(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .



Europe Backs Zelenskyy (w Occasional Edits) [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2025-02-28

Let’s be clear about this: That Oval Office clash between the Mangled Mussolini and his Bedbug (Vance = Vantz, which is Yiddish for bedbug) and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy was a a calculated ambush, premeditated and expertly executed. Trump and Vance (and let us not forget Putin, the expert ambusher) never had any intention of letting this be a normal diplomatic meeting. You could just see Vance was primed and ready to go on the attack no matter what Zelenskyy said. My reading of the transcript is that Vance threw out a non-sequitor by blaming Biden for Putin’s invasion of Ukraine (yes, the Bedbug said that, which won’t go down well in the Kremlin). Then Zelenskyy tried to summarize the history by going back to 2014:

So he occupied it on 2014. So during a lot of years, I’m not speaking about just Biden. But those times was Obama, then President Obama, then President Trump, then President Biden, now the President Trump. And God bless: Now President Trump will stop him.

Notice: Zelenskyy even praised Trump and said that God will bless him. But then Zelenskyy blamed Putin for breaking the 2019 cease-fire:

[Putin] killed our people and he didn’t exchange prisoners. We signed the exchange of prisoners, but he didn’t do it. What kind of diplomacy, JD, you are speaking about? What do you mean?

That was the opening Vance was waiting for — and it wasn’t even an opening, it was a diplomatic question. But Vance claimed it was an “attack [on] the administration.” (Maybe it was, from his perspective, since Trump was insisting Putin could be trusted and Zelenskyy was pointing out how he had broken his trust in the past.)

I wasn’t going to read the WaPo today (I cancelled my subscription months ago, but it’s still good for some months), but I had to check this story out, and for some reason they forgot they weren’t supposed to be doing journalism any more. Tears and shock in Ukraine and Europe after heated Zelensky-Trump meeting:

European officials . . . rallied around Zelensky on Friday night, with several lawmakers and diplomats expressing shock and dismay. European leaders, including in Spain, Lithuania, Moldova, Sweden, Latvia and Norway, among others, all posted messages in solidarity with Zelensky. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote on X: “Dear Zelensky, dear Ukrainian friends, you are not alone.” French President Emmanuel Macron reiterated his support for Ukraine in remarks to reporters Friday evening: “I think we were all right to help Ukraine and sanction Russia three years ago and to continue to do so. And when I say we, it’s the United States of America, the Europeans, the Canadians, the Japanese and many others.”

BBC: Public breakdown signals looming crisis in Nato

The public breakdown also signals a major crisis loomingbetween European members of Nato and the US. Question marks about the US commitment to Europe are now redoubled.

and

Ukraine's foreign minister praises Zelensky's 'bravery and strength'

From The Guardian:

The EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said it has become clear that “the free world needs a new leader” after the clash between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House. “Ukraine is Europe! We stand by Ukraine,” Kallas said in a social media statement.

also posted just now on the Guardian:

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has thanked world leaders for their support after his meeting with Donald Trump, which devolved into a shouting match and the cancellation of a joint press conference scheduled for this afternoon. Zelenskyy has taken to X, formerly Twitter, to thank leaders who have posted their support on the social media platform. They include the leaders of Germany, Spain, France, Poland, Sweden, Norway, Moldova, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Czech Republic, Finland, Portugal, Croatia, the European Parliament, the European Commission and European Council.

I expect the list will grow — though don’t expect to see Hungary on it; Orban has already complimented his partner in crime. (I saw this earlier, but can’t find a story just now found one (in French — Orban (Hongrie) remercie Trump pour avoir défendu "la paix" — Orban (Hungary) thanks Trump for having defended “the peace” ).)

There will be more, of course. I doubt I can keep up, but it’s a start.

Final observation: The meeting was never going to go well. Trump has a personal grudge against Zelelnskyy going back to that “perfect phone call” in which he tried to extort Ukraine into launching a phony investigation of his most likely rival, Joe Biden. Zelenskyy wouldn’t play along (though he almost did, according to reports), and the only thing Trump got out of it was his first impeachment. So yeah, he’s doing Puppet Master Putin’s bidding here, but this is one case where Putin hardly had to push.

-------------— Edit 1430 ------------------—

Georgia Meloni, Italy’s very right-wing prime minister, who even met with Trump before his coronation, is now calling for an immediate summit of the US, Europe, and their “allies” who, she says, have defended Ukraine these past years, and urged the West to stay united. But it’s not clear if her summit, should it even come to pass, will include Ukraine. (From La Repubblica, a center-left news site which frequently refers to Trump as “il tycoon.”

The same story (a series of live updates) quotes Dimitry Medvedev of Russia saying “the insolent pork finally got a good slap in the Oval Office.” Diplomatic of him.

--------------— Edit 1500 ----------------—

The UK is hosting a European summit on Sunday, in response to the Oval Office madness: European leaders pledge to stand by Ukraine after confrontational Oval Office meeting with Trump:

Another major summit is scheduled for Sunday in London, hosted by U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer. More than a dozen European and EU leaders, including Zelenskyy, will gather for a meeting meant to drive forward action on Ukraine and security. Starmer spoke with both Trump and Zelenskyy on Friday and maintained his strong support for Ukraine, his office said in a statement. “He retains unwavering support for Ukraine, and is doing all he can to find a path forward to a lasting peace based on sovereignty and security for Ukraine,” the statement said.

It’s not clear yet if this came before or after Meloni’s call (which specifically included the US, as Starmer does not).

-----------------— Edit 1515 ------------------—

In its coverage, The Hill appears to level a critique of Zelenskyy that I can’t let pass by:

Zelensky’s volleys back made it clear he was not going to adopt the mollifying tone used by the week’s other high-profile visitors to the White House, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Neither of those other leaders was subject to anything like the abuse that both Trump and his Bedbug hurled at Zelenskyy. Besides, Zelenskyy did at first try to mollify the moment — he spoke in praise of Trump (“God bless”) and when Vance started shouting he calmly asked the Bedbug to not shout, please — in response to which, Trump joined in shouting at him.

At that point, mollifying would have become weakness.

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://dailykos.com/stories/2025/2/28/2306936/-Europe-Backs-Zelenskyy?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web

Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/