Alternative facts.

Everything he does is a fundraising scheme.

Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked about Trump’s comment: Q - “If the point is to get everybody on the same page, why wouldn't Trump just take the call from Putin when the other leaders were in the room? Leavitt: Only a reporter from the New York Times would ask a question like that.”

Every time she gets confronted with a question she can’t answer, that is her exact response with only the name of the media company being changed.

  Meidas Touch

Exactly what Trump does.

Trump then said Ukraine started the war: "It's not a war that should've been started. You don't do that. You don't take on a nation that's 10 times your size."

Ukrainian journalist Kateryna Zubkova reacted to Trump’s comment: “We are basically getting blamed for existing next to Russia. This is getting ridiculous.”

Give that man a Nobel Peace Prize!

President Donald Trump dropped his demand for a ceasefire in Ukraine and told its president Saturday that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants Ukraine’s eastern Donbas area in exchange for halting the war.

[...]

The summit, which ended with no agreement, was seen as a public relations success for Putin, who was welcomed by Trump after years of Western isolation since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

[...]

After the summit, Trump told Zelensky and other European leaders in a phone call that in addition to land Russia has seized in the war, Putin wants Ukraine to cede all of Donbas in exchange for a promise to freeze the front line elsewhere.

  WaPo

I'm sure Zelensky will be okay with that.

Zelensky has rejected Russian demands to cede Ukrainian land.

[...]

One of the people familiar with the talks said Ukraine would not relinquish Donetsk because it would leave Ukraine wide open to future attacks. “If [Putin] takes over Donbas, he has a clear road all the way to Odesa.”

[...]

The Ukrainian leader and his European partners, including the leaders of Britain, France and Germany, had lobbied the White House to pressure Moscow into a ceasefire before any negotiations.

[...]

Kyiv’s European backers say it cannot negotiate under attack and are wary of a rushed deal that could reshape the continent’s security landscape.

[...]

Before the Alaska summit, European officials expressed guarded optimism that the United States was supporting their demand for a ceasefire along the current line of contact. But after the call Saturday, Trump abandoned it publicly.

[...]

In years of fighting, Russia has been unable to seize all of Donbas. Russian forces occupy almost all of the Luhansk region of Donbas but do not control part of the strategic, fortified Donetsk region.

[...]

Trump also told the Europeans he would be open to providing security guarantees for Ukraine in a deal but the details were unclear.

The devil is in the details. Trump cannot be trusted in any deal. And Ukrainian land is not his to negotiate.

Putin told a meeting of top Russian officials on Saturday that the summit with Trump was “very useful” and “in my opinion, it brings us closer to the right decisions.”

[...]

Zelensky, meanwhile, said he and Trump had a “long and substantive” conversation on Saturday, lasting around an hour, before they were joined on the call by European leaders.

He would meet with Trump “to discuss all of the details regarding ending the killing and the war,” he said, asserting “readiness to work with maximum effort to achieve peace.”

Good luck.

After their call Saturday, the leaders of France, Britain, Germany, Italy, Poland, Finland and the European Union said they stood “ready to work” for the trilateral summit “with European support.”

[...]

They vowed to keep supporting Kyiv and pressuring Moscow.

They said there could be no limitations on Ukraine’s military, no “Russia veto” in its ambitions to join the E.U. or NATO, and that it remained “up to Ukraine to make decisions on its territory.”

By the way...

Papers with U.S. State Department markings, found Friday morning in the business center of an Alaskan hotel, revealed previously undisclosed and potentially sensitive details about the Aug. 15 meetings between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir V. Putin in Anchorage.

Eight pages, that appear to have been produced by U.S. staff and left behind accidentally, shared precise locations and meeting times of the summit and phone numbers of U.S. government employees.

  NPR

And to think, if they were halfway competent, we'd be in an even worse condition.

Ukraine over a barrel - Part 2

 

Zelensky previously said he did not see any reason to apologize after the stunning confrontation with Trump and Vice President Vance in the Oval Office last Friday.

  Axios

And then there came a reason.

"Our meeting in Washington, at the White House on Friday, did not go the way it was supposed to be. It is regrettable that it happened this way. It is time to make things right. We would like future cooperation and communication to be constructive," Zelensky wrote on X.

He reiterated that Ukraine is committed to ending the war and is "ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer."

"Nobody wants peace more than Ukrainians. My team and I stand ready to work under President Trump's strong leadership to get a peace that lasts. We are ready to work fast to end the war," Zelensky added.

Zelensky also wrote that Ukrainians "really value how much America has done to help Ukraine maintain its sovereignty and independence," and explicitly thanked Trump for providing Ukraine with Javelin weapon systems in his first term.

[...]

On the minerals deal, Zelensky said he sees the agreement "as a step toward greater security and solid security guarantees, and I truly hope it will work effectively."

Understandable and so sad.

