Well, this is just sad but trump is delighted I'm sure
3
Why does Ukraine's (or any country's for that matter) of an ambassador to the United States require approval of the State Department or any other US agency? Shouldn't they be free to choose whomever they want? Do US candidates for ambassadorships require the approval of the countries to which they apply?
3
Imagine if Mr. Zelensky had gone into the meetings on Monday with world leaders, including Putin, with the world knowing he had the full support and backing of the United States of America. Imagine. But Mr. Trump denied him that and only made his already monumental job of ushering Ukraine toward Democracy so much harder. For this, and for the Republicans unwillingness to hold their party leader accountable, I weep.
9
The Inspector General of the Department of Justice, Micheal Horowitz's report on the move to delegitimize the election of Donald Trump to the Presidency is clear proof of the massive rot that lies at the heart of the US' political system. If this matter is whitewashed over by the MSM, then one more step will have been taken to a violent and bloody revolution in the US of A.
This typical dog and pony show will change nothing relating to interventionist foreign policy and the new cold war with Russia. Too many saw benefits from the corruption in Ukraine to dig deep there; the Bidens were just the most blatant, Lindsey Graham and others from both parties were involved so don't expect much from the Senate hearings.
The bipartisan major goals are a fait accompli; universal acceptance that Russia worked to undermine our elections (and to destroy our "Democracy") and are thus an enemy we must fight, and it's universally accepted by all that we MUST provide Ukraine with Javelin missiles and other lethal aid to fight "Russian Aggression" (with little mention that even Obama balked at that reckless option).
All of these proceedings are great distractions, but the weapons of war will not be diminished.
6
@Chris
Please. Russia hasn’t changed much since perestroika and glasnost. They still mean to control as much of the world as possible, plus they now have a napoleon complex.
Your threat of war from delorables on behalf of Putin is such a pretzel of greed, western supremacy and missed lessons of history as to be a lousy parody.
13
@Chris When will you people get it through your head. The people DID NOT elect trump. I get so sick and tired of Mitch McConnell saying 'let the people decide'. We The People DID decide, by the millions, that we did not want trump as our president. Watching him preform over the last three years has only added to the number of people in this country that DO NOT want this man in our House. He is a pathetic disgrace.
10
Want peace? Hillary Clinton and Virginia Nuland instigated regime change in the Ukraine, to take it away from Russia. The big US project was to limit Russia’s influence in Eurasia . Many have noted that the country that rules Eurasia rules the world. This is what Clinton was after . Not gonna happen. Now we have another failed state : Ukraine and American meddling is the cause .
10
@R U SeriousTrump They take our money ,then beg to mother Russia with the other hand ,same thing Trump was afraid of in the beginning,that and Bidens illegal meddling.
3
@R U SeriousTrump
Surprised to see that comment published.
The original sin of the illegal coup is being blacked out, similar to the Bernie campaign.
4
@Alan Einstoss
Ukraine isn't begging anything from Russia. They get nothing from Russia. They may beg us and Europe, but not Russia.
Get your facts straight - they are at war with Russia.
20
If PT is Putin's toady and Putin Zelensky's enemy - except for such as dirt on PT's opponents - what else can Zelensky offer PT except not coming forward in re the asserted quid pro quo, as Z appears to have already done?
A new ambassador and even the best lobbyists ever don't help Z de-toadify PT.
1
It’s naive & shortsighted of Zelensky to look to Trump for anything at all.
9
How convenient! What motivation. We have another article of impeachment. On the eve of Trump being impeached we get this news: Now we know what else our US taxpayers money is gonna go towards. Ukraines president Zelensky says not only does there need to be a new ambassador but he has a (multi-million dollar) lobbyist group to do what an ambassador should do. What a tilt! What a pay-off. And all at US Taxpayers expense.
