{"id":38873,"date":"2025-03-03T11:45:00","date_gmt":"2025-03-03T11:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=38873"},"modified":"2025-03-04T07:32:22","modified_gmt":"2025-03-04T07:32:22","slug":"the-only-winner-here-is-putin-ukraine-unites-in-response-to-trump-zelenskyy-spat-and-resigns-itself-to-new-reality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/the-only-winner-here-is-putin-ukraine-unites-in-response-to-trump-zelenskyy-spat-and-resigns-itself-to-new-reality\/","title":{"rendered":"The only \u2018winner\u2019 here is Putin: Ukraine unites in response to Trump-Zelenskyy spat and resigns itself to new reality"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Lena Surzhko Harned<\/a>, Penn State<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA president just disrespected America in the Oval Office. It wasn\u2019t Zelenskyy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was the verdict<\/a> of the editorial team at the Kyiv Independent, one of Ukraine\u2019s leading media outlets, on a remarkable spat in the Oval Office that played out on Feb. 28, 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The online newspaper European Pravda<\/a> characterized the \u201cquarrel at the highest level\u201d as a diplomatic failure, but added that it was \u201cnot yet a catastrophe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some Ukrainians I have spoken to since the fractious encounter, during which Ukraine\u2019s Volodymyr Zelenskyy was repeatedly hectored by U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, have indeed characterized it as disastrous for the country<\/a>. But for others, the incident has been calmly accepted as the new reality in U.S.-Ukraine relations<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There have been some questions directed at Zelenskyy \u2013 did he allow himself to be baited into an an argument that could have real consequences? Should he have remained silent? But for the most part, the treatment of Ukraine\u2019s president by Trump and Vance has produced a presumably unintended consequence: It has unified a war-weary Ukrainian people<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As one friend who has been displaced by war from the now occupied city of Nova Kakhovka told me, there has not been this level of mobilization and patriotism in three years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018The country needs unity\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This unity is seen in the response across Ukraine\u2019s political divide. Petro Poroshenko, an often outspoken opponent of Zelenskyy and leader of the opposition party European Solidarity, said on March 1 that, to the surprise of many, he will not criticize Zelenskyy\u2019s performance<\/a> at the White House. \u201cThe country does not need criticism, the country needs unity,\u201d he said in the video posted on X.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anecdotally, even those Ukrainians who did not vote for Zelenskyy have told me that events in the Oval Office made them feel more supportive of Zelenskyy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, a sense of realism is sinking in over the shifting stance of the U.S. administration. Trump\u2019s stated trust in Vladimir Putin<\/a> and his conciliatory comments over Russian aggression \u2013 including a refusal to acknowledge Russian war crimes \u2013 have, for many Ukrainians, set low expectations that the White House can help achieve a quick and lasting peace. Yet, as Inna Sovsun of the opposition party Holos noted<\/a>, \u201cIt was difficult to watch a president who\u2019s been a victim of Russian aggression being attacked by the leader of the free world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Setting the record straight<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Feb. 28 meeting between the U.S. and Ukrainian leaders followed weeks of increasingly harsh Trump rhetoric<\/a> toward Zelenskyy. Since being inaugurated on Jan. 20, Trump has called the Ukrainian leader<\/a> a \u201cdictator without elections,\u201d claiming \u2013 incorrectly \u2013 that Zelenksyy had 4% approval ratings. He also indicted that the invasion by Russian troops in February 2022 was Ukraine\u2019s fault<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such comments had already made Ukrainians rally around Zelenskyy, who has a healthy 63% approval rating, according to the latest polls<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ugly scenes in the Oval Office could see a further rallying around Zelenskyy, especially if he can successfully characterize his role in the dispute as that of defender of his people. Doing so would tap into growing popular resentment over the new U.S. administration\u2019s apparent unwillingness to acknowledge Russian war crimes<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Large U.S. and Ukrainian flags hang on the Kyiv River Port building on March 2, 2025 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Photo by Pierre Crom\/Getty Images<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the days leading up to the Zelenskyy-Trump meeting, the U.S. voted with Russia against a United Nations resolution<\/a> condemning Russian aggression and opposed the wording of a draft G7 statement<\/a> marking the third anniversary of the war, which depicted Russia as the aggressor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Letting Putin off the hook<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The angry exchanges in the Oval Office seemed to have been sparked by Zelenskyy\u2019s objection to Trump\u2019s assertion that Russian President Vladimir Putin is a man of his word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That refusal to call out Putin \u2013 who faces an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court<\/a> \u2013 angers Ukrainians who have suffered Russian aggression for three years. To hammer that point home, Zekenskyy showed Trump and others in the Oval Office photos of Ukrainian prisoners of war who return from Russian captivity tortured and abused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Ukrainian human rights lawyer and Nobel Prize winner Oleksandra Matviichuk noted in a Feb. 17 speech<\/a>, 65% of Ukrainians polled early in the conflict said their main disappointment in ending the war would be \u201cimpunity for Russian crimes.