Ricardo Pascoe Pierce
The meeting between Ukraine’s and the United States presidents at the White House was a premeditated ambush. It has all the hallmarks of having been planned to end, in one way or another, in a rift between the two countries or, at the very least, to divert attention from something bigger and more important for those attending the meeting.
The attacks on the Ukrainian president by the President, the Vice President, and even an assistant from the White House (who dared to question Zelensky about his choice of clothing) were cunning and vile, but they had a central purpose. How well they were broadcast on free-to-air television so that the whole world could see how Trump operates and what his true intentions are in real time!
The initial objective of the visit was to sign an economic agreement between the two countries. The United States had demanded that Ukraine hand over a vast amount of its mineral wealth, called rare earths, in exchange for… and it was not clear in exchange for what. Trump had not offered the security guarantees against Russia that Ukraine demanded in exchange for signing the economic agreement.
So Zelensky arrived at the meeting in Washington with no incentive to sign the agreement. For Trump, Ukraine’s incentive was to “thank” his country for previous support by turning that country in the Eurasian central plateau into an economic colony of the United States. In Trump’s mind, turning Ukraine into an economic colony of his country was a sufficient security guarantee to curb Russia’s greater territorial ambitions.
For Ukrainians, that economic agreement was no guarantee of security at all. They perceived themselves as having been betrayed by Russia and the United States when, in 1994, Ukraine handed over its nuclear arsenal to Russia in exchange for security guarantees that Russia would never attempt against the territorial integrity of Ukraine as an independent nation. The United States was the main guarantor of the transfer of nuclear weapons to Russia on the condition of unrestricted respect for the territorial integrity of Ukraine. This agreement is known as the Budapest Memorandum. Today, it is not worth the paper it is printed on.
It is possible to assume that the meeting between Ukraine and the United States in Washington was stillborn. Zelensky did not want to sign the cession of his economic sovereignty without security guarantees. Trump knew the document would not be signed because he would not offer more security guarantees for Ukraine than the economic agreement.
The issue was how to defuse the meeting without signing the agreement and concealing that Trump had failed in his “economic security” proposal as a solution. Trump did not want to be seen as the proponent of a failed proposal, so he opted for a classic way out: he created a bar brawl.
And he did get everyone to react to his behavior and the outbursts of the event, some in favor and most against. Few noticed that the reason for the meeting was completely canceled due to Trump’s failed proposal.
Zelensky needs security guarantees for Ukraine, which involve Ukraine’s integration into NATO, which Russia rejects. Since Putin rejects Ukraine’s inclusion in NATO, Trump echoes that position. However, the underlying issue that would allow the conclusion of hostilities in the area remains latent: security guarantees for Ukraine that Russia will never again attempt to take over its territory. As long as the world fails to give Ukraine that certainty, the war will continue.
European leaders’ diplomatic efforts focus on building a new communication bridge between Ukraine and the United States, given that both countries must participate in resolving the war. Ukraine has built key international alliances to help reconstruct this strategic relationship.
@rpascoep
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