And all three of the lobbyist groups mentioned are tied to Trump, Manafort and a gang of hucksters. Even former Representative Billy Tauzin, who was the author of the Medicare Act of 2003 that with its provisions was a boon to the nation’s pharmaceutical companies with billions in windfall profits annually, and was then hired as president by PHRMA for his work and is now a lobbyist looking to bilk Ukraine via America. Its a turn-style of graft. Wow! Who would have thunk it? Imagine Trump scamming away and seating there in the Whitehouse with the Foreign Minister of Russia in the daylight of his impeachment and again dealing in graft.
No worries. If Trumps boys cant do the job I’ll bet Mayor Pete could hook them up to McKinsey and Co. Or Trump could hook them up with Guilianni or the Three Amigos as high-paid managers/consultants with a direct line to Trump in the Whitehouse and all on the taxpayers dime. It will be the most convenient bonanza ever!
8
zelinsky flat-out said it there ....was no quid pro Joe and president Trump is the only one that has supplied real military assistance.
1
This is horrible. Zelensky is trapped in Trump's web. Now damned if he does and damned if he doesn't—no matter what it is.
15
Trump wants to reinstate a corrupt government in Ukraine so he can work with Putin and the persons that Manafort would approve of to sway the geopolitical strategy of the area. This isn’t rocket science. They have gas lines on the line.
12
What is amazing to me is that the President of the United States is the daily dupe of dictators the world over, cravenly (or maybe wholeheartedly) doing their bidding and being made ridiculous over and over again and the Democratic party cannot find a way to capitalize on his incompetence and malfeasance.
7
Trump appears to be pro-Russian because:
1. Kushner tried to set up a back channel to Russia in 2017
2. He suggested that Russia help with US cybersecurity,
3. He wants Russia to be back in the G7,
5. He has been more favorable in comments about Russia than Ukraine,
7. He hired pro-Russian campaign manager Manafort and National security director Mike Flynn,
9. He wants sanctions lifted for Russia
10. He had a deal to build a Moscow Tower allowing Putin the top floor.
11. He met with Putin in private and tore up the notes
12. He had Lavrov in the Oval Office the day after Comey was fired
13. He had Lavrov in the Oval Office in a secret 1-to-1 meeting with no notes again last week, while our ally Ukraine has not been invited.
14. He changed the GOP policy on Ukraine the day of his inauguration
15. He fired anyone in the DOJ and FBI who investigated him And took away their security clearances
16. He threatened to dissolve NATO
17. He pulled out of Syria, allowing Putin onto US bases.
18. He has called the Russian cyberattack on our elections a “hoax” and done
nothing to prevent it again.
19. He shifted the blame from Russia to Ukraine.
This is alarming.
22
Zelensky: change the name of your country to Afghanistan, and we will send you $2 trillion. And fight your war.
6
Where is Guliani?
4
@MC He is with Waldo.
1
So in order for Ukraine to get American support in its fight to retain sovereignty from the encroaching Russian bear, it must weed out corruption by hiring Trump and Putin cronies? Ha ha ha ha .
10
Surely our king's chief jester, Rudy Giuliani, would be a cute Ambassador to the U.S. from Ukraine President Zelenskiy. And Rudy visited Trump in the White House this morning, the morning The Congressional Judiciary Committee voted to impeach our 45th president. Donald Trump is now in the American Rogues Gallery of impeached presidents (though Nixon resigned August, 1974 before his Senate trial). How does Trump like them apples?
3
well lets hope he gets a better deal this time
1
Do we support new democracies in the world or not? That is the question. We certainly support Islamic monarchies like Saudi Arabia and dubious democracies with right-wing strongmen. Ukraine shouldn't have to waste money hiring lobbyists to get fair treatment from our president. Our president should have been eager to show support publicly for an anti-corruption president facing the aggression and subversion of Vladimir Putin. That is, if our president really believes in democracy.
10
There is really no hope for Ukraine getting any help from the US. That's exactly what Putin asked of Trump in their first unrecorded meeting, without any staff.
10
They may not have interfered in our politics but we certainly are interfering in theirs.
8
Absolutely!!
