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You don’t have to be a genius to work out that if you exclude Russia and just look at the three groups who are vying for war, or whining for peace, that no one is being very honest about their intentions. Previously, I tackled head on how Trump is not being very honest when he talks of peace as he has the means to enforce it at the drop of a hat, but chooses to drag his feet and hold out for deals. This is not simply Trump Basic who we all know well – where’s the deal? – but also Trump playing out a longer game with Russia, looking at where the sweet spot could be. Trump’s tour de force is always to create a crisis and then position himself to be the only person on the planet who is capable or willing to resolve it. His personality is always paramount to everything.

And so the stunt in the White House needs to be seen in the correct context. Zelensky was not honest in coming to the White House in the first place as it was believed that he was to meet Trump and JD Vance to sign a mineral deal which he agreed to and retracted from signing a number of times leading up to the visit. This became apparent when he met with Trump behind close doors and so the Plan B was to lower Zelensky into a trap and make him look ungrateful, arrogant and entirely impossible to work with. But what’s the real story behind Zelensky’s decision? Again, we see the puppet Zelensky having his strings pulled by others. Is it a coincidence that just days earlier British PM Keir Starmer arrives in the White House where, just a matter of hours earlier he announces in the British parliament that defence spending will be increased, in line with Trump’s demands for European members of NATO? Was it merely that Starmer needed to show some goodwill to Trump even to get the meeting, or was Starmer preparing for choppier waters to come, when Trump would finally hear the rumours? According to some reports, Zelensky has sold all the mineral rights already to the UK, so he was playing a game with Trump all along.

But there are more lies and games to come.

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On February 28, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky got the meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump that he had been hoping for. It was an opportunity to sign their agreement on minerals and, more importantly, to improve relations and heal their recent fight.

Instead, another fight erupted (you can see the whole discussion below).

Much has been written on the tone of what was said by both sides, but not enough attention has been paid to the content of what was said.

Much of what Trump and Vance said publicly had been said privately before. This was not the first time the U.S. or its allies have accused Zelensky of always asking for more without expressing gratitude. Vance pressed Zelensky that he “should be thanking the president.” In July 2023, then British defence secretary Ben Wallace said that the U.S. and UK “want to see a bit of gratitude.” And he said that he had previously told Ukraine, “when I drove 11 hours to be given a list, that I’m not like Amazon.” Then U.S. national security advisor Jake Sullivan said that “the American people do deserve a degree of gratitude.”

The complaint is not entirely fair. It is cruel to berate a country being defeated in war for asking for what you promised them if they would continue fighting that war. In the first weeks of the war, Zelensky was exploring a negotiated peace with Russia when the U.S. and UK discouraged him from following that path and promised whatever aid he needed for as long as he needed it if he would abandon negotiating with Russia for fighting with them. If you don’t want to be treated like Amazon, you shouldn’t advertise that you provide services like Amazon.

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