Summary
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has called for an “immediate” summit between the US, EU, and Western allies to discuss Ukraine following a heated White House meeting between Trump and President Zelenskyy.
The February 28 meeting ended without agreement on a minerals deal after escalating into a confrontation over US aid and peace deal conditions.
Meloni warned that Western division “makes us all weaker” as European leaders reaffirmed support for Ukraine.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas commented that “the free world needs a new leader,” while European allies worry about being excluded from US-Russia negotiations to end the war.
Knees needed bending. Rings needed kissing.
I’ve seen some analysts claim that just this one time Zelensky needed to be more of an actor and smile and wave through the bullshit. But I disagree, if you stand for nothing, you will keep getting walked over, if not by putin, by trump, like little Marco here.
I suspect the whole thing was premeditated, so it wouldn’t have mattered. Does the VP normally interrupt the president when talking to other world leaders? Zelensky smiling and tacitly agreeing to Putin’s narrative was never going to happen. I also can’t imagine any European leader going to the White House and saying, “Yes, we’ve treated you very unfairly. The European Union was just a conspiracy to screw over America and we’re very sorry, Dear Leader…”