Piecemeal PEACE

Forget a ceasefire, the spat between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump at the White House has further complicated the situation, with Europe seeking to put a spanner in Trump's plans for a peace deal

- Kanwal Sibal

UKRAINE President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to the US to ink a minerals deal that President Donald Trump was demanding to compensate for the assumed $350 billion of US aid to Ukraine in its conflict with Russia ended disastrously. The spat between Zelenskyy and Trump as well as with Vice President J. D. Vance before journalists at the White House was unprecedented and diplomatically shocking.

The Ukrainian side was no doubt aware of the lack of empathy between Trump and Zelenskyy. Before the presidential election, Trump had called Zelenskyy a super salesman, who each time he visited the US, came away with billions of dollars as aid. After becoming president he has called Zelenskyy a dictator and spoken about his abysmally low public ratings (4 per cent) and the need for fresh elections in Ukraine.

Trump has, during his election campaign, and after becoming president as well, expressed his intention to reach out to Russian President Vladimir Putin and work for ending the conflict in Ukraine—seen as wasteful in lives and money and threatening World War III. Putin, according to him, was also ready to do a deal to end the conflict.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in his Senate confirmation hearings, emphasised the need to end this conflict as Ukraine was running out of manpower to continue the war. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth at the Munich Security Conference in mid-February 2025 too spoke about USA’s intention to talk directly to Russia to end the conflict, without involving Europe because Europe had, in three years, failed to find a solution.

The US also does not see the need to involve Ukraine at this stage. Ukraine could come to the table after the US and Russia had reset the basics of their relations. For Russia the renewed contacts with the US has broad-based objectives and is not limited to a deal on ending the Ukraine conflict.