Posted on 02/28/2025 10:30:35 AM PST by simpson96
It is no understatement to say that this was, for Zelensky coming here today, the most critical diplomatic and political moment for him and his country since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine three years ago.
This has descended into an extraordinary and unprecedented moment of tension, exploding in the Oval Office.
Basically, a public dressing down of the Ukrainian leader by Donald Trump and Vice-President JD Vance
It began by Vance saying to Zelensky that the war had to be ended through diplomacy.
What kind of diplomacy, Zelensky replied.
He was then accused by the vice-president of being disrespectful.
This then escalated very quickly in those remarkable pictures you have just seen and heard.
Trump and Vance accused Zelensky of being ungrateful for three years of American support, telling him he was in no position to tell the US how it should feel about it.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
Of course Ukraine can say no, but we won’t have any assets there to care to fight over with Russia, then.
Ukraine played this whole thing out as far as it could without bringing in people 26 and under, getting money and resources from around the world, and more.
Ukraine will lose the land Russia has, and have to be okay with it. The Ukrainian oligarchs already have their billions from us and others, and Little Z has multiple homes around the world, as I understand.
If Z and the oligarchs and other Ukrainian thieves cared about their country, that money would have gone to the war to win. It didn’t.
Zelensky has gotten whatever he demands from Joe Biden because there were kickbacks involved. NOW he has met the BIG DOG, and Trump is going to stop the nonsense of giving away the bucks to a hoodlum like Zelenskky.
Not smart of Zelenski to try to threaten Trump, Vance, and all of the US, in our own White House!
And for Rove to come out and say Trump was wrong makes me ill
It's what he had to do. Trump is used to the media and RINO’s stabbing him in the back.
This thing was Trump saying, ‘Look at what we have to deal with!’ There is no way for anyone to conjecture on what went on
Zelensky had his chance and he blew it. If nothing else, these events will probably embolden Putin. We’ll probably see an escalation and the total demise of the Ukrainian armed forces.
“And for Rove to come out and say Trump was wrong makes me ill”
Me too. Rove has really turned into a big POS. He is epitome of a RINO.
The opening paragraphs from our friends at the AP:
“President Donald Trump shouted at Ukraine’s leader on Friday during an extraordinary meeting in the Oval Office, berating President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for “gambling with millions of lives” and suggesting his actions could trigger World War III.
Zelenskyy then abruptly left the White House without signing a critical minerals deal with the U.S. that Trump had demanded and suggested was a condition for future support for Ukraine.
Untouched salad plates and other lunch items were being packed up outside the Cabinet room where the lunch between Trump and Zelenskyy and their delegations was supposed to have taken place.
The last 10 minutes of the nearly 45-minute engagement devolved into a tense back and forth between Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Zelenskyy — who had urged skepticism about Russia’s commitment to diplomacy, citing Moscow’s years of broken commitments on the global stage.
It began with Vance telling Zelenskyy, “Mr. President, with respect. I think it’s disrespectful for you to come to the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media.”
Zelenskyy tried to object, prompting Trump to raise his voice and say, “You’re gambling with the lives of millions of people.”
“You’re gambling with World War III, and what you’re doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country that’s backed you far more than a lot of people say they should have,” Trump said.”
My theory is that the Rare Earth deal was merely a ruse to get Zelensky publicly humiliated in front of the whole world. Zelensky is the roadblock to peace right now so Trump needed to minimize him to get Midget Castro out of the way
Zelensky will be told by his own team that he's in a "cooler heads will prevail" zone right now and he, as the leader of Ukraine, cannot afford to make this personal for himself. He has to swallow his pride and do what's best for his people.
People on Fox News are echoing what I suggested, that Zelensky try to mend fences in the interview and then reengage President Trump at Mar-a-Lago over the weekend to try to salvage his trip.
That will be the next turning point in this relationship. We should know more by the evening after Trump responds to the Baier interview.
On a tangent, I'm interested in your opinion about this thought:
People are speculating about "Putin this..." and "Xi that..." but I'm not so sure that they aren't fretting over a paper tiger here.
I was getting the sense that Russia was running out of war materiel and political capital at home, and that China was facing an economic slowdown and possible recession soon.
If that's the case, then Putin probably wants a diplomatic solution that ends the war that keeps some gains. Xi is probably backing away from ties with Putin now that President Trump is in office. They both are motivated to see an end to the war in Ukraine.
It seems that it's just Zelensky who's holding out because he won't accept anything less than full restoration of the borders that existed before Putin's invasion -- including Crimea. I don't think that's a reasonable expectation at this point. It's remarkable that he held Russia to the current stalemate, and it's probably in his best interest to accept a deal that cedes some central territory back to Ukraine while Russia keeps the port access to the Black Sea that it wants.
What's your take on Putin and Xi?
-PJ
Nobody is as bad as Trey Gowdy.
What threat did Zelensky make?
I think a deal gets done this weekend. I think this is all a bunch of Kabuki Theater.
“Never come into someone else’s house and insult the owner.”
I’m laughing but it’s true. I’ve had to throw people out of my house for that exact reason! ;-)
Ukraine could end the death and destruction simply by giving Russia whatever it wants. No need to give up mineral rights and end up with the same deal anyway.
When this war is over the us interests will be a partner is rebuilding Ukraine isn’t that enough?
Who says that was part of the deal? That's my point. We don't know what the deal was. The closest thing that I've seen to a description of the deal was that Russia keeps all the territory it has, and the US gets 50% of the Ukrainian mineral rights. If I'm Ukraine, that's an absolutely crappy deal and I don't take it either. That being said, I don't know if that was the deal or not.
That beatdown was not a word salad.
You are correct that Reagan and Thatcher would have stood their ground and not given an inch in the interest of world peace.
Sure, Russia has been running through their older and traditional equipment and, unfortunately, men. But they’ve got much greater war power that they haven’t been using. Of course they want the war to end, but not on unfavorable terms.
China? A slowdown, sure, after decades of incredible growth and war preparation. Their goal is to defeat us and lead the world without having to go kinetic.
I think Z may have to go home and regroup before getting back in the US’s good graces.
What Zelensky hasn’t figured out yet is that he’s not in the negotiations. Trump and Putin are going to cut a deal and Trump is going to negotiate a settlement for Zelensky. He was pretty much telling him that in the Oval office. “with us you have cards. Without us you don’t have cards”. That was Trump and Vance putting the Squeeze play on because he thinks he still has options. He doesn’t.
According to Fox Z’s interview with Bret Baer is still on. If he want to salvage this he better have a damn good apology ready.
Your idiotic Ukie propaganda is getting really old.
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