
Donald Trump looked more like Don Corleone than an American president on Friday when he publicly sought to force President Zelensky to accept a ceasefire deal with Russia...
The American president sees himself more as a mediator between Russia and Ukraine than as a leader of the free world… Yesterday he acted as if he were more connected to the authoritarian aggressor than to the democratic victim.
These findings and assessments are not mine, the editorial board of the Washington Post articulated, immediately after the failure of the Trump-Zelensky meeting. In fact, the first, that is, the master of the house, expelled the second, that is, the guest, without signing the envisaged agreement on rare minerals and giving him an ultimatum: return when you are ready to sign peace with Russia.
The verbal clash between the two statesmen, not in a closed negotiating room, but in front of the cameras of the American and world media, is an unprecedented act in the history of modern diplomacy, some analysts note.
The question naturally arises: did the meeting turn out to be a fluke or were we dealing with a show that the hosts had prepared in advance and the guest fell for the bait, driven by emotions and the desire to play the tough guy?
In any case, it seems that the sensational failure of this meeting will have profound consequences for Ukraine and for the EU. Could the latter compensate for the lack of American aid, and if so, with what consequences? You are gambling with the third world war, the American warned the Ukrainian, and it is difficult to say where blackmail ends and reality begins.
Let's not forget that the two world wars, while devastating Europe, did not reach American soil.
Trump's message, "come back when you're ready for peace," takes on an ironic tone when you consider that for months the Ukrainian army has been suffering from a lack of trained soldiers and officers, but even more so from a growing discouragement and moral weakness.
Demonstrative abandonment by the Americans would increase the defeatist spirit, facilitate Russian advances into Ukrainian territories, and Zelensky's return to Washington would be exactly like that of the prodigal son: for a very costly peace.
All of this may be true, but just as true is the observation of the WP editorial board that yesterday Donald Trump resembled Don Corleone and not an American president, a defender of Western values.
I fear that, seen in relation to us, that is, the Albanian nation and our national issue, the situation is becoming dangerous.
*Editorial title