When President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine met with US President Donald Trump and Vice President J D Vance in the Oval Office on February 28, a curious feature was that this meeting was held under the full glare of the press, replete with cameras. The conversation between Trump, Vance and Zelenskyy started out amicably enough with Trump welcoming him to the White House. However, when a reporter from the press pool asked Vance a question, matters quickly unravelled.

Vance proceeded to disparage the Biden administration’s policies toward Ukraine and then suggested that Trump was offering a diplomatic pathway to end the war. When Zelenskyy intervened, questioning Trump’s diplomatic efforts, as is now well known, matters quickly became heated, soon degenerating into a three-way exchange of harsh words. A lunch that had been planned for the Ukrainian presidential delegation was left untouched as Zelenskyy left the White House upset and, no doubt, shocked and dismayed.

In its wake, the vast majority of Republican politicians have supported the Trump administration and seemed nonchalant about the obvious diplomatic contretemps. Most, in fact, chose to criticise Zelenskyy. A rare exception was Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma who sharply criticised Russian President Vladimir Putin on a national television show on Sunday. Nevertheless, he found occasion to support Trump’s........

© Indian Express