{"id":16654,"date":"2025-08-19T19:11:33","date_gmt":"2025-08-19T19:11:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/?p=16654"},"modified":"2025-08-19T19:11:33","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T19:11:33","slug":"the-guardian-view-on-trump-and-zelenskyy-ukraine-deserves-better-than-better-than-we-feared-editorial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/?p=16654","title":{"rendered":"The Guardian view on Trump and Zelenskyy: Ukraine deserves better than \u2018better than we feared\u2019 | Editorial"},"content":{"rendered":"

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T<\/span>he verdict on Donald Trump\u2019s meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European leaders on\u00a0Monday depends entirely upon the metric used. The\u00a0great fear was that this might prove a disaster along\u00a0the lines of the US president\u2019s dressing down of the Ukrainian leader in February \u2013 a scenario so plausible that Sir Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron, Friedrich Merz and other key European leaders dropped everything to dash to the White House themselves in support.<\/p>\n

Following his red carpet welcome for Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, Mr Trump reportedly backed the idea that Ukraine should hand over the Donbas to achieve a peace deal. Even if one were naive enough to think that the Kremlin would see that as an end to conflict, rather than a staging post for a later offensive, it would not be a \u201cland swap\u201d but a land grab that Ukraine \u2013 for good reason \u2013 could not stomach. Kyiv would be handing over territory that Moscow has spent\u00a0years attempting but failing to seize.<\/p>\n

On the basis of those meetings\u2019 precedents, there\u00a0was cause for some relief after the Washington talks: it could have been much worse. Yet judged by\u00a0the standards of conventional diplomacy, let alone\u00a0Ukraine\u2019s needs, it was alarming. Last month, Mr\u00a0Trump threatened tough sanctions against Russia.\u00a0En route to Alaska, he warned that there would\u00a0be \u201cvery\u00a0severe consequences\u201d if there wasn\u2019t\u00a0a\u00a0ceasefire\u00a0that day. Yet on Monday, with Ukrainian civilians under intense Russian attack, he\u00a0said there was no need to stop the fighting while\u00a0a deal is\u00a0agreed.<\/p>\n

Never mind the administration\u2019s weak grasp of detail, lack of competence and general inconsistency. Never mind the failure to apply itself to the kind of committed, diligent diplomacy required for peace. The record shows that Ukraine and its European allies repeatedly exert every effort \u2013 from a new suit to arms purchases \u2013 to draw Mr Trump towards their position. Yet his compass needle always seems to swing back towards Mr\u00a0Putin. Mr Trump should be standing with a democracy, alongside traditional allies, against a war criminal. But at best, he wants to be a mediator.<\/p>\n

The Kremlin has yet to confirm that the Russian leader will meet Mr Zelenskyy, as Mr\u00a0Trump said he would. Mr Trump has said that the US will \u201chelp out\u201d Europe with security guarantees and \u201ccoordinate\u201d any such effort. But there is still no\u00a0sign that this administration will provide the kind of backing that might make allies willing to put\u00a0boots on the ground, or to persist with them if tested by Russia. Arguably the most important takeaway from Monday was the ability of European\u00a0leaders of very different political persuasions \u2013 including Italy\u2019s Giorgia\u00a0Meloni \u2013 to\u00a0coordinate effectively. That\u2019s good news, but\u00a0there\u2019s a difference between fending off\u00a0the\u00a0worst case scenario and being able to\u00a0establish a concrete plan for the future.<\/p>\n

Despite Russian advances in recent weeks \u2013 spurred by the prospect of talks \u2013 this war is costing Moscow dearly too. Mr Putin could yet conclude that it is not in his interests to continue. But even if Mr Trump can be held to his latest position, it remains far short of what is necessary. Ukraine urgently needs action to secure the future of thousands of children kidnapped by Russia, the promise of justice in the future, and above all, a\u00a0ceasefire, before more lives are lost.<\/p>\n