Two weeks ago, the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, visited President Donald Trump in the White House to discuss a deal to continue the supplement of American weapons to the Ukrainian armed forces. Ukraine has been using such supplements and money from the Biden administration to fend off Russian attacks on the front lines. The purpose of the meeting was to negotiate a fair exchange of rare-earth minerals in exchange for the guaranteed continuation of aid on the front lines. However, Zelensky left the meeting with his country insulted and no deal struck. 

Zelensky was met with contemptuous hostility from Vice President JD Vance and President Donald Trump, who repeatedly hammered insulting statements to the visiting President. Trump and Vance repeatedly insulted President Zelensky by interrupting him while he was speaking about political influence. Zelensky tried to state multiple times that the US would feel influenced by the long-term foreign policy effects of the war. Instead of showing respect to another leader, Trump stated that Zelensky “does not have the cards,” and that with the US, he would “start having cards.” Trump later told him that he was “gambling with millions of lives,” and “gambling with World War III.” These statement insinuates that Zelensky started the war, which is proven completely false by history. The President and Vice President only showed complete disrespect toward the Ukrainian President and lacked the decorum that most foreign leaders have with one another. The whole event has proven the U.S. to be a dishonest instigator on the world stage.

The struggle for Ukrainian independence goes back four hundred years to the Cossack people (later Ukrainians) who lived in the steppes of Europe. Descended from Kyivan Rus vikings, these settlements of farmers were concentrated in the same area where modern Ukraine exists today. They felt an attachment to the Crimean Peninsula, the Eurasian steppes, and the Dnieper River. They have endured through the first three hundred years as a minority population both the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and Austria-Hungary. After the Russian Revolution, Ukraine was able to become an independent state in 1918, only for the Russian SFSR to launch a Bolshevik invasion to occupy the country in early 1919. Ukraine became free again under the liberal policies of Mikhail Gorbechav, which allowed Ukraine to eventually break from the Soviet Union and become a sovereign state.

Upon becoming a sovereign state, Ukraine found itself in the position to have a great portion of Russia’s nuclear weapon arsenal along with other post-soviet states. Russia, antagonized by this, demanded that the nuclear products of its Soviet Empire be returned to Russia. These countries, along with the UK and the US, helped broker a deal that successfully returned these weapons to Russia. In return, Ukraine and other post-soviet states were given several guarantees in the agreement. These guarantees include the recognition of Ukraine’s government and territory, a refrain from the threat or use of force against territories of other states unless it applies to self defence, a refrain from economic coercion designed to subordinate the Ukrainian state to another’s interest, and require the invaded nation to seek aid from the UN Security Council to provide assistance in a conflict in case of a violation. Ukraine signed onto this deal, hoping these guarantees would secure a long-lasting defense for its national security.

In 2014, Russia broke the Budapest Memorandum by initiating the Euromaidan Crisis. The crisis was a mass-protest in response to the pro-Russian president’s decision not to build closer ties to the European Union. This sparked mass protests in Russia, which led to Putin’s regime annexing the Crimean peninsula and the Donbass region in Eastern Ukraine due to the large Russian populations existing in the area. Little was done back then to stop Russia, which has led to a long-term conflict between Ukraine and Novorossiya, a combination rebel state led by pro-Russian militias in Donetsk and Luhansk. The two forces remained in a First World War-like standstill involving trench warfare until a few years ago.

In 2022, Russian troops were spotted amassing along the Ukrainian border via satellite images and reports from intelligence services. Media across the world began to discuss the potential invasion, at a time when Zelensky invited President Putin to de-escalate the need for military action. However, the invasion of Ukraine began on February 24 with much of Eastern Ukraine being swallowed and encircled by the more-competent Red Army. The goal was to take Ukraine within two weeks by seizing Kyiv, the capital city of Ukraine. Ukrainian civilians, along with soldiers, subverted the expectation that the locals would welcome and accept a liberation from their own government. Most Russian soldiers actively believed, and possibly still believe that Ukrainians need to be saved from their own “Nazi” government. The “Denazification” effort, otherwise known as the “Special Military Operation in Ukraine” was Russia’s reason for attacking. Such ideas about Ukrainian identity were formed and circulated within Putin’s centralized media platforms, trapping the Russian people in another reality in which a war against their peaceful neighbor seemed absolutely necessary. 

Putin’s two week goal had failed due to Ukraine’s strong resistance and Volodymyr Zelensky’s response to the Biden Administration’s invitation to evacuate him. He left the following powerful statement with Biden: “The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride!” His contribution gained popularity and shows that he is united with his people. He shows that Ukraine would fight as long and hard as they possibly could for their sovereignty, which is also referenced in the Ukrainian National Anthem: Ukraine Is Not Dead Yet. Following the struggle to stay and fight, Ukraine aid and military packages from the U.S, Canada, and most of Europe to assist in their endurance in the war. Everything that Ukraine receives is critical to its national security and stabilization, which is why Zelensky continuously visits other countries to strike deals, gain the favor of foreign governments, and show gratitude for the continuous aid that has been given and will be given.

Vance’s decision to question Zelensky’s gratitude to the U.S. and demanding Zelensky to thank the U.S. again completely demonstrates the lack of decorum in current U.S. foreign policy. President Trump’s decision to insinuate that Zelensky started the war and currently juggles the prospect of World War III is a grotesque inaccuracy which destroys the U.S. positive reputation on the world stage. Zelensky is fighting for the lives and freedom of his people, while Trump continuously berates him and talks about “playing cards.” It is utterly humiliating and disappointing that foreign policy under Trump likens the lives of people to cards and treats war like standard business.