Friday's meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy went completely against all expectations. What do you make of it? Has Ukraine's hope of receiving security guarantees from the U.S. become impossible? How can negotiations continue from here?

It's difficult to imagine how these negotiations can continue because, in reality, peace process negotiations haven't even begun yet. There are ongoing consultations between Russia and the U.S. on how to approach this process.

That's one aspect. The other is that the U.S. has been exerting a lot of public pressure — most recently in Washington — on Ukraine to engage in the peace process. But this process doesn't actually exist. In this sense, the behavior of the U.S. president and vice president has been particularly destructive. They simply wanted President Zelenskyy to state on camera, in some form, that he essentially agrees to a peace deal on U.S. terms — without those terms even being specified.

It was quite an emotional and absurd meeting, likely unprecedented in history. It suggests that the current U.S. administration is playing a diplomatic game with completely new rules and customs, which others must now somehow adapt to or at least consider.

Does this also indicate that, since Ukraine stood its ground, the U.S. is now distancing itself even further from Ukraine and aligning more closely with Russia?

I can't say for sure because, at the moment, President Trump's behavior clearly suggests that what matters to him is not the content of the peace agreement, but simply the fact that something is happening in terms of the peace process. He has no clear vision of what this agreement should look like or how exactly to reach it.

For him, the main point right now is just being able to show that he managed to bring both sides to the negotiating table. Beyond that, I wouldn't dare to assess how he envisions the U.S.'s actual interests or whether he even has a concrete plan.

Does he actually want to bring Ukraine and Russia to the negotiating table or does he intend to make a deal with Russia himself?

No, he can't. He has no way of making a deal with Russia himself. His only option is to influence either Russia or Ukraine through his actions, promises or threats, but he cannot force them to negotiate with each other or make an agreement on his own.

Can Ukraine manage without U.S. support?

For a while, yes, but in reality, Ukraine needs U.S. support more than is currently being acknowledged and replacing it with something else would be very difficult. This support is multilayered and a significant part of it remains invisible on a daily basis.

It must also be said that there have been major issues with delivering and fulfilling the aid that has already been promised. President Biden's administration certainly could have done much, much more. But as Russia's president himself has pointed out — and in this regard, he is not wrong — the most damaging factor for Russia has been the intelligence provided by the U.S. to Ukraine.

How has Europe reacted to the meeting between Zelenskyy and Trump?

There were numerous statements in support of Ukraine. Given the footage from the White House, this reaction is hardly surprising — the behavior of the U.S. president and vice president was utterly unacceptable, to put it very politely. It was extremely disrespectful. A person who loses their temper in such a manner in front of cameras during a meeting can hardly be taken seriously as a reliable partner.

The other question is what Europe will do now. Since a meeting is already scheduled in London to discuss how to end the war in Ukraine or how to continue supporting Ukraine, the focus should be on concrete actions rather than just promises and statements. And in that regard, Europe has not been doing particularly well.

Does this mean that even after the London meeting, processes might not become more active or their pace quicken?

The problem is that Europe is not taking any real initiative. There is an effort to support Ukraine collectively, both financially and militarily — which is very important, and Europe has certainly done a great deal in this regard, without question. However, what is also needed is strong initiative to ensure that Russia remains under constant diplomatic pressure so that some kind of process can emerge to start resolving this conflict.

You mentioned how Trump behaved in front of the cameras. Does all of America think the same way right now?

No, I don't think so. I wouldn't expect such a unified reaction. But there are certainly those who see Trump as an icon or even idolize him, so I wouldn't anticipate a widespread condemnation of their president's behavior either.

Marko Mihkelson writes that Friday may have marked the beginning of the collapse of the Western alliance. Do you agree?

I wouldn't go that far or start defining what the worst possible consequences of this event might be. But it certainly doesn't help. It is definitely a very serious challenge. However, for now, I would stick to the view that it was an emotional meeting where both sides could have exercised a bit more restraint. Because of that, I wouldn't generalize or absolutize everything. It's still too early — much more would need to happen before making such conclusions.

Could Trump have deliberately planned yesterday's meeting as a verbal confrontation to justify future cooperation with Russia?

I'm not a good enough psychologist to make that claim. It seemed to me that, especially before they entered the room, the interaction — I wouldn't call it heartfelt, but it was at least normal. The situation gradually escalated into a verbal confrontation, which, of course, shows that both President Zelenskyy and Trump had very strong emotions that, when suppressed, eventually burst out. However, it still seems that the escalation of this meeting was purely a result of interpersonal dynamics, where neither side was able to control their emotions well.

Who came out as the winner of this meeting in the eyes of the public?

I can't say for sure, but I think, in the end, both lost. The initial reaction might be that people would say President Zelenskyy stood up for his nation — which is true, as he defended his people in a situation where Ukraine is the victim of aggression. In that sense, there's no doubt that the U.S. president's behavior was completely inappropriate.

But if we look at the results, President Zelenskyy and Ukraine desperately need U.S. support. My question is: why was it necessary to go to Washington in such circumstances, especially after a prior exchange of words? We know that President Trump improvises a lot in front of cameras — he's highly impulsive and has a wide emotional range. He speaks off the cuff and often says unexpected things. President Zelenskyy certainly sees himself as a strong character and a performer, but I still think this visit may not have been the most well-thought-out decision.

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