24 February 2025 marked the 3rd anniversary of the start of the Russo-Ukrainian War.
In what would have seemed an unsettling war, peace talks have finally begun following the establishment of the Trump administration, suggesting a possible end. However, these peace talks haven’t been what we expected.
For instance, President Trump has had several meetings with President Putin regarding the war and supposedly planning a ceasefire and terms without the presence of President Zelenskyy. President Biden is no longer in the White House, which means his policies on the Russo-Ukrainian War are no longer America’s current policies. President Trump is a far different person, in morals, views, and attitudes in many things, including the war. He has decided to stop helping Ukraine, including giving them military aid, and has decided to stop the war once and for all. He devised a possible deal regarding minerals and resources and met with President Zelenskyy to discuss it. However, in the aftermath of the meeting, it seemed unlikely that there would ever be any deal or assistance from the United States again. (I wanted to note that I wanted to post this blog around the time the meeting occurred, but got busy with school and SAT work, making me put this off until now.)
As you would have seen and heard, the meeting between President Trump and Zelenskyy turned into a yelling match, and trust me, it was not pretty. More than that, it became heated and very one-sided, with President Trump stepping over President Zelenskyy, while the latter ended up silenced in the process. Not only that, the entire ordeal took place in front of the American media and several white house advisors, workers, and officials.
My Analysis:
I feel like this is a very gross representation of America. Simply put, it’s not who we are; it’s a very shameful representation of us, and is even more disconcerting seeing it come from our President and Vice President. We are a country well known for helping others. We’ve protected other countries, big and small, formed numerous alliances, and created treaties to maintain stability and peace with others. While we have no obligation to continue doing so every time, we should at least hold the level of respect we have always given and been given to and from others regardless of what is happening. Not just because they are leaders but because it is the right thing to do. In this situation, because the two- President Trump and Zelenskyy- are leaders of their country, they are of, essentially, the same level. While President Zelenskyy may be coming to the White House with little power in the war, he still should be treated with respect. Even if it came to the point where President Zelenskyy had to beg for help to save his country, he still should be treated with respect.
At this moment, President Zelenskyy made a mistake when talking- he got too emotional and said something he shouldn’t have. But what was worse was President Trump and Vice President Vance dragging this out even more, escalating the argument.
What I didn’t like about this was how both President Trump and VP Vance started to belittle and point fingers at Zelenskyy. VP Vance started accusing President Zelenskyy, telling him this was disrespectful and he could not go and “litigate this in front of the American media.” President Zelenskyy asked VP Vance what diplomacy he was referring to VP Vance had said that they were using diplomacy to manage the situation, unlike Biden- while explaining the 2014 Crimea Annexation and how no one paid much attention to what happened then. I understand his side here. President Zelenskyy has been trying to fight this war for the past 3 years, but he’s constantly overpowered. He knows he’s losing and is desperate. He needs support, especially from the United States who have the resources and alliance he needs. But when people tell him diplomacy is the option, he’s upset. The last time there was a diplomatic approach, it was ignored, and there is now a war. He’s frustrated, and his emotions get the best of him. It was wrong, and he shouldn’t have tried to counter that. But even more, President Trump, who was listening quietly on the side, should not have intervened other than to break it up. He should have stepped in and told both to stop or even walked out, saying he didn’t want to engage with this. But unfortunately, he did not.
President Trump’s behavior was petty and very unprofessional. President Trump started to belittle and put down President Zelenskyy, telling Zelenskyy that he was not in any position to be playing cards, and began characterizing President Zelenskyy, saying he has hatred for Putin and that it was hard to work with him. He then talks over President Zelenskyy repeatedly – essentially silencing him- about how President Zelenskyy has been ungrateful and disrespectful and needs a better attitude to make this deal work. To me, it’s really childish and altogether hypocritical. President Trump started to talk down President Zelenskyy, shouting over him and telling him to stop talking, when, as President Zelenskyy pointed out, he was invited to the White House to converse and started calling President Biden a stupid president. He then proceeds to mock President Zelenskyy and goes off about how it’s all a whole Hunter Biden scam.
