FLASH
Shkruar nga Jeremy Bowen
Trump has exerted great pressure on Ukraine, while offering Putin major concessions that would have to be made by the Ukrainians.
The relationship between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was quite tense even before the clash in the Oval Office.
President Trump had already called his Ukrainian counterpart a dictator and declared that Ukraine started the war.
Now the US-Ukraine alliance nurtured by Joe Biden is torn apart. The public clash also signals a major crisis looming between European NATO members and the US.
There will be many more doubts and questions about the US commitment to European security outside of Ukraine. The most important is whether President Trump will keep the promise his predecessor Harry Truman made in 1949 to treat an attack on a NATO ally as an attack on America.
These concerns are based on what appears to be Trump's determination to restore a strong relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
He has put a lot of pressure on Ukraine, while offering Putin major concessions that the Ukrainians would have to make. Meanwhile, Europeans are also worried about their own security.
President Zelensky's refusal to make concessions has angered Trump. It's not just the minerals deal he refused to sign. Ukrainians believe they are in a fight for national survival and that Putin would break any promise to end the war if he doesn't rein it in.
That's why Zelensky repeatedly demanded American security guarantees. The meeting between them "ignited" after an intervention by Vice President JD Vance.
There are now suspicions that the dispute was, in the words of one diplomatic observer, planned: either to force Zelensky to accept America's demand, or to instigate a crisis that would allow them to blame him for whatever happened next.
If Trump follows the breakdown of talks with a freeze on military aid, Ukraine will fight back. The questions are how effectively and for how long. Meanwhile, the pressure will double on its European allies. Meanwhile, the pressure will double on its European allies./Adapted from "BBC"
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