3
It seems that now that the Trump Zelensky communication channels were shown up, it's now secret meetings with Lobbyists to circumvent surveillance. But where does it go from Zelensky who just had a private meeting with Putin last Monday? That's where you should look as well. Giuliani travelled to Ukraine, I'm wondering, to avoid surveillance. Are the Lobbyists shuttling back and forth as well. It all plays like criminal activity would.
4
He is not the first and will not be the last in adjusting to king Donald.
5
I can’t help wondering how Mr. Zelensky felt the day after his personal meeting with Putin, trying to find some way to save his country from being ravaged by Russia. He then turns on his TV only to see Russia’s foreign minister smiling, standing in The Oval Office, towering over Trump who smirks from an inferior position.
13
Mr. Zelensky has an uphill struggle alright. Trump believes a convoluted conspiracy theory about Ukraine concocted by Russian Intelligence, and no one outside Russia is a bigger cheerleader for Vladimir Putin.
Trump couldn't care less about Ukraine unless they play ball by conjuring up political dirt on the Bidens.
11
Forget it Zelensky.Trump is beholden to his Russian friends so he will not help Ukraine.End of story.
13
I guess Mr Zelensky is in a tough place. Not only does he need US assistance from Trump now, but he will in the future need US assistance from Democrats who believe that he is caving to extortion by Trump. At their expense. And that is hardball as it should be played. Here’s hoping Zelensky understands how tainted an association with Trump can make him with normal people. And here’s hoping the Democrats remind him of that when he needs their help.
5
Zelenski must have been disappointed to see that Lavrov got a private second Oval Office meeting with Trump on the same day he himself was meeting with Putin to work out a Peace Deal. Especially when this placed him at a disadvantage since he still hasn’t been invited to the WH by Trump and the optics were favorable to Putin. It’s almost like it was planned. Just like the coincidence with Putin’s birthday and Trump’s announcement that he was pulling out of Syria.
12
Zelensky won the election based on his character in a popular Ukrainian TV Show, Servant of the People. In the series he plays an idealistic school teacher who goes on a rant to another teacher about corruption in the Ukraine. A student records the rant on his phone and posts it on the internet. The rant goes viral and Zelensky's character is urged to run for president. Reluctantly he agrees and wins the election by a landslide.
I have watched the first two seasons of his show and have come to like the character he plays. I get a strong feeling that he is very close to his character in ideals. I was thrilled when he won the election running an anti corruption campaign.
And now Trump has put him in a very precarious situation. He knew that he was being extorted and did the best he could as not to offend the man who could destroy his administration and his country.
Here is a man who was trying to do what is right by his people, get rid of rampant corruption and make the Ukraine into a more European nation with the hope of someday joining NATO.
Now he is forced to kowtow to a corrupt and unprincipled Western leader who also used to be a TV star? Not nearly as successful or talented, but a TV star.
Does anyone see the irony here?
10
Here in Canada we are even more dependant on America's good graces than Ukraine because we have just about the highest quality of life on the planet to protect.
I remember the criticism of our Prime Minister as we negotiated the new NAFTA and the feeling we were Kowtowing to the USA.
We know it is only a matter of time before we are on America's bad list and this NAFTA which is not yet signed is abrogated.
In the meantime allow us a few moments of being smug and self congratulating as we celebrate an agreement that looks to be conceived and written in Canada by and for Canadians.
President Zelensky grew up looking up to the United States as the shiney beacon on the hill. He and the Ukraine have pulled back the curtain to reveal the wizard. Even as you may see and understand the wizard he still has a great deal to offer and honey works better than vinegar.
7
Despite GOP protestations, Zelensky saying he didn’t feel pressured proves nothing. Zelensky still needs Trump, and he knows that denying he felt pressured helps Trump. This, in turn, makes it far likelier that Trump will now help Zelensky/Ukraine.
