by Faisal Kutty
Newsweek (Mar. 3, 2025)
https://www.newsweek.com/trump-vance-debased-us-diplomacy-world-noticed-opinion-2038817For the world to witness such a spectacle in the Oval Office was deeply unsettling. Whether one supports Ukraine or not, what transpired was beyond standard diplomatic practice. The so-called leader of the free world openly reinforced Vladimir Putin's narrative while treating an allied wartime leader with public derision.
The United States has maintained a consistent, largely bipartisan stance in supporting Ukraine against Russian aggression since the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014. Trump and Vance, however, treated this support as transactional, suggesting that America's backing could be rewritten at will, dismissing years of carefully crafted international policy.
Trump also made it clear that he places more trust in Vladimir Putin than in the concerns of U.S. allies. His assertion that Zelensky's "hatred" toward Putin was an obstacle to peace ignores the reality of Russia's continued violations of international agreements. This stance further isolates the U.S. from European leaders who have repeatedly emphasized the dangers of appeasing Moscow.
Perhaps most troubling was the language Trump and Vance used, framing the war as though it were a business transaction. The assertions that "we are trying to do business" and that Ukraine had "no cards to play" suggest a disregard for the human toll of war. While pragmatism in foreign affairs is necessary, reducing the survival of a sovereign nation to a game of leverage risks trivializing the stakes at hand.
Throughout the meeting, Trump and Vance blurred the line between
personal resentments and national policy. Trump brought up Zelensky's past meetings with previous U.S. administrations, making dismissive remarks about Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden. Meanwhile, Vance criticized Zelensky's political outreach in Pennsylvania, framing it as a
personal slight rather than a legitimate diplomatic effort....
While Trump and Vance engaged in theatrics, Ukraine's allies in Europe reaffirmed their commitment to Zelensky. Poland, Spain, and Lithuania quickly responded to bolster Ukraine's position. Germany's likely next chancellor stated bluntly: "We must never confuse aggressor and victim in this terrible war." The contrast between U.S. and European leadership in this moment was stark. The U.K., France, and Canada also came to Ukraine's defense.
The optics of the meeting aligned so well with Russian propaganda that the Kremlin barely needed to respond. Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev gloated on social media, calling Zelensky "an insolent pig" who was finally put in his place. The damage done to U.S. credibility is hard to ignore....
These comments raise deeper concerns about how the current administration's foreign policy decisions are shaped. When
personal grudges take precedence over strategic interests, they threaten to undermine America's credibility on the global stage.
