The diplomatic alliance between the United States and Ukraine, already under stress, faced a dramatic and public breakdown on Friday, when US President Donald Trump included in the Ukrainian President Volodimier Zelanski at the White House. Broadcasting in every news channel around the world – this unprecedented castingation – a strategic benefit to Russian President Vladimir Putin: Ukraine has low American assistance, relief for the ground soldiers.
Since the onset of the Russian invasion, the United States has provided Ukraine with an estimated 64 billion euros in financial and human assistance as well as military aid. According to the Kail Institute, a German Research Body, by the end of 2022 to 2024, reached the total US aid in Ukraine to 114.2 billion euros ($ 119.8 billion), while European contribution was an amount of 132.3 billion euros.
A few days before the White House episode, the US and Trump broke the rank with Europe and voted against a United Nations resolution, seeking that Russia withdrew from Ukraine on the third anniversary of Putin’s full scale invasion.
The resolution put forward by Ukraine was supported by 93 countries, with 18 polling and 65 avoiding. Russia and its closest allies were those who opposed this remedy – North Korea, Syria, Belarus, Nicaragua, and, unexpectedly, America. The decision shocked the Western diplomats, who assumed that the US would stand up with a long -held support for Ukraine’s sovereignty.
Russia is held accountable to the war crimes, to withdraw its forces from Ukraine, and accept responsibility for the destruction caused by its invasion. But Trump, who has long praised Putin’s leadership style, refused to return the remedy.
Fears of Zelansky
For three years, Kremlin has portrayed Zelanceci as a careless, disabled leader who will essentially separate his NATO Backers. Tamasha in Washington – Trump, flocked by Vice President JD Vance, plum Zelancesi on US military support for Ukraine – left Kiev Brasing for a possible stop in US aid.
Despite stress, Zelansky later told Fox News that he believed that relationships with Trump could still be overcome. But he acknowledged the reality of the battlefield: “Of course, fighting against Russia would be difficult without your support.”
France, the UK and Turkey have indicated the desire to send soldiers to Ukraine. Zelansky has said that at least 100,000 will be required, although his exact role is not clear. But Moscow has warned that the presence of any “NATO” in Ukraine will be provoked by one.
Putin’s silent win
For the Kremlin, the White House confrontation was a promotional coup. Russian officials and state media currently seized, introduced the performance of the oval office as evidence of Ukraine’s shortage, standing in the world.
But even though Trump claims that he wanted to “stop death” in Ukraine, Putin focused on addressing what he says to the “root causes” of war, a word means widely mean his demands for the limit on the neutrality of Ukraine, a weak army and the border on the expansion of NATO.
Russia currently takes about 20 percent of Ukraine, including Crimea, which was annexed in 2014. Putin insisted that Kiev should accept “realities on the ground” and was formally attached to Luhansk, Donnetsk, Zaporizhajia, and Kherson – All Territors Moscow in 2022.
Zelansky is adamant that the 1991 borders of Ukraine should be restored. However, he has indicated on the exchange of a potential land connected to Russia’s Kursk region, which was summarized by Ukrainian forces last year. Putin has dismissed it outright.
European status
The struggle at the White House has widen the rift between the US and its European allies in Ukraine. While Trump pressures the Kiev for an immediate ceasefire, European leaders emphasize strong security guarantee to prevent Russian revival.
The UK Prime Minister Kir Stmper has insisted that US security guarantee is necessary. Trump, however, favor an economic system instead.
Washington has proposed a mineral deal in which the American firm will invest in Ukraine’s resource sector, which provides economic stability rather than military protection. But air defense cover or intelligence-sharing, Ukraine can be exposed to future Russian aggression without guarantee of concrete security.
The public insult to Zelansky also provides another Kremlin objective: weakening Western unity. Russian MPs openly made fun of Ukraine leader, former President Dimitri Medvedev condemned him as “insolent pig” on social media.