7
On the US - Ukraine relation
President Zelensky has stated repeatedly that there was not quid pro quo. Mr . Schiff has stated repeatedly that there was, implying that President Zelensky is lying. This is not improving US Ukraine relations.
On why the Ukraine needs the US
The US is the counterweight to Putin's Russia that occupied Crimea - formerly owned by the Ukraine - and supplies the separatist movement in the Donbas
To his credit, Mr. Trump supplied the lethal weapons the Ukraine long asked for, but that the Obama administration, for fear of offending Russia, withheld
On the changing EU - Ukraine relationship
Chancellor Ms. Merkel was a staunch supporter of the Ukraine, but is fading. President Macron, pursuing a pro Russia politics that is alarming to chancellor Merkel and all Heads Eastern European States
The more President Macron ascends, the more urgently the Ukraine needs the support of the US lest you want to have Putin have his meal
1
@talesofgenji The reasons you give as to why Ukraine needs the US are exactly why they felt the needed to lie as to there being no pressure.
5
Zelensky should not give into the pressure by the Trump Administration. He is fighting for change in his own country to clean corruption. The Trump Administration is every bit as corrupt as those former Ukrainian leaders.
Zelensky needs to reach out to our Congress. They hold the purse strings and more importantly, there has been Bi-partisan support for helping the Ukraine. Perhaps Pelosi could invite Zelensky to address a joint session of Congress or like Boehner did before her, invite Zelensky to address the House. After all, Boehner did not invite or include Obama, so there is no need for Pelosi to invite Trump.
After all the precedent was set by Boehner when he invited Bibi.
10
So the quid pro quo continues. We are seeing so obviously, as if we hadn't already before, why Zelensky is saying publicly no pressure from Trump and no quid pro quo -- Trump has Zelensky in a vice as Ukraine still needs US support and aid (last I read twenty million is still being withheld?) which Trump is still withholding to a large degree--unless Zelensky does and says what Trump wants. Disgusting--and tragic.
11
What an awkward position for Mr. Trump. His re-election could depend on continued good relations with Mr. Putin, yet Volodomyr Zelensky could bring him down by withdrawing his statement that he didn't feel pressured by the President, and then he would never get as far as the election. But I'm sure neither of those well-respected foreign leaders would stoop to any sort of coercion.
1
The former comedian Zelensky is turning into a joke. What will his relationship with the United States be when trump is no longer president. He isn’t truthful with us. The lesser of two evils: Ukraine or Russia.
5
How do Trump supporters feel about this? Does their loyalty stretch to the point, where giving Russia the upper hand in eastern Europe, is ok with them?
10
Ukraine was under Russia's influence until secretary Clinton and President Obama decided to take Ukraine from under Russia's influence. Unfortunately, this opened the door for Putin to counter act, take Crimea and invade Ukraine, all under the watch of President Obama, who sent blankets and good wishes to Ukraine, and avoided confronting Putin in any significant way. We (the US) created this mess, but our intentions were good and noble, to free up Ukraine from Russia. This was a failure to execute and perhaps planning by all the foreign service experts in Ukraine. I am not an expert in the region, but common sense tells you that Putin was not going to take the punch and just ran away without a fight. Not many options left now.
Definitely! Trump supporters love Russia now.
Zelinsky, an accomplished Comedian prior to ascending to the Ukrainian Presidency would do well to hire Rudolph Giuliani as his lobbyist in chief and ambassador to the Court of Trump, While investigations continue , no indictments aside from associates of the individuals appear to be immediately forthcoming. There is a joke somewhere to be made regarding it all but bar none from consideration.
2
How ironic that this formerly corrupt government must now strategize over how to deal with a corrupt government where telling the truth about it’s attempted extortion is not an option.
12
Where is the concern that Lavrov (Putin's lapdog) is meeting in the Oval Office? Ukraine is squarely and clearly in the right regarding their arguments with Russia and is handling the Trump crisis reasonably well given the tough spot they are in. It is extremely important that we help them in traditional American fashion regarding anticorruption and democracy.
