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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
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Paul Taylor

Why this is no time for Zelenskyy to grovel to Trump

Keir Starmer hosts Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European and Nato leaders for talks on peace in Ukraine, 2 March 2025.
Keir Starmer hosts Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European and Nato leaders for talks on peace in Ukraine, 2 March 2025. Photograph: WPA/Getty Images

For Volodymyr Zelenskyy, this is no time to grovel.

After last Friday’s ambush in the Oval Office – where the Ukrainian president, who has led his country in resistance to three years of brutal Russian aggression, was beaten up in public by Donald Trump and JD Vance – some European leaders, including Keir Starmer and the Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte, rushed to urge him to mend fences with Washington. It was bad advice – and Zelenskyy should ignore it. In any case he doesn’t have much choice.

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