\u201cThere\u2019s a new sheriff in town.\u201d Anyone who considered this aversion by the American vice president to be a communicative exaggeration will already be reconsidering it, after the Trump-Zelensky meeting at the White House. The \u201cnew sheriff\u201d has decided to bring order to the \u201cglobal city,\u201d having a clear preference for the method by which Alexander the Great untied the Gordian Knot, whatever that may imply for the diplomatic entanglements known to this day. At the same time, even if he himself does not understand it, his attitude offers further proof of the timelessness of the great Greek Thucydides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No one knows whether Zelensky decided to put on an away play, hoping to surprise his interlocutor. This would boost his profile inside Ukraine. His public image had suffered serious blows before Trump\u2019s election and worsened after the election. Already, very powerful actors such as Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko and the former head of the armed forces, General Zaluzny (he got rid of him by sending him as ambassador to London) are lurking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump has proven once again that he is not made of \u201cdiplomatic material\u201d. He recognizes and respects only power and does not leave the slightest room for ideological approaches that have been popular in the West in recent decades. Perhaps this brings him much closer to leaders such as China\u2019s Xi Jinping and Russia\u2019s Vladimir Putin. At the same time, it distances him more and more from the leaderships of European states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The difference is that the French Macron and the British Starmer handled their meeting with Trump differently. They showed that they understood this informal hierarchy, based on power. A hierarchy from which no one is exempt, no matter what it is called, Erdogan included. The question is how adaptable each leader is and how vulnerable to the needs of communication policy aimed at the domestic audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump believes this is the path of the future for the United States in the modern international environment. And if anyone is thinking of betting on his physical absence from the equation due to age, they should have observed Vice President Vance much more carefully. He is boosting his stock spectacularly, starting with his first appearance before an international audience from the podium of the Munich Security Conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Europe continues to watch the developments with embarrassment. It should have declared that everything was decided jointly in Washington and Brussels and since the former is now revising, the latter has no choice but to do the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although the Ukrainian minerals deal was ready and was to be signed at the White House, Zelensky tried to negotiate at the last minute to extract security guarantees from the US, adding that he would not compromise with \u201cmurderer Putin.\u201d His stance drew heavy fire from Trump and Vance, who accused him of disrespect and essentially showed him the exit door, telling him he could come back when he was ready for a deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n