22
Some friendly advice for President Zelensky: Book all of your stays at Trump hotels. Might not help, but can't hurt. And, oh yes, tell everyone within earshot what a wise and powerful leader his is. Do this at least twice daily.
13
What is so difficult for Zelensky? He simply needs to "find" (i.e. "make up") something corrupt about Hunter Biden.
3
@Jim S.
Or find out why someone would possibly pay someone as inept as Hunter $60K per month.
1
Trump continues to prove that he supports Russia over Ukraine. The President of Ukraine meets Putin and the U.S. doesn't send any kind of support for Ukraine. And at the same time Trump invites Lavrov, Russian foreign minister, to a secret meeting at the White House. Lavrov, get out of my country! Trump stop colluding with Russia.
25
When it comes to relations with the United States, President Zelenskyy is in an extremely difficult position. This is caused by the rank amateurishness of the Trump White House, the cult-like devotion of Republicans to Trump, and the alarming tendency of Trump himself to believe anything Putin tells him.
This is, at best, a no-win situation for the next year. At worst, it is a minefield full of chances for the US-Ukraine relationship to blow itself up. Zelenskyy will have to maneuver skillfully, despite his lack of experience, just to prevent Trump from doing something stupid and undermining Ukraine's position again.
So, Zelenskyy is walking on eggshells. He has to appear deferential to Trump, while not compromising Ukrainian interests. If that means staying as far away as possible from the impeachment process, so be it. If it means not contradicting Trump by saying that, yes, Ukraine was being coerced in the July 25 phone call, so be it. If it means getting in bed with savory and not so savory lobbyists to work for Ukrainian goals in Washington, so be it. If it means turning a blind eye to Rudy Giuliani's ludicrous attempts to fabricate evidence against Joe Biden, so be it.
Zelenskyy must play for time, and that's what he's doing. With luck, better days lie ahead.
11
If Donald Trump is reelected, look for Russia to invade Ukraine and for the United States to watch it happen.
32
@George W You may also see a Turkey-Russian alliance that would give Putin control of any Black Sea operations. He would control the Dardanelles and Bosporus. He would control all of Eastern Europe. Trump is dangerous, but as long as Mitch McConnell can stack the courts with corporate judges, he will support Trump.
10
@George W Russia already invaded Ukraine. Under Obama.
1
@Mkm
True. Trump is trying to lift the sanctions that Obama imposed on Russia for doing so. That is the difference.
2
The key to understanding the present Ukraine situation is understanding what happened in Kiev, 2014. Read online dispatches from The Guardian of Feb. 20 and 21, 2014 from Kiev to learn that paramilitary rightist extremists broke a truce, surprised off-guard police and drove from office an elected president, Viktor Yanukovych, from East Ukraine. The German and Polish (Radek Sikorski, husband of career-Russia-critic Anne Applebaum) Foreign Ministers were in Kiev negotiating with the government on behalf of the governmental opposition just before the elected government fell. The EU's foreign policy chief, Lady Catherine Ashton, had already encouraged opposition demonstrators in the Maidan, as did the State Department’s Victoria Nuland and the then German foreign minister. (Some of the strongest opposition to the elected Government came from the city of Lviv, a part of Poland (Lwów) before Hitler and Stalin partitioned Poland in 1939. Earlier, Lviv was called Lemberg when it was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.) Who funded and trained the paramilitary rightists? Joao Soares, president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, said Ukraine’s 2010 presidential election, won narrowly by Yanukovych, was an "impressive display of democracy" and called on politicians to honor the outcome. The "annexation" of pro-Russia Crimea occurred after the putsch in Kiev in 2014. (Crimea had been arbitrarily attached to Ukraine by Khrushchev.)
3
In other words he’s getting in bed with the most corrupt admin in US history in order to fight corruption in his own country. You can’t make this stuff up.
33
Cozying up to Trump's America is not a good start for democracy in the Ukraine.
