President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is visiting the Oval Office today in a very different atmosphere from February 28 of this year, when a shameful ambush led to the Ukrainian delegation leaving through the back door. After six months of games and deception, Donald Trump has finally identified the person responsible for nearly four years of invasion in Europe and for his plans to end the war not materializing: Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin.
After exchanging embarrassing compliments, applause on the red carpet in Alaska, and unsuccessful appeasement, Trump has made a U-turn: "The best way to get back at Putin is to praise Zelensky; that's how Trump sees it," says the Politico correspondent at the White House.
In this new context, a crucial meeting is taking place. We do not know what attire Zelensky will wear, but clothing has now taken a back seat. Now, both the president and JD Vance have changed the narrative, and it is Putin who needs to be convinced that the invasion, after four years of death and destruction, makes no sense.
To achieve this, Trump wants to use a more powerful lever: long-range weapons, capable of causing even more damage to the Russian war machine and its ailing oil economy, constantly hit by Ukrainian drones. According to the Financial Times, for days in Moscow, they know that Washington has methodically assisted with intelligence in selecting targets in deep Russia, providing precise instructions to Ukrainians on where to strike, at what time, and how.
Is it true that Trump is now considering providing Tomahawk long-range missiles to Ukraine to further degrade Russia? The US president has seriously considered supplying these weapons or an equivalent in range, which would dramatically expand Kiev's attack capabilities. The Ukrainian delegation in Washington visited Raytheon's factory, the company that designs them, last Tuesday. However, Putin's call to arrange the meeting in Hungary, a country he would have difficulty reaching due to being a wanted suspect by the International Criminal Court, could derail the plan. The Russian autocrat once again displayed his seductive skills with a president who craves constant flattery.
Initially, Trump only intends to pressure the Kremlin, so he would want this delivery to remain just an announcement before receiving Putin's call to say yes, that he will finally meet with Zelensky to end the war. But as that scenario seems quite unlikely, the White House was considering numbers ranging from 20 to 50 units as of yesterday, in addition to some ground launchers and the deployment of technical advisors (non-military) in Ukraine to quickly train Ukrainians in their use. Could these numbers change the war? No, but they would set a trend. If Russia decides to continue without negotiating, the shipments could increase.
The Russian autocrat, who already anticipates that the delivery of these missiles may occur at some point, spoke with Trump in a "lengthy conversation" yesterday, agreeing to meet again in Budapest "to end the war." In reality, it would be surprising if Vladimir Putin genuinely wanted to end the war and not just manipulate Trump to buy more time. Despite past disappointments, it is possible that Putin will get his way, and the missile delivery will not take place.
Time magazine adds that there is discussion about "the exchange of Ukrainian drone technology for multibillion-dollar military aid from the US." In other words, Zelensky does have cards to play in negotiations.
All this movement has led the Kremlin to acknowledge that the atmosphere in Alaska has "vanished" between both leaders. In Moscow, they noticed and made it known that on October 7, Putin's 73rd birthday, Trump was not among the presidents who had congratulated the Russian autocrat.
Since then, threats have multiplied. For Moscow, the use of these missiles represents almost a nuclear escalation, as these weapons can carry atomic warheads, a poor excuse, as they know that Kiev does not possess such weapons since they handed them over to Russia during the dissolution of the USSR in exchange for their sovereignty. Yesterday, Putin told Trump that if he delivers the Tomahawks, relations between the US and Russia will deteriorate again.