First of all, if someone is demanding respect from someone else, that first person has to show respect first. President Trump can’t go around demanding respect from President Zelenskyy when President Trump himself has been acting arrogantly and disrespectfully many times in that whole argument. To chastise someone for being disrespectful in the White House and Oval Office while calling a former president a stupid president just in that same space is incredibly hypocritical. President Biden was a former president and deserves the same respect for his name as President Trump, regardless of whether he was a great president or not or even if President Trump liked him.
Secondly, it’s all so petty and childish. Mocking people? Pointing fingers and screaming at each other? This is not how a President of a respected country should act, nor should he act this way towards another leader, especially not in public. This whole part of putting down President Biden and continuously bringing him up to make yourself look better is petty. This is a diplomatic situation. You should not be saying things like this or even acting like this. Saying that you’re giving “javelins” while the other presidents are giving sheets and saying that you’re the only one who can fix this is unbelievably arrogant.
He is the face of the United States. When people think of America, they think of the president, they’re thinking of President Trump. But when President Trump starts disrespecting other presidents and acts as childish and arrogant as we see here, it shows that every American is like this. His attitude is a reflection of all the American people. At that moment, he represents the voices and views of every American, and to show himself as that is awful. He’s making America look bad, ruining our reputation by acting this way. People will know and think that Americans are full of themselves, are bullies towards other countries, and belittle them in a time of need. I understand that President Trump doesn’t want to support this war any longer. He was upset by President Zelenskyy’s outburst and by President Biden’s actions and policies in aid. But he should not have acted as unprofessionally as he did. What’s even worse is how he ends the argument saying it’s great for American media. So basically, humiliating another leader in front of public television for the whole world to see was a joke? Was it good entertainment? Was there not anyone in that room who could have stopped them? Or was it planned the whole time to humiliate President Zelenskyy and attack him to make him look bad? I highly doubt it, but surely there’d be a group of advisors or staff monitoring every word, or stopping the argument before it got heated.
Not only that, this entire meeting was for the purpose of working out a deal or even end of the Russo-Ukraine War. WIth this entire moment, not only did President Zelenskyy potentially lose the opportunity of ending the war, but President Trump also lost the potential minerals he would have gained, as well as any future prospects of countries being willing to work with him after his behavior. President Trump’s attitude and behavior towards President Zelenskyy would have, and has been, condemned by several other countries and could result in consequences in the future. What if America needs help in the future but are refused help after its attitude during the meeting? I think it would be unlikely, but it’s still a possibility. To have everything go away just like that in a quick moment is not worth it in any way possible. Both sides should have kept that in mind during the meeting then, and yet they didn’t.
This entire argument was a major embarrassment for the whole country. President Trump could have gotten upset at that moment, but there are thousands of other things he could have said or done that wouldn’t have resulted in the outcome we saw. Everything that happened was purely childish. I’ve seen teenagers discuss things of little importance with far better communication and maturity than in that video altogether. President Trump publicly humiliated another leader and had little empathy afterward, saying it was great entertainment. President Trump may not like President Zelenskyy or may disagree with President Biden’s policies in aiding Ukraine in this war, but that does not mean he has the right to belittle and disrespect them, all while preaching respect and gratitude from Zelenskyy for helping his country. President Zelenskyy does not have the upper hand and knows that. He may have been in the wrong, but President Trump having the upper hand should not have taken advantage of that, nor stooped to a lower level to berate him even further. He should have at most walked out, or stopped the situation then and there to prevent it from escalating. This whole argument for having a diplomatic approach does not involve talking about who’s the better president, whose fault it is, or whether it’s all a scam. It implicates talking things out, asking questions, and setting limits or requirements for a solution to benefit all sides. Purposefully talking down someone, calling a former president stupid, and making it seem like you’re the greatest is hypocritical and childish. It frustrates me because really what was the purpose? Why was there a need to say that it’s a Hunter-Biden scam, to start saying things like ‘you don’t have any cards’ and even start mocking and characterizing President Zelenskyy in all of this? It’s upsetting because all the ‘great media’ that supposedly came out of this is just showing the world how arrogant President Trump is and essentially making America look bad as a whole.