20
President Zelensky now knows what Mr. Trump is like -- his childish vindictiveness, his lying and his blatant attempt at extortion -- and he should avoid any further dealings with the Trump regime. I'm sure Paris will sell weapons to Ukraine and probably provide them with loans, too. If not Paris, then China surely would. The U.S. government is not the only game in town.
5
Why not save money and time and have America, Russia and Ukraine share the most experienced and talented diplomat available aka Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov?
That would please our Czar Father Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and his Siberian President aka Donald John Trump,Sr.
No collusion! MAGA!
5
Hey Volya!!!! What's the matter with the ambassador you have now??????
3
Trump got his quid-pro-quo with Ukraine. Trump's animal instinct to find the weakest and exploit them is disgusting for a POTUS.
6
The best thing Zelensky could do and stand up and condemn Trump for extortion and state quite clearly that he felt incredible pressure and that he was being blackmailed. Sure, the US GOP will be upset, but the EU will shower him with funds and thank him for getting rid of the BEAST that has appeared in their midst.
15
@Kailas
I agree, and that might be the thing needed to bring down Trump, his administration, and the GOP -- through impeachment and/or the ballot box.
Was it that BEAST you were talking about, or the other one?
Now who's going to extort who? Looks like Zelensky wants to cash in on a big hand. He knows what he heard and, as such, he's got the goods on Trump. Time to cash in.
4
"Nice country you have here, Volodymyr. It would be a shame if something happened to it." DJT
8
'He who sups with the Devil had best bring a long spoon'.
4
"They have a long ways to go. Mr. Zelensky’s team has been discouraged by the absence of expected support from Mr. Trump for Ukraine’s peace talks with Russia, ..."
Why are they surprised. Russia wants a negotiated peace deal to keep the land the annexed.
So Trump is simply doing another thing that Russia wants.
Nobody should be surprised.
14
“President Volodymyr Zelensky still needs backing from the administration. He is proposing a new ambassador and weighing hiring lobbyists to build better ties.”
What? - Ukrainian lobbyists to buy influence with the Czar of corruption. I guess some people wouldn’t know corruption if it was baked in a pie and plastered on their face.
Volodymyr Zelensky certainly knows Trump’s motivation in life - he will buy Trump with money. In addition the Ukrainian lobbyists can stay in Trump hotels so Trump can be impeached again for violating the Constitution - again. YIKES! I stand impeachless.
6
@Time - Space
Someone should advise President Zelensky that Mr. Trump never stays bought, and never keeps his promises.
4
@Time - Space: you have to play the hand you're dealt. Outline a better way for Zelensky to deal with the Administration and Congress.
1
Let's see, first, he'll need to book some rooms at Trump International Hotel DC. . ..
32
Better ties? Why hire a lobbyist? Just rent out a floor at the Trump hotel!
23
"I have been happy to say I felt no pressure. And I am happy to keep saying that. Do us a favour though. Send $2 billion."
46
I still support the Ukrainians against Russian aggression, but I've lost all respect for Zelensky. He has no trouble helping Trump destroy our democracy while our tax money his helping him protect his democracy.
13
@GFE You don't get it, do you? Ukraine needs America to stop Russia from taking them over. Trump knows this. Zelinsky is in a hard place and a rock. If he tells off Trump, Trump won't give his country aid. So Zelensky is doing the least he can do and offering to meet with lobbyists in the hopes that Trump stops his attack on Ukraine.
10
@GFE
He wisely tried to not become part of our political battles, but ultimately failed.
When Trump is out of office, and Zelensky is out of office, Zelensky likely tell the truth about what really happened.
8
@T Mo
And that will be about as useful then as learning, after the bus is blown up, where the bomber bought his supplies.
1
It will be surprising if Zelensky doesn't hire Giuliani as a lobbyist.
8
Like the Congressman said yesterday in the hearings -- a battered wife is not going to tell the police about how her alcoholic husband beats her all the time, because as soon as the police leave, the husband will beat her up even more.
61
Let the real corruption begin.
