Zelensky will have a hard time mending relations with Trump, - WSJ
Date: 2025-03-03 Author: Кирило Загоруйко Categories: POLICY
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky took some steps over the weekend to repair the damage after a spat with US President Donald Trump. However, he faces an extremely difficult road to repair relations in Washington, writes The Wall Street Journal.
As the publication notes, the rift between Zelensky and Trump threatens to disrupt US relations with Kiev and Western allies. European leaders have tried to mend these relations by calling Zelensky and Trump, but a senior White House official said that it is Zelensky who should seek reconciliation with the US.
So far, he has taken "half-hearted" steps, the publication writes. Thus, he expressed gratitude to the US and personally to Trump for military assistance over the years, but did not apologize for the conflict in the Oval Office.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Marco Rubio blamed Zelensky in an ABC interview Sunday for derailing the planned signing, saying the Ukrainian president "used every opportunity to try to make excuses for Ukraine on every issue."
John Bolton, who served as Trump's national security adviser for a year and a half in his first term, said Trump's personal dislike of Zelensky now has an outsized impact on U.S. foreign policy.
"If he likes a foreign leader, we have a good relationship with that country. If he doesn't like a foreign leader, we don't. Trump likes to admit that he doesn't like Zelensky. So that's the equation," he added.
John Herbst, who served as U.S. ambassador to Ukraine under George W. Bush and is now a senior director at the Atlantic Council in Washington, D.C., said Zelensky clearly irritated Trump during the Oval Office meeting, repeatedly criticizing Putin and insisting that Trump provide U.S. security guarantees on live television.
Zelensky “could have handled it better” by raising those issues in a private meeting after the Oval Office meeting, Herbst said. Ukraine does need security guarantees, he said, but Friday’s meeting, like other interactions between the leaders, was clouded by their difficult past relationship.
“History is important because Trump remembers things,” Herbst said. “He remembers insults. He also remembers favors.”
