Everyone and his brother have an opinion of what actually took place in the Oval Office in the meeting with Trump, Zelensky, and Vance. Some of the talking points are valid, but as the stakes for Ukraine couldn’t be higher, and President Trump is far more experienced with negotiation techniques than Zelensky, emotions were high, leading to emotional outbursts.

Some media are certain that Zelensky was trying to manipulate a security agreement with Trump—how else do you explain his unwillingness to reach an agreement with the Secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessant, or the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio? Another point where there wasn’t much focus after the fact was the language barrier. Although Zelensky’s understanding of English is greatly improved, his confusion over Trump’s reference to cards was obvious:

‘You don’t have the cards right now,’ Trump told Zelensky, as the two interrupted each other during a forceful exchange in front of TV cameras. 

‘We’re not playing cards,’ Zelensky shot back. Ukraine's leader repeatedly interrupted Trump and insisted that Russian President Vladimir Putin couldn’t be trusted, noting he had already broken ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreements.

There were probably other moments when Zelensky may have misunderstood what was being said, which only increased his confusion and anger.

To make matters worse, the disgusting Democrats had duped Zelensky before his meeting with Trump into believing that Trump had zero regard for the Ukrainian cause. And he believed them.

It’s clear that Zelensky deluded himself into believing that there had to be a way to get the security that he believed his country needed. I think he might have believed that the threat was existential. But Trump wasn’t going to bend to emotion and a disrespectful attitude that reflected Zelensky’s actual motivator: deep desperation.

Zelensky had too much history with Putin to trust that Ukraine would be secure if a ceasefire were called:

At one point, Zelenskyy said Putin had broken ‘his own signature’ 25 times on ceasefires and other agreements and could not be trusted. Trump responded that Putin had not broken agreements with him and ducked questions about offering security guarantees to Ukraine, saying he thought the minerals deal — which is now on-hold — would effectively end the fighting.

I suspect that Zelensky believed his concerns about Putin were being discounted. Trump wanted Zelensky to trust that anything that Putin agreed to for the ceasefire would be enforced by him. He pointed out that Putin didn’t respect other U.S. presidents, but he respected Trump and would not violate an agreement. Also, Americans would be working in Ukraine under the rare earth minerals agreement, and Trump believed that Putin wouldn’t risk attacking Americans.

Trump expected Zelensky to trust that everything that Trump promised would be fulfilled.

Zelensky also has trust issues with Trump, who has called the Ukrainian leader a dictator, as he’s failed to hold elections—while true, it didn’t enhance their relationship. 

There is one other factor that hasn’t been addressed: the oligarchs. Will the oligarchs in Ukraine agree to the sales of rare earth minerals? How will they profit?

I think that Zelensky’s extreme behavior was triggered out of desperation: he realizes he doesn’t have the upper hand, and he’s at the mercy of a U.S. president who favors America first, so he doesn’t trust Trump’s ability to negotiate the agreement for Ukraine that Zelensky wants. And, Zelensky’s lack of understanding of negotiation tactics only made him more aggressive and desperate.

Is there a way to resurrect this negotiation? First, Zelensky needs to be convinced that he needs to apologize for his behavior. Even if he thinks he was justified, arguing in front of the media was not a good look. Second, he will probably need to at least act like he trusts Trump to hold Putin at bay with a ceasefire. Europe may also step in to offer a temporary security plan to reassure him. 

Finally, Trump and Vance would benefit from keeping future meetings behind closed doors, and having a translator present. All of them need to avoid the possibility of further misunderstandings.

Image: YouTube video screen grab.