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Zelensky predictably plays the tough guy by telling him to pound sand. Zelensky flew to Washington to sign the agreement, and fully expected to--they waited an

Zelensky predictably plays the tough guy by telling him to pound sand. Zelensky flew to Washington to sign the agreement, and fully expected to--they waited an hour after the blown up press conference before being told to get out. Diplomatically, Zelensky wasn't even badly behaved in the press conference. Vance and Trump kept escalating the discussion. If there was a play, it was one constructed by Trump to give himself a reason to withdraw aid from Ukraine when he clearly wants to side with Putin.

ein0p 2y ago
Watch _the whole_ press conference, the entire 53 minutes, not the carefully selected morsels that CNN prepared for you in order to mislead. Zelensky failed to read the room, and 23 minutes or so into the conversation he started to self-immolate, something Trump and Vance gladly helped him with.
- Hikikomori 2y ago
  Big self immolate. Said that cease fire agreements wont work because they have evidently not worked so far as Russia keeps breaking them, they need security guarantees like NATO. I guess failing to read the room was not bootlicking enough and not surrendering to Putin as Trump already has.
- sjsdaiuasgdia 2y ago
  I'd watched the whole thing live when it happened. I went back and watched from around 21min in to see what self-immolation you mean. Sequence of events - Trump downplays the need for security guarantees. "Security is maybe 2% of the problem, security is the easy part, I'm worried about getting the deal done." A "reporter" from OAN asks a kiss-ass question that can be summarized as "President Trump, how amazing and courageous are you for negotiating with Putin?" Trump gives a rambling answer including his usual vague statements of how the war wouldn't have existed if he'd been in power and then starts talking about Hamas for some reason. There's a moment of levity where Trump says Zelensky's attire is fine. Zelensky indicates he wants to respond to some of the earlier statements. He says Russia has broken many promises made in past negotiations and this is why security guarantees are actually critical to Ukraine. "Reading the room" in this situation would mean "buying into the Putin-led narrative currently being peddled by the Trump administration." Fuck that.
  - kelipso 2y ago
    Problem with this is a misunderstanding of what a press conference after a private discussion is supposed to be about. Zelensky was trying to negotiate and argue during the press conference, with the entire world watching. All the details about Trump not wanting security guarantees would presumably have been decided during the private meeting but Zelensky basically tried to argue his case with the media. That would irritate pretty much anyone.
    - sjsdaiuasgdia 2y ago
      Irritating bullies is not a bad thing.
      - kelipso 2y ago
        Well, the US stopped Ukraine funding because of it, so seems it was a bad thing for them.
        sjsdaiuasgdia 2y ago
        Yes, because the bullies (Trump, Musk) have allied with the bully (Putin). Zelensky correctly recognizes that appeasing bullies does not make the bullying stop. At best, it slightly delays the bullying. Much of the US population desperately needs to reach the same recognition.
        kelipso 2y ago
        We collectively need to stop framing geopolitics in high school terms. It's embarrassing.
        immibis 2y ago
        Finding the truth embarrassing doesn't make it not the truth. Geopolitics is basically high school bullying.
  - 2y ago
- fatbird 2y ago
  "Reading the room" meant "prostrating himself and kissing the ring", which might have been worth it if it meant actual guarantees, but it didn't. You said you don't believe there are huge deposits to be exploited, so what then is the value of a US "soft" interest in Ukraine's security? Especially when Trump could make the same deal with Putin so that he wins either way. No one in that room recognized more than Zelensky that worthlessness of American promises of security. What value then to humiliate oneself? Ukraine gave up its nuclear arsenal on American promises of security, and look where that got them. On the contrary, the display in the press conference did do some good for Ukraine. There was an emergency summit in London that weekend where the heads of Europe agreed to step up their support for Ukraine, increase defence spending, and to work towards total independence from the US in 10 years. NATO is now a vestigial treaty that's a foreign policy option rather than a commitment. Who's responsible now for pushing us closer to WW3?
  - jgilias 2y ago
    Bless you. Living 200km from the Russian border, I worry that 10 years is far too long. If Putin “reads the room”, he knows his best bet is to push things forward before the midterms. In case Tramp doesn’t manage to rig the elections. So militarily, we might have less than 2 years. I really, really, really hope I’m wrong.
    - fatbird 2y ago
      10 years is total independence. There's a lot of independence to be seized in the coming year (starting with not waiting for US decisions) and EU leaders seem to be quite enthusiastic about it. From analysts I follow, the feeling is that EU support will sustain Ukraine at least through 2025, with the greatest weakness being ammunition for Patriot and GLMRS systems (though thankfully those have decreased in importance as drones take over). And 2026 is when the cumulative damage to Russia's economy really snowballs. If Ukraine makes it through 2025, I'm relatively optimistic. My great fear in 2024 was the flagging support for Ukraine due to war-weariness and lack of a resolution, would push some parties towards a more passive, accommodationist outcome. We can thank Trump for this: the fire to see Ukraine win has been lit again. Slava Ukraini, my friend. Stay safe.

ein0p 2y ago

Watch _the whole_ press conference, the entire 53 minutes, not the carefully selected morsels that CNN prepared for you in order to mislead. Zelensky failed to read the room, and 23 minutes or so into the conversation he started to self-immolate, something Trump and Vance gladly helped him with.

