The question, of course, hung in the air at the diplomatic meltdown in the oval room the other day. Zelenskyj ended up in a fox scissors between standing on the one hand for his country and its cause, and on the other hand the obvious danger in live broadcast. The danger of colliding with a thin-skinned US president like Ukraine needs more than vice versa. It went as it went.
But the question also hangs in the air when Zelenskyj meets European friends. Countries whose great support for Ukraine should definitely not be detracted, but whose leaders are happy to sprinkle with Zelenskyj selfies while having a harder time giving Ukraine the muscles Ukraine needs to defend themselves.
If you browse through the British newspapers this Sunday morning, there are idle pictures of Zelenskyj and Prime Minister Keir Starmer from yesterday’s meeting off Downing Street.
“We’ve got your back” it is called on a front. “This is how you treat a war hero” on another.
Leaders meet in London
Today, a dozen European leaders in London meet to discuss European security in the “new” Trump landscape. The United States has really long complained that Europe is going on on US military power. The US will to guarantee Europe’s security has been pouring out.
The fact that Ukraine cannot currently realistically take back its occupied areas or join NATO is something experts and officials have long admitted to individual conversations. On the other hand, it is considered irresponsible to say it loudly.
But Trump opens from a European perspective to drastic and dangerously severe throws. The question is how, and how fast, European countries with the EU as a central part manage to find and implement concrete measures.
Starmer today says that London and Paris agreed to find a peace plan that they will then present to Trump. In broad brush strokes: a strong Ukraine, European security guarantees and some kind of US security guarantees that will guarantee the European guarantees.
If the concrete outcome becomes a proposal USA can agree and not just new Zelenskyj selfies, today’s meeting may be seen as a success.