New Delhi: First it was India’s Modi, then France’s Macron and finally UK’s Starmer. After making sweeping changes in the domestic policies of the US, President re-elect Donald Trump, decided to work on his foreign policy with a spate of meetings planned with leaders from across the world. No meeting though was seen to be as consequential as the one he had scheduled with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Ever since getting reelected, Trump was seen to be tilting to Russia’s side in its ongoing conflict with Ukraine, looking out more for Russian interests during attempts to bring about a peace deal between the two.

From Ukraine, Trump seemingly wanted access to important rare earth minerals to fuel its technological production. Zelensky had, after initial reluctance, finally agreed to meet Trump’s demands. A mineral deal was reportedly all but signed when Trump met Zelensky at the White House. This would have placated Ukrainian fears, European anxieties and bolstered American confidence on its peacemaking and exceptionalist capabilities. Alas, things did not turn out this way.

Trump welcomed Zelensky, commenting on how his Ukrainian counterpart was all dressed up for the meeting. It was all smiles when it started. Expectations abounded as eyes and ears around the world tuned into the meeting between two ‘allies’. What happened was not expected, at least in the scale and intensity of it.

Things turned so bad that Zelensky was eventually told to leave the White House early, before he and Trump could even take the stage for a scheduled news conference. When the talk turned to the war, Zelensky pushed back at suggestions from Trump that he should work harder to agree a........

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