This past Friday, February 28^th, Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy visited the White House to allegedly sign a mineral rights deal with the United States in return for continued military aid and security guarantees as part of any peace with Russia. The press conference between Zelenskyy, Trump and J.D. Vance had barely started when it turned into a public argument ending in lunch being cancelled and Zelenskyy being tossed out of the White House.

Part of me expects this kind of outrage from Trump but no matter how bad he has behaved in the past; his treatment of Zelenskyy represents a new low. Trump’s behaviour has been erratic as usual which is part of Steve Bannon’s game plan but this time it seems like he may have gone too far. Which world leader is going to agree to a public news conference with Trump and his administration when they are taking a chance of being publicly humiliated in front of their electorate?

The world is in shock at the public shaming and mistreatment of a world leader fighting for his country’s survival and the G7 is doubling down in their support for Ukraine, Trump or no Trump.

What’s next?

What’s next for Ukraine / U.S. relations? Your guess is as good as mine but if Trump is embarrassed or undermined in any way the gaffe with Zelenskyy he will react in one of two ways, he will double down or he will change his mind.

Doubling down will involve something drastic like suspending all military and financial aid to Ukraine. This may depend on whether he needs the support of the House of Representatives to do this or not. If he does, he is risking losing because of a slim majority with cold feet or large Ukrainian constituencies so he may strategically change his mind.

Rather than risk further embarrassment or isolation from the geo-political stage, Trump may decide to change his mind or have his lackeys backpedal behind the scenes on his behalf. I have already seen headlines devoted to questioning why J.D. Vance took the lead in the attack on Zelenskyy? Having Vance take the lead gives Trump the wiggle room to change his mind without having to appear to change his mind. He can just blame Vance for being hot headed in defence of his President and call Zelenskyy back to Washington to sort out a deal.

The art of the heel

We live in very dangerous times when everyone’s fate literally rests upon the eggshell thin ego of one man, but those are the cards we have been dealt: it’s what we do with those cards that matters. Ukraine could be cut off from all U.S. aid tomorrow, or maybe not? The unpredictability of dealing with Trump is becoming his Achilles heel, you can’t make a deal if everyone is afraid of coming to the table.

The U.K. hosted an emergency summit in London this weekend attended by European and other NATO leaders in support of Ukraine. They have pledged to provide military aid and support Ukraine’s recovery, ideally using Russian assets. These nations have also pledged to lead peace negotiations with Russia, with Ukraine’s direct involvement, and they guarantee any eventual peace with troops on the ground. If this all happens, and they can actually deliver on their promises, this is very welcome news for Ukraine and a great response by NATO nations to Trump 2.0.

Perhaps now is the time for NATO nations to free themselves from having to rely on Trump’s unreliability? Perhaps now is the time for someone else besides the U.S. to step up and prove they can take the lead in supporting Ukraine financially and militarily? He wins or we win it’s pretty simple.

Slava Ukraini!  Heroaim Slava!