Ukrainian President Voldymyr Zelenskyy gets dressing down before WH meeting, virtually told to surrender

The TOI correspondent from Washington: MAGA supremo Donald Trump bluntly told Ukraine's President Voldymyr Zelenskyy ahead of their White House meeting on Monday afternoon to give up territory his country has lost to Russia and forget about joining Nato.

"This was is going to end...one way or another it is going to end..." Trump told reporters at a White House meeting with Zelenskyy, while offering "Nato-like" protection for Ukraine at the behest of European leaders. The Ukrainian leader appeared reconciled to losing territory Russia has captured and is now seeking security guarantees for what remains.

Earlier, in what is virtually a "surrender or die" message to Zelenskyy, Trump said the Ukrainian leader "can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight."

"Remember how it started. No getting back Obama given Crimea (12 years ago, without a shot being fired!), and NO GOING INTO NATO BY UKRAINE. Some things never change!!!" he said on his "Truth Social" network, implicitly endorsing Russia's position and blaming his predecessors for the crisis.

The US President was more restrained upon meeting Zelenskyy in the Oval office a few hours later, offering "Nato-like" protection in keeping with requests from a supporting cast of European leaders waiting in the wings to join the confabulations.

Zelenskyy and the gaggle of leaders who see Russia as a perpetual threat seem to have accepted Trump's Moscow-mandated terms, with talks now expected to center on unspecified "robust security guarantees" US interlocutors have promised for Ukraine (or what remains of it) if it ends the war.

They want the guarantees to be legislatively binding and conforming to Article 5 of Nato treaty that obligates all alliance members to defend any member who is attacked, which would make Ukraine a de facto Nato member.

Zelenskyy arrived at the White House wearing a black jacket over his customary black togs as the two leaders dodged pointed questions from reporters about the exact contours of the peace deal Trump is pressing Ukraine to accept.

"We are going to have a lasting peace...I hope it is going to be immediate," Trump said, exuding confidence even as Zelenskyy appeared to be stressed.

Before the meeting, Trump posted long tortured screeds blaming "the Fake News Media and their Democrat Partners" for not allowing him to settle the war and questioning his judgment, according to which Russia is also having to make sacrifices.

"I’ve settled 6 Wars in 6 months, one of them a possible Nuclear disaster... I know exactly what I’m doing, and I don’t need the advice of people who have been working on all of these conflicts for years, and were never able to do a thing to stop them. They are “STUPID” people, with no common sense, intelligence, or understanding, and they only make the current R/U disaster more difficult to FIX. Despite all of my lightweight and very jealous critics, I’ll get it done — I always do!!!" he raged.

While New Delhi -- and much of the world will keep an anxious eye on the outcome of the White House meeting, it is increasingly apparent that purchase of Russian oil is not the only issue bedeviling US-India ties. Openly voicing Washington's duplicity on the Russian oil issue, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a TV interview on Sunday that "sanctioning China (for purchase of Russian oil) would push global oil prices higher," the same logic applied to India's purchase of Russian oil.

Other administration officials have suggested the reason for the differential treatment is that Beijing has leverage, implicitly suggesting New Delhi does not. Trump himself has expressed irritation about the BRICS agenda which he thinks involves ditching the US dollar and reserve currency and US companies shifting manufacturing jobs to India.

So even in the event of a best case scenario of a Russia-Ukraine truce or peace deal emerging from the White House talks on Monday, India may escape the 25 per cent penalty, but the 25 per cent tariff will remain in place.