Zelensky Walked Into a Trap

27 comments

1. Jonathan Chait: “Trump seems to genuinely feel that he and Vladimir Putin forged a personal bond through the shared trauma of being persecuted by the Democratic Party. Trump is known for his cold-eyed, transactional approach, and yet here he was, displaying affection and loyalty. (At another point, Trump complained that Zelensky has “tremendous hatred” toward Putin and insisted, “It’s very tough for me to make a deal with that kind of hate.”) He was not explaining why a deal with Russia would advance America’s interests, or why honoring it would advance Russia’s. He was defending Russia’s integrity by vouching for Putin’s character …”

   “Trump and Vance appear to have entered the meeting with the intention of berating Zelensky and drawing him into an argument as a pretext for the diplomatic break. Why should anyone have expected anything different? Trump has been regurgitating Russian propaganda, not only regarding Ukraine, since before Zelensky even assumed office … In the past few weeks, Trump has made very little effort to conceal his pro-Russian tilt. He called Zelensky a dictator, and when asked if he would say the same about Putin, refused, insisting, ‘I don’t use those words lightly.’ (No president in American history has used words more lightly than Trump). He said Ukraine ‘may be Russian someday’ and blamed Ukraine for starting the war. The U.S. even joined Russia, North Korea, and a tiny bloc of Russian allies to vote against a United Nations resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

   “The less-damning explanations for Trump’s pattern of pro-Russia positions have all collapsed in the face of evidence. One line of defense, hauled out by Republican hawks to explain away Trump’s consistent efforts to undermine NATO, is that Trump actually wants to prod Europe into spending more on its own defense. Like a tough football coach, he is merely berating his team to become the best version of itself.

   “Except when European countries declared themselves ready to increase their defense spending to 2 percent of GDP, the level Trump claimed to have wanted, he upped the demand to 5 percent. More recently, he advocated for the election of the right-wing, pro-Russian, anti-NATO AfD party in Germany. That is a strange thing to do if your goal is to push the allies to stand up for themselves against Russia, but a perfectly sensible position if your goal is to undermine the anti-Russia alliance.”

   Read more here: [https://theatln.tc/f8M5VzEk](https://theatln.tc/f8M5VzEk)

2. Europe will have to hold ukraine up because after this meeting, even if they don’t do it suddenly, the Americans will 100% cut off aid gradually. Financially the EU can help but I dont see how they replace America on military donations.

   As much as people hate trump and “ridicule ” the US, its still the world’s superpower and its hardware has yet to be matched

3. 100% agree. Felt like a stitch up from the word go.

4. And white house showed how dumb they really are. Zelensky alteast brought some braincells into the house.

5. Zelensky probably knew it would be a trap, he’s no dummy. But he wasn’t in a position to say no to this invitation

6. I think it’s the other way around. This was what the world needed to see. The ugly side of American diplomacy that’s been well hidden for some time now, the reason we didn’t deserve to lead the free world after WW2. America has always been like this and now we get to see backdoor diplomacy on live tv.

7. Vance has been extremely clear anti-Ukraine from day one. Constantly backtalking Ukraine and Zelensky. Why Zelensky eagerly went into the White House to sit next to Trump and Vance on camera I just don’t get. Does he not understand American politics? Did no one warn him? At least demand Vance not be in the room. With Trump alone you can get somewhere because Trump likely can’t point to Ukraine or Russia on a map. He doesn’t care either way.

   You can’t blame a scorpion for stinging. I knew this would happen. Zelensky is extremely prideful and patriotic. Trump extremely arrogant and Vance extremely narrow-minded, stubborn, and thinks he is a genius. Anyone predicting anything else as the outcome doesn’t understand people. Which makes me fear for the Ukrainian leadership as this is a mistake I would not expect from them.

8. Zelenskyy should implement an immediate nuclear program and build a small strategic arsenal over the next 6 months. Fight to delay the Russians before detonating a low yield weapon off the coast of Crimea and initiating forced Russian withdrawal from Ukrainian land. The US and the Russians lied in 1994. Nothing is obligating Ukraine to remain a nuclear free state. If North Korea can do it, it should be a piece of cake for Ukraine.