Hikikomori 2y ago
Big self immolate. Said that cease fire agreements wont work because they have evidently not worked so far as Russia keeps breaking them, they need security guarantees like NATO. I guess failing to read the room was not bootlicking enough and not surrendering to Putin as Trump already has.
sjsdaiuasgdia 2y ago
I'd watched the whole thing live when it happened. I went back and watched from around 21min in to see what self-immolation you mean. Sequence of events - Trump downplays the need for security guarantees. "Security is maybe 2% of the problem, security is the easy part, I'm worried about getting the deal done." A "reporter" from OAN asks a kiss-ass question that can be summarized as "President Trump, how amazing and courageous are you for negotiating with Putin?" Trump gives a rambling answer including his usual vague statements of how the war wouldn't have existed if he'd been in power and then starts talking about Hamas for some reason. There's a moment of levity where Trump says Zelensky's attire is fine. Zelensky indicates he wants to respond to some of the earlier statements. He says Russia has broken many promises made in past negotiations and this is why security guarantees are actually critical to Ukraine. "Reading the room" in this situation would mean "buying into the Putin-led narrative currently being peddled by the Trump administration." Fuck that.
- kelipso 2y ago
  Problem with this is a misunderstanding of what a press conference after a private discussion is supposed to be about. Zelensky was trying to negotiate and argue during the press conference, with the entire world watching. All the details about Trump not wanting security guarantees would presumably have been decided during the private meeting but Zelensky basically tried to argue his case with the media. That would irritate pretty much anyone.
  - sjsdaiuasgdia 2y ago
    Irritating bullies is not a bad thing.
    - kelipso 2y ago
      Well, the US stopped Ukraine funding because of it, so seems it was a bad thing for them.
      - sjsdaiuasgdia 2y ago
        Yes, because the bullies (Trump, Musk) have allied with the bully (Putin). Zelensky correctly recognizes that appeasing bullies does not make the bullying stop. At best, it slightly delays the bullying. Much of the US population desperately needs to reach the same recognition.
        kelipso 2y ago
        We collectively need to stop framing geopolitics in high school terms. It's embarrassing.
        immibis 2y ago
        Finding the truth embarrassing doesn't make it not the truth. Geopolitics is basically high school bullying.
- 2y ago
fatbird 2y ago
"Reading the room" meant "prostrating himself and kissing the ring", which might have been worth it if it meant actual guarantees, but it didn't. You said you don't believe there are huge deposits to be exploited, so what then is the value of a US "soft" interest in Ukraine's security? Especially when Trump could make the same deal with Putin so that he wins either way. No one in that room recognized more than Zelensky that worthlessness of American promises of security. What value then to humiliate oneself? Ukraine gave up its nuclear arsenal on American promises of security, and look where that got them. On the contrary, the display in the press conference did do some good for Ukraine. There was an emergency summit in London that weekend where the heads of Europe agreed to step up their support for Ukraine, increase defence spending, and to work towards total independence from the US in 10 years. NATO is now a vestigial treaty that's a foreign policy option rather than a commitment. Who's responsible now for pushing us closer to WW3?
- jgilias 2y ago
  Bless you. Living 200km from the Russian border, I worry that 10 years is far too long. If Putin “reads the room”, he knows his best bet is to push things forward before the midterms. In case Tramp doesn’t manage to rig the elections. So militarily, we might have less than 2 years. I really, really, really hope I’m wrong.
  - fatbird 2y ago
    10 years is total independence. There's a lot of independence to be seized in the coming year (starting with not waiting for US decisions) and EU leaders seem to be quite enthusiastic about it. From analysts I follow, the feeling is that EU support will sustain Ukraine at least through 2025, with the greatest weakness being ammunition for Patriot and GLMRS systems (though thankfully those have decreased in importance as drones take over). And 2026 is when the cumulative damage to Russia's economy really snowballs. If Ukraine makes it through 2025, I'm relatively optimistic. My great fear in 2024 was the flagging support for Ukraine due to war-weariness and lack of a resolution, would push some parties towards a more passive, accommodationist outcome. We can thank Trump for this: the fire to see Ukraine win has been lit again. Slava Ukraini, my friend. Stay safe.