Today, President Trump has been meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Europe’s top leaders. It remains to be seen what will come from today’s meetings and future negotiations with Russia, but for now we can make a few observations.
First, President Trump solidified his position as the leader of the Western world. This photo of the heads of state who gathered at the White House today is impressive:
Trump has sometimes been criticized as insufficiently multilateral in his approach to foreign policy. Today’s event shatters that narrative. In the same vein, Zelensky says that he wants Trump to be present at any future meeting with Vladimir Putin, and Trump has expressed openness to such participation.
Second, fellow heads of state have been unanimous, and I think sincere, in expressing appreciation for the role that Trump is playing, and optimism for resolution of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. For example:
Finnish President Alexander Stubb underscored the progress being made toward ending the war in Ukraine.
“I think in the past two weeks, we’ve probably had more progress in ending this war than we have in the past three and a half years,” Stubb said.
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Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni credited President Trump for Russia’s newfound willingness to talk about ending its brutality against Ukraine.“I think it is an important day, a new phase, after three years … [when] we didn’t see any kind of sign from the Russian side, that there [is] a willingness for dialogue,” she said.
“So something is changing. Something has changed.”
Third, Zelensky’s approach to today’s meetings is entirely different from the disastrous Oval Office session of some months ago. Recall that on that occasion, he met with Democratic Party leaders before going to the White House. They advised him on how to deal with President Trump; as you might expect, their advice was terrible.
Nothing like that happened this time. Trump and Zelensky had a friendly press availability:
Zelensky, wearing a military-style suit, arrived at the White House shortly after 1 p.m. and met with Trump in the Oval Office — a warm sit-down that was wildly different in tone from the blowup that ensued the last time the two leaders gathered in the same spot in February.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that his conversation today with President Trump was their “best one” so far.“I think that we had a very good conversation with President Trump, very good. And it really was the best one,” he said.
Zelensky later added, “Maybe the best one will be in the future, but it was really good.”
Whether Ukraine and Russia will be able to come to a durable peace agreement in the near future remains unknown, but I think it is obvious that President Trump’s contributions to the process have been both positive and substantial.
