Yes, US-Ukraine Relations Can Be Salvaged (From FOX News)

Salvage operations are underway, but that was a close call. The Oval Office quarrel on February 28 between President Donald J. Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance, and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy over security guarantees for Ukraine almost threw away three years of strong support from the U.S. and NATO. President Trump then upped the stakes when he threatened to suspend U.S. aid to Ukraine. 

Ukraine cannot fight even a defensive war without a wide range of support, from Patriot missile defense batteries to drones to Abrams tanks to nuclear protective equipment. All this, and more, is part of the security guarantee fabric the U.S. and NATO have extended to Ukraine. That relationship already includes steps by American companies to set up co-production lines for defense items like medium-caliber ammunition and Switchblade drones in Ukraine. Zelenskyy is doing his soldiers no favors if he gives this up.  

The negotiations toward peace in Ukraine were always going to be dramatic. “Russia’s been raining down hell on Ukraine for over 3 years,” retired CIA Moscow Station Chief Daniel Hoffman pointed out in our interview on Fox News at Night, which is available at the link here. 

What happened? As Hoffman said, in the Oval Office, both sides were talking past each other. Ukraine wants the war to end, but believes Putin hasn’t given up on toppling Ukraine’s government and installing a Kremlin puppet. A ceasefire with a big Russian bloc in the Donbass could be a launchpad for more chaos. That’s why Zelenskyy sought security guarantees and a postwar reconstruction plan. 

The Trump Administration plan was different, principally in sequence and timing. “You have to find out what the combatants require in order to stop shooting at each other,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said. “What are the Russians’ needs? What do they have to see in order to stop fighting? What are the Ukrainians’ needs?” Rubio told CNN. Then, the next step is figuring out “what we need to do to make sure this never happens again,” he concluded.

Turns out the brawl was not a deal breaker. In my view, to salvage the deal, Zelenskyy needs to apologize and remember that back in World War II, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill did everything he could to keep America on Britain’s side. 

Trump is on the right arc of starting with the minerals deal and having Britain and France provide security. The U.S. can backstop with military power in so many ways: NATO airpower, space, cyber defenses. 

I’d like to see both sides get that deal going. Otherwise, Putin is the one who benefits. 

“There’s no doubt Ukraine, without the support of the U.S., puts itself in real jeopardy,” former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Fox News. According to Pompeo, a good outcome for Ukraine matters to the U.S., deeply. 

Trump’s team must be in the drivers’ seat to achieve that outcome. As Fox News at Night anchor Trace Gallagher said, “France, Germany and England are not going to get this settled with Putin.” 

Trump’s approach, as Hoffman pointed out, was a step-by-step process, starting with the rare earth minerals deal, then pursuing a ceasefire. “That mineral deal would give the U.S. a lot of economic, commercial skin in the game. That’s exactly what Ukraine needs,” Hoffman said.   

Even as Zelenskyy salvages his relationship with the White House, the way forward will not be easy. Wars end when both sides are too exhausted to fight, Hoffman warned, and neither side is yet at that point. 

My view is that Zelenskyy owes it to NATO to make apologies. He must also take care in his dealings with American officials, such as Secretary Rubio and Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, both of whom had already shown public glimpses of frustration coming from their meetings with Zelenskyy in the days before the Oval Office disaster. 

As Zelenskyy is coming to realize, Ukraine has to remain strong for this negotiation to succeed. Zelenskyy came to Washington to negotiate, but he has to find a different tactic. And let Trump call the plays.