9. He walked in it knowing what it is but end up exposing what kind of chumps are Trimp and Vance is. They are Traitors of this country. Russian Puppets

10. The absolute perfect way it played out prior to the meetings next week in Europe.

11. Every country in NATO has increased their budget as a percentage since 2022 the invasion by Russia. In fact it was under Biden that the greatest increase happened. Trump asked for it and Biden delivered it.

    “The current target for European Nato members of 2% of GDP on defence by 2024 was agreed in 2014. In that year only three countries (the US, UK and Greece) were spending more than 2% on defence.

    Nato members also pledged that by 2024 at least 20% of their defence expenditure should go on acquiring and developing military equipment. 

    Shashank Joshi, defence editor of The Economist told BBC News on 9 July 2024 that the reason for that target is so countries are “not just wasting it all on pensions or something that isn’t directly contributing to combat power”. 

    In 2024, all Nato members except Belgium and Canada were expected to achieve that.” – BBC

12. What ever happened to the critical minerals and rare earth deal? Never discussed? It was supposed to agreed upon.

13. It was a stupid show meant for Putin.

14. Maybe Trump walked into a public image trap, who knows.

15. As an American, I’m sorry for Trump. I voted for Harris but my countrymen thought this guy was the solution….

16. Zelenksy honestly had no choice here. With the “dictator” comment, the writing was on the wall that the US will soon abandon Ukraine. The only choice Zelensky has is to:

    a) Buy time to prepare

    b) Look as ill treated as he can so an alternative supporter (i.e. Europe) can develop the will to take over when the US inevitably pulls out.

    The only thing Zelensky can really do is to dangle the minerals deal to either extract partial security guarantee from the US, or just stall long enough for Europe to step in.

17. That was pretty obvious when he said it would make great TV.

18. Was he ambushed? Yes.
    Was he right in his response? Yes, in the sense of being right but not wise.

19. It’s becoming a parade of walk outs. Khamenei wouldn’t deal on Iran nukes with the alleged statement of why make a deal Trump would tear up on a whim. Now Zelensky.

20. The fact that the talks with Russia were behind closed doors and this talk with Zelensky was public, should tell us all we need to know

    This was performative. Trump and Vance wanted a public disagreement as an excuse to pull all support from Ukraine

21. There were a lot of sensationalist headlines over this and they’re almost always over exaggerated but I was actually surprised by how accurate the ones surrounding this were….Both of them really went all in railing and berating him. Has Trump and Vance done that sort of aggressive berating to other heads of state? That was pretty crazy.

22. One would ask what the Soviet Union would have become, if such a puppet came to the White House before the collapse.

    He is doing Putin’s dirty work actively hurting USA interests and his cabinet is on to it.
    Are they all on Russia’s payroll? How the hell nobody is saying “Wait, USA has lots to lose on this”?

23. Yeah! I don’t get how he was so naive. Trump had called him “a dictator” a couple of days ago.

24. He may have walked into a trap, but somehow, the setters of the trap stepped into it themselves. Total embarrassment of a press conference for Trump and Vance.

    Zelensky was a class-act.

25. while I like to believe that, Trumps ego would be in the way for something that clever. if its orchestrated by the other wolves then it would be plausible

26. I support Ukraine and I think what Trump and Vance did today was clownish and embarrasing to say the least. Having said that, considering how important U.S. Military support is in this conflict, wasn’t today a huge mistake by Zelenskyy? What good is supporting him if the U.S. pulls out and Russia conquers Ukraine?

    I thought the correct strategy was to swallow his pride and bend the knee to the absolute buffoon Trump is, if that means continued military support. Or am I missing something? Now I think he may be impeached just to appease Trump. I am open to conversation and other ideas.

27. The thought crossed my mind yesterday that Zelensky was either going to be executed or trussed up and sent to Moscow today.

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