Up next: Trump crowing about forcing Ukraine to submit.

Eruope responds to Trump's anti-Ukrainian move

In one jaw-dropping meeting, the once unthinkable fear that Ukraine would be forced to engage in a long war against a stronger opponent without U.S. support appeared to move exponentially closer to reality.

“For Ukraine, it is clarifying, though not in a great way,” Phillips O’Brien, an international relations professor at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, said in an interview. “Ukraine can now only count on European states for the support it needs to fight.”

The German president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, said on Saturday that Europe must stand with Ukraine, and prevent the country “from having to accept subjugation.”

“The scene at the White House yesterday took my breath away,” he told the German press agency onboard a plane. “I would never have believed that we would ever have to defend Ukraine from the United States.”

  NYT

Then you don't know Trump. He has been keen for revenge since his first term when Zelensky wouldn't investigate Joe Biden for him. When he learned Zelensky could not be subjugated.

Mr. Zelensky signaled on Saturday that he had not completely given up hope of repairing the relationship with Mr. Trump. Posting on social media, he went out of his way to thank the United States, perhaps trying to address Mr. Trump’s complaint on Friday that he was ungrateful.

“I’m thankful to President Trump, Congress for their bipartisan support, and American people,” he wrote. “Ukrainians have always appreciated this support, especially during these three years of full-scale invasion.”

At the same time, Mr. Zelensky began laying the groundwork for moving ahead with the European countries that have stood by Kyiv’s side. Ukraine announced plans on Saturday for a joint weapons venture with France that would be financed by the interest earned from frozen Russian assets.

[...]

In a stark contrast to Friday’s meeting in Washington, [his] visit to 10 Downing Street began with a warm handshake and a short embrace. It included a promise from [Prime Minister Keir] Starmer to the Ukrainian president that “you have full backing across the United Kingdom, and we stand with you and Ukraine for as long as it takes.”

On Sunday, Mr. Zelensky will attend a summit of European leaders hosted by Mr. Starmer.

[...]

Along the front lines, some soldiers said that the realization was sinking in that Mr. Trump would probably not help Ukraine. “Trump chose his side in this war,” said Pvt. Serhiy Hnezdilov in a telephone interview from the front on Saturday.

Private Hnezdilov said that he supported Mr. Zelensky’s stance, adding that he thought the attempt to humiliate the Ukrainian leader was probably the goal of the invitation to the White House.

“The scandal we witnessed was essentially the only purpose of that meeting,” the private said. “It looked utterly absurd, considering that we, Ukrainians, have always regarded America as an example of democracy and, most importantly, of values.”

[...]

Leaders across Europe took to social media to voice support of Ukraine, and Mr. Zelensky offered his personal thanks for every statement while reposting them.

But Mr. Zelensky did acknowledge that losing U.S. military support would be a devastating blow.

“It will be difficult for us,” he told Fox News after the White House meeting. “That’s why I’m here.”

Difficult, but not impossible.

Opposition figures also backed Mr. Zelensky.

“Though I do not fully agree with President Zelensky’s policies, I must say that I am genuinely grateful to him for withstanding this pressure,” Natalia Pipa, a member of Parliament for the Holos party, said in an interview.

“Trump behaved disgustingly and condescendingly,” she added.

[...]

Since Mr. Trump picked up the phone on Feb. 12 for a 90-minute chat with Mr. Putin, he has called Mr. Zelensky “a dictator”; falsely accused Ukraine of starting the war; and pressed the Ukrainian leader to accede to his administration’s demands, posting that he “better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left.”

[...]

He offered Mr. Putin generous concessions on NATO and Ukrainian territory even before the talks started, and repeated the Kremlin’s calls for elections in Ukraine.

How does the American president offer concessions on Ukrainian territory?

American "defense contractors" are going to lose money if the United States quits supporting Ukraine.

And where are the Democrats, FFS?

   
UPDATE 03/02/2025:

Lisa, what have you done to try to stop this?  Ever.  Will you pretend ignorance of the evidence he was always going this way?

UPDATE 03/02/2025:

UPDATE 03/03/2025:

Respected again.

Not welcome

 

Stand with Ukraine

 And Lindsey Graham is as despicable a human being as dwells on the earth.

UPDATE 03/03/2025:

Such an important question!

 

Zelensky is in DC

Asshat.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Volodymyr Zelensky came to Washington

Now give him the arms he needs.

Story and speech.

UPDATE:  Interesting...

UPDATE:  As you knew they would, upon seeing Zelensky before Congress and Biden in his trademark wartime president uniform of olive drab cargo pants and sweatshirt, Republicans' knickers are in a twist.

Eg.

I thought it was an odd choice until I realized he's there asking for military support, and also, reminding his own people that he's in the fight with them and that he has not forgotten they are cold, hungry, and dying while trying to defend themselves from an invading army.

Also...

That is also a military uniform from the British military.