Yermak also urged Zelenskyy to stay rigidly focused on the minerals deal — security guarantees could follow later. But irked by Vance, Zelenskyy strayed off course, leading to what Ukrainian opposition lawmaker Oleksiy Goncharenko described in one simple word: “catastrophe.”
Watching the events unfold from afar, Russian opposition leader Mikhail Khodorkovsky — who knows a thing or two about sitting across the room from a strongman — was also dismayed: “I understand President Zelenskyy’s pain — his frustration at being powerless against a superior aggressor. But business teaches a harsh lesson: Your problems are your problems. If you want a counterpart to engage, forget about your own troubles and focus on theirs … And not as you see them, but as they do. Show them that you’re the solution to their problems,” he told POLITICO.
“President Zelenskyy failed in this. He spoke about justice and Europe, publicly, ignoring how Trump’s electorate perceives the situation. I hope the American president has the wisdom and ability to respond to events with clarity and pragmatism,” he added.
Despite the uncertainty, however, the Ukrainian leader is getting broad support at home for standing his ground. Even lawmakers who’ve been highly critical of his leadership are publicly rallying around him — although privately some say he failed to adjust his language to the new U.S. administration. But all see him as faithfully reflecting Ukrainian public opinion, passionately advocating for their brutally assaulted nation and expressing the alarm felt across the country over the possibility of a cease-fire that leaves them vulnerable to repeated acts of Russian aggression.
“It really was a battering of one man by the leader of a much bigger country — one that was supposedly a friend. It was bullying,” said opposition lawmaker Lesia Vasylenko. “Zelenskyy came out quite strong.”
Lawmaker Mykola Kniazhytskyi bewailed the incident. “The meeting between Zelenskyy and Trump should not have failed. We are committed to cooperation with America and hope that emotions will subside, allowing the dialogue to return to a constructive course. Ukrainians, more than anyone else, want peace. We are ready for negotiations, but they must come from a position of strength, not capitulation,” he told POLITICO.
The big question is whether the damage is irreparable. Some on the Ukrainian side are pinning their hopes on Trump’s subsequent reaction as he headed for his Florida resort. “He was not foaming at the mouth. And I’ve had some folks in the administration pointing that out to me. Trump’s feeling seems to be that Zelenskyy is not in a favorable psychological state because of the stress of the last three years,” the Republican foreign policy expert told POLITICO.
“I can tell you this, though, without the minerals agreement, there’s no way in hell Trump will, or can, go to Congress to ask for more money for Ukraine. That’s what this was all about. And without it, there’s a probability of zero.”
