The confrontation made clear the Trump administration’s increasing contempt for the Ukraine war effort, writes Catherine McGregor in today’s extract from The Bulletin.
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Ten fiery minutes that shook the world
It’s been called the most consequential moment in the Ukraine war since Russia’s invasion just over three years ago. The astonishing Oval Office set-to between Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Donald Trump and JD Vance has all but destroyed the prospect of a US-brokered peace deal between Ukraine and Russia, while an agreement on US access to Ukraine’s rare earth minerals – a bartering chip for continued US aid – was left abandoned in the White House after Zelenskyy was asked to leave. US support for the Ukraine war effort is now in more peril than even a fortnight ago, when Trump called Zelenskyy a “dictator” and falsely accused Ukraine of starting the war.
In Europe, where the Russia threat is most acute, the reverberations from the meeting have been profound. “The scene in the White House yesterday took my breath away,” said German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier. “I would never have believed that we would one day have to protect Ukraine from the USA.” Perhaps even more strikingly, European Union foreign minister Kaja Kallas said, “Today it became clear that the free world needs a new leader. It’s up to us, Europeans, to take this challenge.”
World leaders rally around Ukraine
Immediately after the disastrous White House meeting, Zelenskyy flew directly to the UK. He was met with (literal) open arms by prime minister Keir Starmer, who said the country would stand with Ukraine “for as long as it may take”. Overnight, more than a dozen European leaders, including Starmer and Zelenskyy, gathered in London for talks on the worsening situation.
In the hours following the Trump-Zelenskyy clash, world leaders took to X to reaffirm their backing for Ukraine. Christopher Luxon was one. “New Zealand remains steadfast in its support for Ukraine as it defends itself in a war that Russia started,” the prime minister tweeted. “It’s mounting the defence of a proud, democratic and sovereign nation, but also the defence of international law.” As he did with every other leader’s pro-Ukraine tweet, Zelenskyy retweeted Luxon’s message with a brief expression of thanks. Ukraine’s ambassador to New Zealand, Vasyl Myroshnychenko, said he was thankful for the “outburst of support” from New Zealand in the wake of the Oval Office meeting.
Unwilling to upset US, NZ government walks a fine line
While Luxon’s tweet contained an implied criticism of Trump’s treatment of Zelenskyy, actually coming out and stating it plainly is another matter. Writing in The Conversation, Waikato University’s Alexander Gillespie says that as Trump continues to attack international norms, New Zealand’s silence is becoming less tenable by the day. “New Zealand’s vaunted independent foreign policy… has been a workable mechanism to navigate the challenges facing a small trading nation reliant on a rules-based global order,” he writes. “[But] as the old world order erodes, losing its voice for fear of offending bigger powers cannot become the country’s default position.
NZ looks to up defence spending
Gillespie’s fellow geopolitical expert Robert Patman tells Stuff’s Thomas Manch that the Oval Office blowup – and the recent tensions with China – should concentrate the minds of those holding New Zealand’s defence purse strings. The government is currently preparing a Defence Capability Plan which will include a major increase in defence spending, minister Judith Collins told 1News last week. “This is a big budget item for us, and it’s going to have to be for quite a long term to make up for the 35 years of feeling that we’re living in this wonderful world where nothing bad could happen.”
Read more
- Helen Clark says Europe is traumatised by Trump – and describes the new international era as ‘terrifying’ (Stuff)
- Fact check: 33 times Zelensky thanked Americans and US leaders (CNN)
- How Donald Trump has brought a European army one step closer (The Telegraph via Sunday Star-Times)
