I am confused and feel like I have been whipsawed!
Let me start by saying that I have been pro-Trump since his first campaign for President. But I am surprised and confused by yesterday's most dramatic events
My understanding had been that Ukraine was a sovereign nation illegally invaded by Russia. And that Putin was cruelly causing the death of hundreds of thousands of people (both Ukrainian and Russian) as well as the destruction of the culture and civilization of Ukraine. And that we, the USA and its Allies, were the good guys, backing the Ukrainians to protect and preserve their country.
But then yesterday, on TV at least, it looked (to me) like both Trump and Vance were school yard bullies and Zelenskyy, the victim, sitting there in the Oval office looking like "a deer in the headlights"
The issue seems to be that Zelenskyy wants security guarantees tied to his agreement to allow the USA access to Ukraine's rare earth minerals. Given what Ukraine has suffered at the hands of the Russians:
- unbearable death and destruction (they can't even have gov't meetings with the lights on in their offices because of the threat of Russian drone strikes);
- the history that they gave up their nuclear weapons in exchange for guarantees from the UN that they would come to the defense of Ukraine if needed - a promise that was not fulfilled; and
- Putin's failure to comply with various agreements he made with Ukraine during the course of this war, etc, etc
Zelenskyy's focus on getting security guarantees included in current negotiations is understandable. In fact, it seems to me that access to Ukraine's rare earth minerals is the only card Zelenskyy has to play. So agreeing to give this away without security guarantees seems like it would, in my opinion, be foolish. But then I am not an international diplomat.
What am I missing to understand Trump's position?