NEW YORK, March 3. /TASS/. Vladimir Zelensky's public humiliation at a meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House and his welcome in London at the European summit underscores the degree of estrangement between the US and Europe, CNN TV channel reported.
"The drama in the Oval Office prompted America’s European allies into emergency action. They now intend to shield Zelensky from Trump and hope to draw up a viable peace framework" for a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, which Kiev allegedly can send to Moscow, it said.
CNN believes that if the US military aid to Ukraine is halted, Europe will not be able to replace it "largely because of its years of slashing military spending, its eroded military production base and its own reliance on US security guarantees to NATO members."
It said that it was not solely Ukraine that triggered the US-Europe fissure, but also Trump’s wish that the continent now takes primary responsibility for its conventional defense. Only real initiatives by the UK and the EU on the Ukrainian settlement and their willingness to increase defense spending can change the situation for the better, CNN believes.
Earlier, The New York Times newspaper, citing a US official, reported that on March 3 Trump would discuss with his team possible termination of aid to Ukraine.
On February 28, Zelensky arrived at the White House to meet with Trump, where they clashed with the US president pointing to Zelensky's disrespect towards the United States, while Vice President JD Vance said Zelensky had forgotten to thank Washington for its support. The press conference following the meeting was canceled, and signing of a minerals agreement between the US and Ukraine failed. Trump later said that Zelensky had demonstrated disrespect and unwillingness to settle the Ukrainian conflict peacefully.