10
@Susan
I think Susan has hit the nail on the head. You ain't seen nothin' yet!
5
Note to President Zelensky: Guiliani is for sale. I'm sure he'd be happy to be your Trump lobbyist.
13
With trump now limiting who can listen to his calls, he can bribe & blackmail every nation in the world (except Saudi Arabia & Russia). Ukraine can come back now & beg for US military assistance & promise trump to investigate anyone & everyone he wants investigated. Now American citizens will never know what trump is promising to give to other countries for them to do what he wants. He can now sell out the US & no one can stop him.
13
One might pity Zelensky. A rank amateur himself, he is poised like doe eyed prey to another rank amateur’s predatory instincts and the whims of a Russian tyrant. The pity stems from the fact that his nation is wracked by war, 14,000 of his citizens dead, with an enemy that is friendlier by far with his vital ally than it is with him. If his previous career in satirical comedy joked about such situations, the reality must be measurably less entertaining.
This is the subtler but no less compelling reason why Trump must be impeached: he is ruthlessly inhumane. Republicans defend him for being cautious about foreign spending, but, in actuality, he is incautious about using it to corrupt fledgling foreign governments who seek succour from their suffering.
Time is not on Zelensky’s side. He knows what he’s up against and, although he claims no pressure from Trump, the pressure is intense. His people look to him to end war and corruption while allies seek to trip him as a bitter and contemptuous enemy occupies part of his nation. If he succeeds, Zelensky will lay claim to statesmanship that other contemporaries can only dream of.
42
@Marcus Brant
I think that if trump had had his way, after getting Zelensky to smear Biden, he would have stiffed Z out of the $400 million.
14
@Sam Song In spite of how everything was "perfect", Trump still has semi-stiffed him.
Z still hasn't gotten all the money, nor a White House meeting.
3
@Marcus Brant The sad thing is, Zelensky had a moment. If the US had unequivocally shown support for him, he would have gone forward from a position of strength and confidence. Trump denied him that and that moment was lost. Putin triumphed yet again because of the recklessness of the US president.
2
Maybe he should go back to being an actor.
It is hard to imagine being servile will work out well for Ukraine or for him. And in any case anyone can be servile. So why not let someone else be.
5
@Robert Roth
Perhaps you haven't been paying close enough attention.
"Being servile" is a prerequisite to getting anywhere with this president -- just look at his administration and congressional Republicans.
28
This makes sense. Extortion is now on the other foot -- If Trump does not take care of Zelensky, the Ukrainian President might say, "Of course we knew Trump was withholding the aide until I agreed to announce the investigation he wanted." Not Selensky wants to be repaid for his silence.
12
The president of Ukraine can now end the Trump presidency by claiming that he did feel pressure. Maybe he should take a cue from his US counterpart, do his own Quid Pro Quo and get whatever he wants from us?
That's why what Trump did was so beyond the line.
45
I agree with you
6
@Mark How would that end Trump’s presidency? Do you imagine a contrite Mitch McConnell holding a press conference to say that the scales have fallen from his eyes? A wave of conscience to wash over the Senate, perhaps?
6
@Mark The narrative will just keep shifting:
"He did feel pressure but that is just how foreign negotiations work."
"He did feel pressure but not enough to take any action.",
"He did feel pressure but he shouldn't have felt any."
and of course the coup de gras...
"He is just saying he felt pressure because the Dems are pressuring him." (!)
2
President Volodymyr Zelensky can try to change and re-arrange all the new channels to Washington he likes -- but that still doesn't take away from the fact that Donald Trump acted beyond the realms of his office in asking for a personal political favor in exchange for the federally allocated funds he withheld from Ukraine at his leisure.
Until that changes, nothing will change.
15
How disappointing that Zelensky is considering hiring a lobbyist (especially one who apparently has the blessing of Giuliani) to interfere with what would normally be handled by diplomats and in testimony we saw American diplomats who are more than up to the task.
36
@Mary Glenn
Exactly!