London: Donald Trump made the war in Ukraine sound like a game of poker when he berated Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House in February.

The American president wanted the Ukrainian leader to accept a ceasefire without pushing too hard for security guarantees to shield Ukraine against Russia, so he framed everything as a negotiation with few options.

Donald Trump with Volodymyr Zelensky (left) during their Oval Office meeting in February.Credit: Bloomberg

“You don’t have the cards,” he said. “With us, you have the cards. But without us, you don’t have any cards.”

Now the question is whether Trump has any cards – or any willingness to play them.

It is true that Zelensky has relied heavily on the US and Europe during more than three years of war. He has never had enough cards. Nobody asked in February about the cards Trump might hold or play because it did not seem to matter then. But it does now.

That is because Trump’s actions since February have done so little to change the war – as if he has no cards with enough value to make a serious difference to the outcome.

Firefighters at the site of a Russian attack in Kyiv on August 28.Credit: AP

The Russian missile and drone attacks on Kyiv last week heightened the questions about Trump when he has talked so long about doing so much. The Russians then struck other cities around Ukraine a few nights later.

Russian president Vladimir Putin is calling Trump’s bluff. It is now more than two weeks since the two men met in Alaska at a summit that was supposed to be about negotiating a peace deal. There is no sign of any useful result from that meeting.

“I think President Putin will make peace and President Zelensky will make peace,”........

© Brisbane Times