Eggs broken in Oval office

On breaking eggs

An old saying is that you cannot make an omelette without breaking eggs. For a few weeks now this has come to mind when hearing the machinations Trump and his team have undertaken to try to stop the war started by Russia by invading Ukraine. Trump's rhetoric cozying up to Putin and distancing himself from Ukraine has shaken some confidences. But don't worry, after all, you do need to break eggs when you make an omelette. Trump was preparing a rather tough egg for a bit of cracking. 

Alas, that was so yesterday! In a short 10-15 minutes. at a fully televised Oval Office public press conference, that hard egg wriggled out of the delicate deal-making hands of the Trump team and fell. Yes, it fell, not onto the fry pan or even onto the kitchen bench, but onto the POTUS's pristine carpet, and it cracked. It cracked well and truly, and there is no telling if this Humpty Dumpty can be put together again by any number of the king's horses and men.

It has been a shockingly undiplomatic fiasco!  No doubt the fault will be attributed to Trump and Vance by some left-leaning commentators, but only a few. A vast majority will blame Zelinsky. WTF was he thinking? It is inexplicable. It did not take a high level of diplomatic sensitivity or even expertise in military strategy to understand that the POTUS should be respected in his office and especially in a public meeting. It did not require Zelinksy to kowtow, but required him to be respectful, hold his fire, and address any disagreements off line. By his own obstinacy, he has set-back the negotiation that has proceeded well and in all probability would have stopped the war. 

Zelinsky has been a brave, committed, and smart leader of his people, at their time of need. For 3 years he has managed to keep his borders reasonably intact despite facing a nasty no-holds-barred attack by Russia, a much stronger adversary. So it is especially jarring that he has failed so publicly when peace for his country was within arms-reach. 

Perhaps all is not yet lost, but it seems to me that Zelinsky needs to be some groveling and soon. Otherwise, it will require his being replaced to restart the process. No doubt costing many lives on both sides.

I have been following the extensive commentary on this fiasco and would like to share two short videos that seem to best summarise where we stand.

The first by Victor Davis Hanson; -

The second by General Keene; -

We remain stunned, and hopefully, the opportunity for peace is not foresaken!