\u201d Three years of conflict will have only hardened that sentiment \u2013 yet the U.S., under Trump\u2019s leadership, looks increasingly willing to let Putin off the hook<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Defender of the nation \u2013 and truth<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A large section of Ukrainian media \u2013 both traditionally pro- and anti-Zelenskyy alike \u2013 have since Feb. 28 portrayed the president in the role of a defender of both his nation and the truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was, this framing has it, forced into the difficult position of having to set the record straight and challenge untrue statements in real time, and in front of the seemingly antagonistic leader of the world\u2019s largest economy, whose support has been crucial in Ukraine\u2019s attempt to repel the invading Russian army<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To some, keeping silent would have been tantamount to capitulation, but others have questioned Zelenskyy\u2019s approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While still maintaining that Zelenskyy\u2019s key message was correct, some Ukrainians have suggested that his emotional tone in the Oval Office<\/a> was not constructive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Opposition lawmaker Oleskiy Goncharenko suggested in an interview on CNN that Zelenskyy should have been more \u201cdiplomatic\u201d and more \u201ccalm<\/a>\u201d given that the stakes were so high.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, there were also those who questioned the decision to hold such an important conversation in front of the press, especially without the use of professional translators who potentially could have tamped down the rhetoric and slowed the pace of the exchange. Thus, as Tymofiy Mylovanov, the adviser to the office of the president and head of the Kyiv School of Economics put it, some things could \u201chave been lost in translation<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Zelensky is our democratic leader\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

So where does the Oval Office dispute leave both Zelenskyy and U.S.-Ukrainian relations?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the aftermath of the dispute, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham \u2013 who has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine \u2013 suggested that Zelenskyy should resign<\/a>, the implications being that his relationship with Trump was so broken that his presence is now counterproductive for Ukraine\u2019s priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is a line that hasn\u2019t gone down well in Ukraine. Kira Rudyk, the leader of opposition party Holos, retorted that it was up to the Ukrainian people alone<\/a> to decide on their leadership and future<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover, to many Ukrainians the barrier to harmonious Ukraine-U.S. relations is not Zelenskyy, but Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mustafa Nayyem, who served in Zelesnkyy\u2019s government, summed up the view of many Ukrainians by claiming in a social media post that the Trump administration<\/a> \u201cdoes not just dislike Ukraine. They despise us.\u201d The \u201ccontempt is deeper than indifference, and more dangerous than outright hostility,\u201d he added in the Feb. 28 post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Intentional provocation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Serhii Sternenko, a Ukrainian activist lawyer and blogger, described the Oval Office spat<\/a> as an intentional provocation on behalf of Trump to discredit Ukraine as an unreliable partner in the peace negotiations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sternenko is not alone in his assessment. Journalist and blogger Vitaly Portnikov argued that the spat was the result of Trump\u2019s unrealistic promise<\/a> of ending the war quickly being confronted with the reality that perhaps Russia does not want to make any concessions. The thinking here is Putin has shown no indication that he will bend on his war goals<\/a>, so for Trump, framing Zelenskyy as \u201cnot ready for peace\u201d allows the U.S. president to walk away from his campaign promise without accepting defeat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Three
Among friends: Zelenskyy with Britain\u2019s Prime Minister Keir Starmer and France\u2019s President Emmanuel Macron on March 2, 2025. Justin Tallis – WPA Pool\/Getty Images<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A new reality<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Beyond the headlines and initial reactions from Ukrainian politicians, journalists and civilians, there is also another sentiment that is emerging: resignation to the new reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most Ukrainians want an end to war<\/a>, but in a way that preserves their sovereignty and guarantees future security<\/a>. Until recently, that was shared by the occupants of the White House. It is becoming increasingly clear to many Ukrainians that, in regards the war in Ukraine, the U.S. will play a different role under Trump \u2013 meaning Ukraine will increasingly look to European leaders<\/a> as primary partners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps Goncharenko, the opposition member of Ukraine\u2019s Parliament, best summed up the consequences<\/a> of the Oval Office spat: \u201cIt was not Ukraine, it was not the United States who won \u2026 it was Putin.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lena Surzhko Harned<\/a>, Associate Teaching Professor of Political Science, Penn State<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lena Surzhko Harned, Penn State \u201cA president just disrespected America in the Oval Office. It wasn\u2019t Zelenskyy.\u201d That was the verdict of the editorial team at the Kyiv Independent, one of Ukraine\u2019s leading media outlets, on a remarkable spat in the Oval Office that played out on Feb. 28, 2025. The online newspaper European Pravda […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":56,"featured_media":38874,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[15534,46,295,47,296,4],"tags":[479,11215,16080,885,891,886,860,4593,1602,16095,949,16094,16093,11411,513,1212,11506],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38873"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/56"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38873"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38873\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38875,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38873\/revisions\/38875"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}