Zelensky’s journey to the USA is bumpy. A meeting with Trump threatens to fail after some disagreements between Kiev and the Republican camp. The meeting finally took place – and Trump at least no longer repeated the worst views from the Ukrainian perspective.
There are mixed emotions with which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj returns home after his trip to the US. For a long time it was assumed that Zelensky would meet both the incumbent President Joe Biden and the two presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump in the USA. During the course of the trip, the visit to New York’s Trump Tower on Friday was in jeopardy. Relations between Kiev and the former US president’s camp threatened to collapse catastrophically.
Mike Johnson, the Republican and pro-Trump Speaker of the House of Representatives, canceled all meetings with the Ukrainian delegation. In a letter to the Ukrainian president, he called for the immediate dismissal of Kiev’s ambassador to Washington, Oksana Markarova. Markarova had organized a visit for Zelensky to a defense factory in the swing state of Pennsylvania, where Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, but not a Republican, was present. This was interference in the US election campaign, it was said in the Trump camp.
Selenskyj’s interview with the “New Yorker” also caused anger there. In this, the Ukrainian president described some of the views of Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance as “too radical” – Vance had suggested that Ukraine should cede some territory to Russia to end the war. Zelensky also doubted that Trump could end the war within 24 hours, as he had claimed.
Trump now speaks of “just peace” in due course
Whether Zelensky’s visit to Pennsylvania was a mistake from Kiev’s perspective can certainly be debated. Ukraine has always shown itself to be as neutral as possible in the US election campaign. Now Kiev had to use prominent mediators such as former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in order to save Zelensky’s personal meeting with Trump. On the other hand, Zelenskyj visited Republican Utah a few months ago – without a Democrat being in the spotlight. However, this did not cause a scandal at the time.
What was striking was that Zelensky’s invitation to the Trump team, which was spread by the ex-president himself on social media, was not sent by Markarova, but by her deputy. Former Finance Minister Markarova has a reputation as a very successful ambassador, and Mike Johnson’s letter is viewed as an affront in Ukraine. At the same time, Markarova is at loggerheads with the Republican part of the Ukrainian diaspora in the USA. It is now quite likely that she will have to vacate her post at the end of the year.
According to Kiev political journalist Yulia Sabelina, the Ukrainian presidential administration is satisfied with the results of the meeting with Trump. In addition to the fact that the conversation was able to take place at all, what is important from a Ukrainian perspective is that Trump did not repeat his claim that he wanted to end the war within 24 hours. Instead, he spoke of a “just peace” in due course. Zelensky also held back and emphasized the lowest common denominator: that it was fundamentally necessary to end the war as quickly as possible. His invitation to Trump to visit Ukraine seemed charming. As did his reaction to Trump’s statement that he had a good relationship with both Zelensky and Vladimir Putin: “I hope we both have a better relationship.”
“Too little, too late” or unpredictability
“Ultimately, Trump agreed to meet with Zelensky because this issue cannot be ignored,” said Oleksandr Krajew, North America expert at Ukrayinska Prisma, a Ukrainian foreign policy NGO. Political scientist Volodymyr Fessenko, who is close to the Ukrainian presidential team, emphasizes that Zelensky’s US trip ended just fine. The fact that the meeting with Trump took place at all is a positive sign. However, his biggest concern remains that Trump’s environment is creating “massive” sentiment against Ukraine. “This nonsense about a Ukraine that de facto no longer exists, which has to be defended by children and old people because there are no more soldiers, as he recently said at an election rally – someone must have told him that,” says Fessenko.
After the meeting with Zelensky, Trump will continue to argue that there must be a “deal” between Ukraine and Russia. One thing is clear: If he is elected US President, Washington will certainly seek contact with Moscow. It is unclear what “deal” there can actually be if Russia sticks with the current extreme conditions. Among other things, Moscow is demanding a radical reduction in the size of the Ukrainian armed forces so that Kiev can no longer defend itself in the event of a new aggression. Despite all the meetings and conversations of the past few days, the only viable option for Ukraine in this US election is Kamala Harris.
She’s not perfect either. Harris’ exact line on Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine remains unclear. But it can be assumed that she will fundamentally continue with Joe Biden’s policies. This has at least allowed Ukraine to survive this war for more than 900 days. Former Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin recently summed it up aptly: “It’s a choice between inadequate and inconsistent support, along the lines of ‘too little, too late’, and complete unpredictability in the event of Trump’s election victory.”
