In a previous, abortive, round of peace talks with the Russians three years ago, Volodymyr Zelensky declared that “all wars end in agreements”. Perhaps. There was no sign of agreement during the disgraceful scenes in the Oval Office on Friday.
To see the leader of Ukraine – after all he has done and been through in defending his country that has suffered 50,000 dead – being bullied, berated and belittled by the leaders of a nation that was until weeks ago his most crucial ally, was deeply demeaning to the United States. How low that great power has fallen.
The world will see this and can only have enhanced sympathy and respect for Mr Zelensky.
Vice-president JD Vance was in performative propaganda mode. He fancies himself as a political street fighter and, with one eye on a Maga base that enjoys such cruelties, suggested to Mr Zelensky that he was ungrateful for America's past assistance and – a painful irony – being disrespectful to the United States.
President Trump, the Godfather himself, waded in not to calm tempers but to outdo Mr Vance in belligerence. He prevented Mr Zelensky answering Mr Vance’s accusations (so much for “free speech”) and roughed him up a little more.
It was one of the most shameful episodes in the history of American diplomacy, and all played out in front of the global media. Donald Trump was blunt to the point of insult, telling Mr Zelensky – whose country was the victim of aggression by a man who threatened nuclear armageddon – that it was he who was “gambling with World War Three”.
Arms folded in defence, at some point Mr Zelensky must have realised he was in a room with Putin collaborators. The extraordinary episode was followed up by a social media post that was far from conciliatory. “He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace.” Ever vindictive, Trump has thus ditched Ukraine; how delighted must the Kremlin be.
If nothing else, the Oval Office spectacle reminded Europeans that they need have no illusions about where Mr Trump is coming from. It also offered a salutary glimpse into the gangsterish inner workings of the Trump administration. As we witnessed with the recent visits by Japanese prime minister Shigeru Ishiba, French president Emmanuel Macron and our own prime minister, Mr Trump is capable of being charming and jovial, leastways in public.
But in his exchanges with Mr Zelensky, the Trump mask slipped. And how. “Make a deal or we’re out,” the leader of the free world barked at Mr Zelensky, who retained his composure throughout. Mr Zelensky left without signing the touted US-Ukraine minerals deal.
With America abandoning Ukraine, an agreement on Mr Trump’s terms may be inevitable, yet is very far from satisfactory for Ukraine or for the rest of Europe. The shame of this is that Mr Zelensky was always willing to compromise in the name of peace: a minerals deal was first proposed by him last September. As has been tacitly acknowledged by Mr Trump, the presence of American mining engineers and executives in the restructured and denuded eastern provinces of Ukraine (whatever those turn out to be), should act as a deterrent to a fresh campaign of indiscriminate Russian bombings; and Mr Trump and any likely successor will be reluctant to give up their chance of exploiting such precious resources.
In that sense, the minerals deal does act as a kind of informal US security guarantee, but it is less than Ukraine needs and deserves. In the Oval Office, Mr Trump tried to persuade Mr Zelensky, who knows better than anyone how unreliable Vladimir Putin can be, that the presence of Mr Trump is sufficient security guarantee because the Russians "respect me", in a way they did not respect Barack Obama or Joe Biden. Unpredictable and aggressive as he demonstrably is, that is not good enough (and even if it was, Mr Trump will not be president forever).
Contrary to some of his own apologists, Mr Trump has now publicly ruled out Ukraine becoming a member of Nato, and his reluctance to provide anything tangible in the way of a “backstop” security guarantee was also painfully obvious during his public appearances with Sir Keir Starmer. Such are the grim realities of Mr Trump’s “transactional” approach.
This weekend, it falls to Sir Keir and European powers to lead a “coalition of the willing” to construct something capable of replicating the force of an American security guarantee. At best, it will be a poor substitute for the American nuclear umbrella.
The “real deal” was laid bare in the Oval Office. Abandoned by its ally, Ukraine is having peace imposed upon it, but Mr Zelensky is not ready to surrender and betray his country. The sacrifices that so many Ukrainian people made to control their own destiny should not have been made in vain.
America has switched sides, not just between Ukraine and Russia, but between right and wrong. These are dark days for human civilisation.
