KYIV In Kyiv, Ukrainians who endure almost constant Russian bombing watched in shock as their nation’s most significant ally lavished a lavish Alaskan welcome to the man they hold responsible for more than three years of conflict, death, and destruction.
Kyiv resident Natalya Lypei, 66, looked twice. However, the photos that flashed on her phone screen were real: after being escorted into the country by four American fighter jets, U.S. President Donald Trump greeted Russian President Vladimir Putin warmly and clapped as the Russian leader approached him.
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Additionally, Trump disregarded the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for Putin, which has largely kept him imprisoned at home or in close allies’ countries.
How can you accept such a despot? She inquired, expressing what many Kyiv residents were thinking.
For Ukrainians who have endured great suffering in the nearly three-and-a-half years since Russia’s full-scale invasion, the red carpet treatment, the absence of decisive actions for Ukraine, and—above all—the disregard for the importance of sanctions as a policy that could change the tide in Kyiv’s favor have felt like betrayals.
Thousands of people have been killed in Russian strikes, tens of thousands of Ukrainian servicemen—the nation’s most courageous and skilled—have been killed or injured, and a fifth of the country is under occupation, destroying families, property, and Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
Memes showing Trump and Putin strolling down a red carpet covered in dead Ukrainian victims became viral on Ukrainian social media.
Zelenskyy had expected that Putin would benefit greatly from the meeting and that there would be little outcomes. He told reporters in the days before the meeting that the Russian leader would ultimately win in terms of public relations. He was primarily looking for a picture taken on American grounds, which he obtained during Friday’s encounter.
In other words, it was a victory because it was the first time Putin had visited the United States in ten years, ending the worldwide isolation sparked by the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. It was like going to another burial for Lypei, whose serviceman son was murdered the previous year, a new bereavement. Her nation is hoping for a fair peace this time.
“My child died in a full-scale war, and we saw a new funeral today, and it hurts me a lot,” she added. Putin wants Ukraine to leave the Donetsk region in exchange for a peace, and her 34-year-old son was slain there while serving with Ukraine’s 79th Brigade.
“I don’t want anyone to experience that grief, that sadness, or those tears,” she declared.
Another Kyiv resident, Natalya Cucil, 60, expressed surprise that Trump failed to deliver any outcomes from the summit, given his professed attempts to bring the war to a conclusion.
“We always hope and expect something, but there are no results and we don’t know if there will be,” she said.
Anatolii Kovalenko, 72, a pensioner, stated that regardless of the topics discussed between the two presidents, it is evident that his nation’s enemy has prevailed in the field of public relations.
He claimed that Putin had won this meeting handily.
