The marked contrast between the upbeat mood of Monday in Washington when Mr Zelenskyy came with the physical and moral support of virtually the whole of Europe, EU and Nato and the insipid one-sided nature of the Alaskan Trump-Putin meeting of Friday can be interpreted to imagine there is a birth of hope towards the Ukraine war ending
Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy was thrown under the bus often enough to know how much it hurts. Wiser after the experience of the US abandoning him in arms supply as well as withdrawing intelligence support in war, Mr Zelenskyy played the supplicant to perfection, even abiding by a sartorial ceasefire as he came to the White House dressed this time in a blazer- jacket, shirt with collar, trousers and combat boots, much to the delight of ace mediator Donald Trump who “loved it”.
The marked contrast between the upbeat mood of Monday in Washington when Mr Zelenskyy came with the physical and moral support of virtually the whole of Europe, EU and Nato and the insipid one-sided nature of the Alaskan Trump-Putin meeting of Friday can be interpreted to imagine there is a birth of hope towards the Ukraine war ending.
Of course, it is still in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s hands as he is the one holding all the cards after he impassively withstood Trump’s charm offensive at the military base in Anchorage. Ahead of that summit, Mr Trump had used one phrase that was ominous when he talked of “divvying things up”. That could well mean that Ukraine will have to be ready to “divvy up” its territory as a precondition for Mr Putin to order the guns to be silenced.
Having let loose the dogs of war, it is Mr Putin who will have to rein them in. Does Mr Putin want peace is the major question, the answer to which will be known only when a planned trilateral meeting with Mr Trump takes place after Mr Putin meets Mr Zelenskyy. How much Ukraine would have to sacrifice for that to happen will be known when Russia’s territorial and other demands are put up in the bilateral meeting that Mr Trump is promoting, towards which the response was positive according to his description of the mid-summit phone call he made to Moscow.
A bright positive to emerge from the summit of leaders of the “coalition of the willing” and Mr Trump and Mr Zelenskyy was that there will be security guarantees for Ukraine, possibly even American boots on the ground to ensure that any peace agreement is adhered to after more of the Donbas region, which is not quite in control of Russian troops yet, is given away in exchange for peace everywhere, beginning with Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.
Ukrainian dreams of joining Nato have been scuppered by Mr Trump, but American guarantees of security could mean almost as much, since it could just preclude Mr Putin from starting a war in the future, perhaps at least so long as Mr Trump stays in the White House till January 2029. If a peace deal that is elusive only due to Mr Putin’s intransigence is struck and Mr Zelenskyy delivers on his promise of holding fresh elections, a rosy scenario can be envisaged.
It may be a bit early to talk of India refining more Russian oil for itself and China for European customers, but that scenario too swims into the realm of the possible if indeed peace reigns. Mr Putin’s sinister intentions in continuing attacks on Ukraine even as European leaders were flying to Washington betrayed his cynicism as well as the absolute hold on power of an authoritarian to whom the loss of a million soldiers’ lives and dents to the economy from war, trade boycott and sanctions seems to mean nothing.
All the theatre and the flattery appeared to pay off with the Europeans serving up a masterclass in dealing with an egotistical Mr Trump. There may be something there for India as well since it is left facing a huge Trump tariff trauma. But, if the war does stop, and Russia becomes an acceptable entity for the Western world again, there may be relief for India that was not able to find a way to tweak Mr Trump to its liking and advantage. Let the war end first.
