Now that the dust has settled somewhat on last Friday's Oval Office public spat between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his host the United States President Donald Trump, the time is opportune to pick up the broken crockery and figure the damage done. As enough has already been written and commented on the event itself, this article will instead focus on the short-to-medium-term consequences of the event on various stakeholders.

Like a Greek tragedy, there are no winners in the last act at the White House. While President Zelensky may have had the satisfaction of proving himself as an underdog standing up to a bullying superpower and burnished his nationalist image at home, Ukraine has lost significantly at least in two ways: denial of any US security guarantees – the ostensible purpose of the White House visit, as well as a likely discontinuation of support from the US, hitherto Kyiv's biggest backer. The beleaguered Ukrainians are already outgunned and outmanned on the battlefield. They are now even more vulnerable as the two superpowers connive their fate behind their back. In short, while the White House spat might have helped Zelensky secure his position, it upturned his desperate attempt to obtain security guarantees for Ukraine.

Without dwelling on various conspiracy theories, such as this being a setup or a political ambush to cow down President Zelensky, the public episode has considerable moral and material costs for the United States' status as a superpower as well as personally for the White House occupant.

Firstly, the US has failed to get access to the coveted strategic rare earth elements in Ukraine and recoup nearly $200 billion worth of assistance. Further, by reneging upon the strategic military and civil assistance aid provided by the previous President and converting the past grants into loans to be paid back through usurped natural resources, Trump created a situation where henceforth all gifts from Washington would be suspected of being later accompanied by an IOU.

Secondly, by hosting bilateral talks with Russia in Riyadh on Ukraine, without either Kyiv or Brussels being present, Washington had reawakened the unpleasant memories of a Munich-type betrayal of Ukraine, a friend and ally. The conduct would........

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