“Sickening. Shameful. And in the end, useless.” So said an editorial in a Ukrainian newspaper following the Trump-Putin summit, by which President Trump hoped to start negotiations to end Putin’s war against Ukraine. How accurate this assessment will prove to be will depend on future developments, beginning with Trump’s meeting, scheduled for Monday, 8/18, with President Zelenskyy and major European leaders. The continuing support for Ukraine from major European leaders and Trump’s own recent past record in foreign affairs may suggest to him that more firmness and less flattery may prove more effective with Putin. Otherwise, any agreement which solidifies Putin’s victories in the field will indeed justify the newspaper’s assessment.
The actual summit seemed more a Trump-Putin love fest than a serious meeting between heads of state called to discuss serious topics. Watching Putin and Trump meet and hold their (non)news conference after their private discussion, I was reminded of the old joke about the meaning of the BS, MS, and PhD. designations: The letters stand for bull sh*t, more sh*t, and piled high and deep. Trump gave Putin literally the red carpet treatment and an air force flyover, treating Putin as a prestigious head of state and not like the pariah which European leaders now treat him as. Putin, in turn, assured Trump that the 2020 election really was rigged against Trump and that he would have won it had the votes been honestly counted. Moreover, said Putin, had Trump actually won an honest election in 2020, he, Putin, would never have launched the war against Ukraine in the first place. Somehow, everything was Joe Biden’s fault. Both Trump and Putin deserve honorary PhDs.
What Trump and Putin actually decided in their private meeting remains unknown. But especially troubling is Trump’s decision to forego a ceasefire as a prelude to negotiations and work directly for a peace agreement, with the assertion that the achievement of peace will be up to Zelenskyy, not Putin. Given that Putin launched the war, it would seem that Trump has things backwards.
Although Zelenskyy was not at the summit, he’s due to meet with Trump in the Oval Office tomorrow to further discuss prospects for ending the war. Joining Zelenskyy will be the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the President of France, the Chancellor of Germany, the Prime Minister of Italy, the President of Finland, the President of the European Commission, and the Secretary-General of NATO. It is to be hoped that their presence will underscore to Trump the seriousness of their opposition to Russian aggression and a negotiated settlement that would give Russia the land it is now occupying. At the very least, they may deter Trump from bullying and browbeating Zelenskyy as he shamefully did at their first White House meeting earlier this year.
And, ironically, Trump’s best guide to more effectively dealing with Putin may be—himself. Retired Army General Jack Keane, a military analyst for Fox News and the Wall Street Journal, has noted that for months Putin had been resisting a summit with Trump but relented and changed his mind following three specific actions taken by Trump: The bombing of Iran’s nuclear weapons facilities, Trump’s assertion that he might be more open to supplying more weapons to Ukraine should the war continue, and Trump’s threat of additional economic sanctions against Russia should Putin remain recalcitrant and unwilling to meet with Trump. And so Putin agreed to the summit. As an international bully, he no doubt loves flattery, but respects only force.
A major and legitimate concern is that should a peace agreement be finalized in which Putin gets to keep most, if not all, the territory he won through aggressive war, he may be encouraged to launch a new war to win more Ukrainian territory or otherwise win more control over parts of Europe once part of the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union, or a Soviet satellite. To win a lasting peace that will discourage further Russian aggression, Trump and Zelenskyy’s European allies should consider at their Monday summit more arms to Ukraine with fewer limits on their usage, as well as the additional economic sanctions Trump has threatened. Making the cost of war too steep for even Putin may be the best way to achieve the peace all civilized people should want. Otherwise, last week’s summit, as well as additional but ineffective meetings, may well merit the description of being “Sickening. Shameful. And in the end, useless.
Malcolm L. Cross has lived in Stephenville since 1987 and taught politics and government at Tarleton for 36 years, retiring in 2023. His political and civic activities include service on the Stephenville City Council (2000-2014) and on the Erath County Republican Executive Committee (1990-2024). He was Mayor pro-tem of Stephenville from 2008 to 2014. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Stephenville
Economic Development Authority since 2018 and as chair of the Erath County Appraisal District’s Appraisal Review Board since 2015. He is also a member of the Stephenville Rotary Club, the Board of Vestry of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, and the Executive Committee of the Boy Scouts’ Pecan Valley District. Views expressed in this column are his and do not reflect those of The Flash as a whole.
Trump finally proved that he can dance — to whatever tune Putin is playing.