Zelensky Needs to Revive Peace Efforts — and Trump Should Acknowledge His Public Apology
Friday’s controversy in the Oval Office serves no purpose, perhaps not even for Vladimir Putin. The responsibility lies primarily with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky and subsequently President Trump to realign the peace initiative.
Zelensky must set aside his pride, extend an apology, express gratitude towards the American public, and acknowledge Trump’s wish to halt the bloodshed. He should repeat this as often as needed.
Trump, in turn, should accept the apology and finalize the minerals agreement, moving forward to broker a Kyiv-Moscow pact that meets the interests of both nations, as well as those of the United States and the broader West.
Currently, the sole beneficiary of the ongoing Ukraine conflict seems to be China’s Xi Jinping, who stands to gain from Russia becoming increasingly dependent on him while the West depletes its resources to counter the Kremlin’s advances.
It’s also essential for U.S. Democrats and European leaders to refrain from adding to the chaos: Stay quiet.
Avoid leveraging this turmoil for domestic political gain or to express disdain for Trump, given that they previously dismissed his public advisories against increasing reliance on Russian energy resources.
Without engaging in fruitless blame assignments, it’s worth noting that the incident was precipitated by both sides.
Someone in the White House thought it would be wise to have Trump, Zelensky, and Vice President JD Vance publicly discussing matters before signing the agreement.
Trump highlighted Zelensky’s animosity toward Putin, seemingly paralleling it with how “the other side” perceives him.
While he addressed the difficulties in securing a peace arrangement, the Ukrainian leader couldn’t help but point out the valid reasons for distrusting Putin and the like.
After all, the Russian leader has abducted thousands of children and executed tens of thousands of Ukrainians in a conflict of his own making.
Vance added to the tension by claiming that the issue stems from individuals favoring “chest thumping” over diplomacy.
And from there, the situation escalated.
However, an important truth about diplomacy is that personal fondness is not a prerequisite for reaching agreements. This applies not just to Putin and Zelensky, but to Trump and Zelensky as well.
It’s about prioritizing the welfare of your country over personal egos; let’s get it sorted, gentlemen.
