EDITORIAL – It’s Zelensky, not Donald Trump, who should be thanked
The two presidents get into it in the Oval Office. (Image: Screengrab)
An editorial by Mel Rothenburger.
THE OVAL OFFICE shouting match today (Feb. 28, 2025) must surely go down in history as the most embarrassing failure in U.S. diplomacy ever. Although defenders of Russia will want to go into the history of Europe and the U.S. all over again to defend President Donald Trump, the man’s behaviour in his meeting with Ukraine President Volodymir Zelensky was despicable.
It is, however, no more than could have been predicted on the day Trump was elected for a second term. Trump wants to be feared. He wants to get credit for anything good that happens anywhere. He doesn’t like it when anybody challenges him with facts.
That’s what Zelensky did today. Some are saying he should have kneeled in front of Trump and showered him with compliments. Instead, he responded candidly and refused to back down in the face of Trump’s bluster.
The confrontation was painful to watch. One of Trump’s most telling remarks, repeated in various ways and egged on by VP J.P. Vance, was “… you’re not acting at all thankful, and that’s not a nice thing.”
Zelensky, of course, has thanked the U.S. and other allies time after time, including in that very meeting. What Trump wants, though, is for Zelensky to thank Trump himself, to bow down. And now he wants Zelensky to apologize.
It’s Trump and Vance who should apologize, and it’s Zelensky who should be getting thanked. He has proven himself an outstanding war leader and international diplomat whose nation has been standing up to the war criminal Putin for more than three years, providing a buffer between Russia and Europe.
So can anything be done to rectify the disaster wrought today by Trump? Yes, it can. So far, European leaders have been reacting by saying they continue to stand by Ukraine. Some of them, though, have been stronger with their words than others.
Canada says it continues to support Ukraine. That’s good, but not good enough. Ukraine’s allies have to not only back up Zelensky, but make it plain they back up his side of today’s confrontation.Trump can’t be allowed to think his display is acceptable to Western nations. They must condemn him. He’ll never admit his behaviour was anything less than perfect but, maybe, behind the scenes he’ll have some sober second thoughts and be persuaded by international diplomats to quietly re-engage.
Mel Rothenburger is a former regular contributor to CFJC-TV and CBC radio, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award, and a Webster Foundation Commentator of the Year finalist. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.
ArmchairMayor.ca 
God Bless Volodymyr Zelenskyy ✝✡🕊
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I think it would have been appropriate and a sign of respect to have had an interpreter present, even though (President) Zelenskyy does have a fairly good command of the English language. He or she may have served as a buffer between the parties and kept a better level of control of flaring tempers.
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There is an opinions-vs.-facts divide on this issue. Everyone’s got a take, but without data to back it up, it’s just noise. I sift through the mess and anchor things in what’s verifiable, or at least point out where the gaps are. I would expect the ones who post here to keep me honest, providing their facts.
This editorial is overly simplistic and one-sided. By dismissing Russia’s perspective as mere historical revisionism, it ignores the messy prelude to this moment—decades of U.S.-Russia proxy struggles, Ukraine’s internal fractures, and the realpolitik of nuclear brinkmanship. If you want a nuclear war keep fighting. If you want peace, you can’t fuel a war. You need to talk. Ignoring reality has sacrificed many good people.
Zelensky’s defiance was gutsy, but his refusal to bend on diplomacy might also reflect a gamble that could isolate Ukraine if Trump follows through on aid cuts. Trump’s behavior was crude, but his push for a deal isn’t inherently irrational given war fatigue in the U.S. and Europe. And the history ow Western attacks eastward.
The piece also overestimates the feasibility of “rectifying” this via international pressure on Trump. His track record suggests he doubles down when criticized, not the reverse. A more nuanced view would weigh Zelensky’s moral clarity against the pragmatic limits of Ukraine’s reliance on a fickle U.S. ally, while acknowledging that both leaders’ egos—and the stakes of this war
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Since it is now well known that the Trump administration works a tad differently than any of the previous ones, maybe just maybe Zelenskyy’s approach could’ve and should’ve been a little more pragmatic. Make the deal save many lives and stop destruction.
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The 12.5% in the poll that feel Zelensky should apologize need to give their head a shake and see the world through a pair of glasses called ‘reality’, but I highly doubt they sat through the entire 40 minute press conference … the MAGA attention span is only about 12 seconds.
Saw the entire video, Zelensky definitely thanked trump numerous times, thats numerous times, during the photo-op … which means trump and Vance were actually lying.
By the end we realized that this was a set up,
those two decided all along to do that to him,
they are that transparent.
It was all about ‘great tv’.
Zelensky also showed what a clear diplomat he is, as well as how he used the opportunity to make his case about security guarantees, defining Putin as a terrorist – even though this week trump and Vance actually blamed Zelensky for starting the war – and the importance of Europe to play a direct role, and how that needed the political backstop of America to ensure the peace sticks … of Putin will actually invade again.
Zelensky showed he is a well spoken leader, and a gifted strategist, realizing he was there to get actual functional American support for peace.
What he got … was trump, Vance, lies and self aggrandizing bluster.
Instead of any actual security guarantees, trump says he is going to ‘stop Putin from invading again. Laughable. The only connection Putin has with trump is the golden shower video proof.
Its time to find and switch to a new ‘leader of the free world’.
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I agree, Canada should issue the strongest possible statement
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Vance is Goering to Trump as Hitler. This has been done before but it is approaching critical mass rapidly. Its time to shun these bastards in a big way. We should be upping our ship building capacity because we gave away our aircraft industry with Diefenbaker. The US navy will not attempt to occupy places where our ships are. They will occupy what they want if we are not . Just sayin.
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