On Friday, an extraordinary exchange occurred between the president of the United States and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky. Voices were raised as President Trump and Vice President Vance accused Zelensky of disrespecting our president and the American people.
This was just the latest, albeit most dramatic, sign of the rapidly deteriorating relations between the U.S. and Ukraine.

Another occurred on Feb. 24, three years after Russia invaded Ukraine, when the U.S. voted against a United Nations General Assembly resolution condemning Russian aggression and demanding return of all Ukrainian territory.

The resolution passed by a wide margin, and this country found itself on the losing side, along with Russia, Belarus, Hungary, Nicaragua, Niger and Sudan, among others.

The vote marked just one of a series of things the Trump administration has done to signal a new posture toward Russia and Ukraine. As the administration pursues its own peace initiative and rethinks America’s role in Europe, as well as considers how to respond to what happened on Friday, we would do well to consider why the fate of Ukraine still matters to our country.

Recall that the Ukrainians did nothing to provoke the attack, other than do what any sovereign nation would do. They have fought valiantly against overwhelming odds since then.

At first Americans were galvanized by the Russians’ blatant violation of international law and by the unexpected battlefield success of Ukraine. Blue and yellow, the colors of the Ukrainian flag, were everywhere. Commentators compared Zelensky to Winston Churchill, Britain’s prime minister during World War II, rallying his nation and

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