You may have caught a glimpse of the AI-generated video showing Zelenskyy and Trump throwing fisticuffs at each other amid the flood of posts and stories from Friday’s rallies—during the emotionally charged weekend, marked by the anniversary of the Tempi tragedy. While, no actual brawl took place in the White House, the real takeaway from their meeting might be painful to any rational human being inhabiting our planet.
What happened? The Ukrainian president, feeling like a drowning man clutching at straws under relentless pressure from the Russians on the battlefield, went to sign a deal granting the U.S. the right to exploit his country’s mineral wealth, including rare earth elements—about 20 valuable metals in high demand for cutting-edge technology, from batteries to artificial intelligence infrastructure. This deal would serve as payback for the military aid the Biden administration has sent to Ukraine since 2022. Don’t think the reward would be the favor of the U.S.—far from it. In reality, it would mean Ukraine would have a say in the peace negotiations, and Trump wouldn’t fully side with Putin.
Moving on, poor ol’ Zelenskyy walked into the Oval Office and, after being mocked by his host for wearing a military-style jacket with the Ukrainian national symbol—rather than the usual military hoodie he’s worn since the start of the Russian invasion—things quickly took a turn. The personal and institutional insults began, coming from both the U.S. president and vice president. I’ve highlighted just a few of these, which, combined with their body language, made the situation even worse.
Trump isn’t ignoring the above; he scorns it. He intervenes authoritatively in the war in Ukraine and the Middle East with business plan, not the aim of peace.
“You’ve talked too much, your country is deeply entangled. You’ve played your cards, you’re buried there.”
“You’re gambling with millions of lives, you are gambling with World War Three […] and what you’re doing is very disrespectful to our country.”
“You should be thanking the president for trying to bring an end to this conflict.”
“Your men are brave, but they’re using our equipment. If you didn’t have it, this war would have been over in two weeks.”
“You’re always saying ‘I don’t want a ceasefire, I don’t want a ceasefire, I want this, I want that.'”
Zelenskyy tried, in vain, to discuss the necessary security guarantees for peace and in vain, again, he attempted to explain how the Ukrainians feel. They had set a perfect trap for him, leading to a rupture. Some conciliatory statements followed, but the message to isolate Ukraine had already been sent, ending last night with the announcement of the suspension of U.S. aid to Kyiv.
The UN headquarters in Manhattan briefly stirred, and international relations experts and analysts tore up their diplomas as they watched the U.S. president tear apart international law, diplomatic protocols, and political civility on live television.
Donald Trump isn’t ignoring the above; he scorns it. He’s not playing Stratego, but Monopoly, in regions of the world with deep histories and significant differences between the people involved. He intervenes authoritatively in the war in Ukraine and the Middle East with business plan, not the aim of peace.
But hasn’t the exploitation of energy resources and the geopolitical position of a country always been crucial in international relations? Of course, but a path has been developed to resolve differences and crises through diplomacy, from lower to higher levels, using rules and tools to build or prevent the complete severing of bridges between opposing sides, while seeking a common and equal language.
Equality doesn’t matter to Trump; what matters is the law of the stronger. That’s why things are serious. If we draw a parallel to Greek-Turkish relations, and think about how the American president would “resolve” a crisis like the 2020 standoff between the Greek and Turkish fleets in the Eastern Mediterranean, or how he would approach a new round of talks on Cyprus, it would send a chill down our spines. We’ve always had international law to rely on—now, what will we have?
Trump seeks confrontation. With China, the EU, Canada, Ukraine, but most of all with common sense and everything we’ve known until now.
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