The meeting between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders at the Oval Office in the White House on August 18, 2025 was akin to a comedy show.
This is partly because in February 2025, Trump wrote on his portal Truth Social: “Think of it, a modestly successful comedian, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, talked the US into spending USD 350 billion, to go into a War that couldn’t be won, that never had to start, but a War that he, without the US and Trump, will never be able to settle.”
But then, Trump, diagnosed as a sociopath who is a danger for the world by 27 psychiatrists and mental health experts in the book ‘The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump’ published in October 2017 is no less a comedian himself. His public mimicking of a disabled reporter was a first for any POTUS and a very despicable act.
The meeting at the Oval Office in the White House was in sharp contrast to the highly contentious meeting at the same venue on February 28 between Trump and Zelenskyy in presence of Vice President JD Vance, televised live where Zelenskyy was at his belligerent best.
For the August 18 meeting, Zelenskyy wore a suit (discarding his usual T-shirt) and was all smiles. It was pretty evident that Zelenskyy had rehearsed for this show with European leaders in advance and Trump had been kept informed.
In between the show, Trump rang up Russian President Vladimir Putin to propose a meeting with Zelenskyy. As part of the rehearsed script, French President Emmanuel Macron warned Trump the risk of being “played” by Putin.
Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer are vying for the leadership of Europe and NATO fears peace in Ukraine may signal the beginning of its demise.
The meeting between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders at the Oval Office in the White House on August 18, 2025 was akin to a comedy show
Earlier on August 15, Trump rolled out the red carpet for a summit with Putin, in acknowledgement that Russia is winning. Russia presently controls about one-fifth of Ukraine (20% territory), which includes part of territory signed between the US and Ukraine in the recent mineral deal.
The summit was held behind a banner boldly displaying “Pursuing Peace”. Putin said he reached an agreement with Trump, hoping Kyiv “won’t throw a wrench” into the process of bringing the war to an end.
He further said that the security of Ukraine must be ensured, and Russia was ready to do so, but the root cause of the war must be taken into account as well. Putin mentioned the discussion included collaboration in technology and space.
Zelenskyy’ media blitz is focussed on Russia targeting civilians but since 2022 to August 2025 more than 1.7 million Ukrainians have been killed or reported missing. In addition, material losses include 666 aircraft, 283 helicopters, 80,367 UAVs, 625 AD missile systems, 24,856 tanks and AFVs, 1,588 MLRS, 29,041 artillery guns/ mortars, and 40,622 military vehicles.
On August 28, 2025, Russia sank Ukraine’s largest Laguna-class, medium-sized ship, ‘Simferopol’ designed for radio, electronic, radar, and optical reconnaissance; struck in the delta of the River Danube in a sea drone attack.
Russia has been making major progress in capturing important logistics hubs and expanding control of areas north, east, and south-east of Kiev; not destroying major cities and suffering a tenth of Ukrainian casualties, progressively defeating the combined forces of Ukraine and NATO.
The White House says, “President Trump and his national security team continue to engage with Russian and Ukrainian officials towards a bilateral meeting to stop the killing and end the war. As many world leaders have stated, this war would have never happened if President Trump was in office. It is not in the national interest to further negotiate these issues publicly.” But how serious is Trump, or rather America’s deep state, about ending the war in Ukraine, with the bulk of the money pumped into Kiev recycled back into the US?
The meeting at the Oval Office in the White House was in sharp contrast to the highly contentious meeting at the same venue on February 28 between Trump and Zelenskyy in presence of Vice President JD Vance, televised live where Zelenskyy was at his belligerent best
The Russia-Ukraine peace deal was achieved in Istanbul in April 2023, within three months of Russia launching special operations in Ukraine on February 24, 2022. It would have prevented the war, as well as Ukraine losing more territory.
But the US used its poodle Boris Johnson, then UK’s prime minister, to scuttle the deal. With NATO-Nazi battlegroups fully embedded in Ukraine, US-NATO believed they could defeat Russia using Ukraine as their proxy and effect regime change in Moscow.
Not only were western mercenaries deployed in Ukraine since 2014 but the US since then also completely “took over” Ukraine, as admitted now by Victoria Nuland .
According to one report, when President Aleksandr Lukashenko of Belarus suggested “decapitating” Zelenskyy’s regime with an Oreshnik strike on his bunker in Kiev, Putin said no, because getting rid of Zelenskyy would not solve the problems since he is only a figure head; if the Kiev regime is to be removed, it is best that the Ukrainians do it to save themselves – democratisation is really the only way to get full denazification.
Significantly, the Azov units of Ukraine continue to sport the Nazi ensign of Adolf Hitler together with the Ukrainian flag. There is also speculation about Trump’s Nazi genes with his grandfather having migrated to the US from Germany.
Zelenskyy is categoric he will not part with the Russian-speaking territories of Luhansk and Donetsk liberated by Russia. Europe continues to support Ukraine and is ready to send troops to Ukraine under the garb of providing security guarantees
Zelenskyy is categoric he will not part with the Russian-speaking territories of Luhansk and Donetsk liberated by Russia. Europe continues to support Ukraine and is ready to send troops to Ukraine under the garb of providing security guarantees (no different from NATO entering Ukraine); because peace will make it tough to keep both NATO afloat and pay its upkeep bills.
This is despite Putin telling Trump in Alaska that the security of Ukraine must be ensured, and Russia was ready to do so, but the root cause of the war must also be addressed.
Trump is offering air support to Ukraine and Patriot AD missile systems through third countries. Moreover, he has been saying that Ukraine must have the ability to strike deep inside Russia to win the war.
Now on August 29, 2025, Trump approved the sale of 3,350 Extended Range Attack Munitions (ERAM) missiles worth USD 825 million to Ukraine.
Concurrently, Ukraine has introduced its ‘Flamingo’ missile; a long-range cruise weapon flying at 949.5 km/h, designed to strike targets over 2,982 km, which significantly extends its strategic reach inside Russia.
The origin and foreign collaboration in developing the Ukrainian Flamingo missile remains ambiguous with the successful testing of Europe’s ASTER 30 B1 NT hypersonic interceptor missile. But these have the potential of raising the notch in the Ukraine war.
Trump has warned Putin of more sanctions on Russia if there is no bilateral meeting with Zelenskyy; although Zelenskyy is a geopolitical prostitute of the US-led West and knows that peace in Ukraine would spell the end of his dictatorship
Trump has warned Putin of more sanctions on Russia if there is no bilateral meeting with Zelenskyy; although Zelenskyy is a geopolitical prostitute of the US-led West and knows that peace in Ukraine would spell the end of his dictatorship.
A veteran-scholar points out that Trump and the West (Germany, France, and Britain) have continuously been lying, wanting every country including India to follow their dictates; causing bloodshed and destruction in Ukraine, Russia, and the Middle East especially on Palestinians in Gaza.
Now they are wanting to target Iran and Venezuela; with preparations for the war apparently underway, with the world and the UNO as mute spectators. Do we want another World War?
According to reports in the Indian media, Zelenskyy has asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to give the right message to Putin when they meet at the SCO Summit in Tianjin.
What is Modi supposed to tell Putin – to vacate all Ukraine while Zelenskyy pimps for the West? Finally, it should be more than evident that a Putin-Zelenskyy meeting would serve no purpose under the circumstances; and appears implausible.
Should the mentally and physically sick Trump kick the bucket, whether his successor would change course is also questionable. The war in Ukraine is, therefore, likely to continue.
The author is an Indian Army veteran. The views expressed are of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Raksha Anirveda
