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Robert Cekuta of Jefferson spent four decades as a foreign service officer, holding senior positions in the U.S. State Department. He was the U.S. ambassador to Azerbaijan from 2015 to 2018.
The atmospherics were terrible, but the consequences for the U.S. will be worse.
The Feb. 28 meeting between Presidents Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy captured Americans’ attention for many reasons, not least because of Trump’s and Vice President JD Vance’s bullying behavior. Given that the press was not ushered out, as per usual, after a brief photo opportunity and a couple of questions to both presidents, there is no doubt to me that Trump — who, as host, has complete control over these meetings — wanted to televise much, if not all, of his engagement with Zelenskyy.
Diplomacy often requires tough conversations. Discussions can get heated; leaders, ministers and diplomats are human after all and look to advance their country’s interests.
But there is a good reason why most diplomacy occurs away from television cameras: the sides can say what they think and why. They can change old positions, make concessions and find compromises or the right words to seal agreements.
For those reasons, I have seen the secretary of state quietly pull foreign presidents to the side, separating them even from their own foreign ministers and ambassadors, to make tough points to get that president’s agreement. And after all, the point of diplomacy is not to be “nice,” but to advance one’s country’s interests and to achieve their country’s desired results.
While many Americans and others around the world are appalled by what we witnessed Friday, more consequential is the meeting’s impact on the American people’s security and well-being.
Ukraine’s independence, its ability to remain a sovereign state with its borders respected, and its people’s ability to choose their own paths are crucial to a secure, peaceful world where Americans are safe, where Americans prosper.
Like it or not, Russian President Vladimir Putin is focused on overturning the post-Cold War world, the world and international system that Americans spent effort, treasure and lives to build. Putin’s public statements show his intent to rebuild the Soviet Union or the Tsarist Empire to dominate, if not reincorporate, the 14 other countries that with Russia encompassed the USSR. He also wants to intimidate, if not dominate Poland and the other countries of the old Warsaw Pact.
Putin has made it clear he sees Russia at war with the United States and the West, even if we do not think we are at war with Russia. He has used energy prices, military maneuvers, information- and cyber-warfare to attack the U.S. and our partners. He wants our partners and allies to believe they cannot rely on their own abilities nor those of their allies, including the U.S., to defend themselves. Whether it is the Baltic states, Poland, Armenia or Central Asia, there are well-founded concerns that they could be next if Ukraine falls.
Russia’s use of Iranian drones, Chinese support and North Korean troops in Ukraine shows the Kremlin will do whatever it takes to get its way. However, desperately grasping at Iran, China and North Korea for help also shows Moscow is not winning in Ukraine and that it needs outside aid.
Friday we failed to show Putin he cannot win in Ukraine, that he cannot dominate others. This failure hurt the U.S. just as much as if we had said during the Cold War, “OK, Moscow do what you want, we don’t care.” Imagine if President John F. Kennedy had not objected to Soviet missiles in Cuba. Moreover, China’s president, Xi Jinping, who has his own ambitions that endanger American interests, is now watching and calculating what he can get away with.
The Feb. 28 meeting, awful as it was, can still be corrected and the partnership salvaged. It will not be easy, but it can be done. It has to be done to advance U.S. interests, whether because of our desire for peace, to counter an enemy, or to gain access to valuable critical minerals.
History shows that a self-isolated United States is an endangered United States.
