Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been working hard to show that he really does have cards to play after all. But does he?
During their contentious Oval Office conversation Friday, President Trump told the pint-sized Ukrainian Churchill and/or dictator, “You’re not in a good position. You don’t have the cards right now. With us, you start having cards.” It was unclear whether or not Zelenskyy understood the idiomatic expression, as he answered: “I’m not playing cards. I’m very serious, Mr. President. I’m very serious. I’m the president in a war—” Trump interjected: “You’re playing cards. You’re playing cards. You’re gambling with the lives of millions of people. You’re gambling with World War III. You’re gambling with World War III.” Zelenskyy then proceeded on to London, where he made a great display of having cards to play.
In the capital of the empire upon which the sun has set, Zelenskyy was in full hero mode. He met with King Charles at Sandringham, the monarch’s private residence, where even the greatest of the great are not normally invited to go. Leftist European leaders, along with Canada’s callow lame-duck authoritarian, Justin Trudeau, hurried to London for an emergency summit, “as the continent,” CNN explained, “sought to wrestle control of negotiations over the Russia-Ukraine war away from the US and present a united front amid a meltdown in relations between Kyiv and Washington.”
At that meeting, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer proclaimed that “the West is at a ‘crossroads in history,’” and “this is not a moment for more talk. It’s time to act.” France’s President Emmanuel Macron said “that France and the United Kingdom have proposed a month-long limited ceasefire in Ukraine,” which would “involve a month-long ‘truce in the air, on the seas and energy infrastructures,’” followed by “troops on the ground.”
Yes, troops on the ground. Starmer explained:
First, we will keep the military aid flowing, and keep increasing the economic pressure on Russia, to strengthen Ukraine now. Second, we agreed that any lasting peace must ensure Ukraine’s sovereignty and security. And Ukraine must be at the table. Third, in the event of a peace deal, we will keep boosting Ukraine’s own defensive capabilities, to deter any future invasion. Fourth, we will go further to develop a “coalition of the willing,” to defend a deal in Ukraine and to guarantee the peace. Not every nation will feel able to contribute, but that can’t mean that we sit back. Instead, those willing will intensify planning now, with real urgency. The UK is prepared to back this with boots on the ground and planes in the air, together with others. Europe must do the heavy lifting.
So it looks as if Zelenskyy had cards to play after all. Macron and Starmer were both pledging to send troops, and other European leaders were sure to follow suit, in light of the fact that they were all there in London to make an unprecedented display of solidarity with his cause. It looked for all the world, at least in the eyes of the establishment media, that Zelenskyy had not only outfoxed Trump, but had paved the way for a new global order in which the world’s powers would get along without declining, short-sighted, isolationist, MAGA America.
Media spin, however, is one thing, and reality is another. And the reality was that Zelenskyy had less of a strong hand to play and more of a house of cards. For all the crowing about how Trump was isolated where Biden had been respected, and how the world was moving on without America, even the European leaders, as they pledged support for Ukraine, emphasized that none of this was going to be done without the U.S.
Starmer said: “But to support peace in our continent, and to succeed, this effort must have strong U.S. backing. We’re working with the U.S. on this point, after my meeting with President Trump last week. And let me be clear: we agree with the president on the urgent need for a durable peace. Now, we need to deliver together.” CNN also noted that Starmer “told reporters he was working with France and a small number of other nations to craft a plan to stop the fighting, which would then be presented to the US.”
So the massive display of European support for Zelenskyy after his quarrel with Trump was just that: a display. It was not the defiance of Trump or the rejection of the U.S. that the international media presented it as being. Starmer, Macron and the rest are hoping to corner Trump and force him to do their bidding, but in the end, they’re all too aware that they have been depending upon the U.S. for their defense for 75 years, and aren’t in any position to embark on a world war now without American help. Cooler heads will continue to pray and hope that such help will not be forthcoming.
