When it is poorly executed, face-to-face diplomacy reinforces hostility, erodes relationships and makes diplomatic successes even harder. That is exactly what happened during the now notorious White House meeting on February 28 between the US president, Donald Trump, the vice-president, J.D. Vance, and the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky.
Instead of a productive diplomatic exchange, the meeting descended into a highly unusual public spectacle.
Instead of culminating in the signing of a deal that would offer Ukraine some measure of security, the meeting left Zelensky shaken and isolated, and US support for Ukraine looking even more uncertain than it had done before. The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, was handed a clear political win.
