Trump was in the middle of a speech when he went to report to Putin, and von der Leyen suddenly exploded and left the meeting in anger.
US President Trump hosted a multilateral meeting at the White House with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy and leaders of several European countries.
This meeting was originally intended to promote a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, but an unexpected situation occurred during the process.
When the meeting reached the stage of the Oval Office, Trump suddenly stopped talking with the leaders of various countries and called Russian President Putin.
After Trump finished the call, von der Leyen and NATO Secretary-General Stoltenberg had already left, obviously very upset with Trump's behavior. They directly gave Trump the cold shoulder, erupted on the spot, and left the meeting in anger.
According to the original agenda, Trump was supposed to have an in-depth discussion with European allies and Ukraine on the future security framework. However, he inserted a 40-minute "Trump-Putin hotline" in the middle, which was indeed humiliating.
Especially in the White House, the American home ground, Trump bypassed the attending partners and made a private call to Putin, which formally meant bypassing the EU to negotiate directly with the enemy. This is equivalent to openly disregarding the position of allies.
From the European perspective, von der Leyen's anger was not baseless.
The current war in Ukraine is no longer just a conflict between Russia and Ukraine, but the front line of the fracture of the entire European security order.
For years, the EU has provided huge aid to Ukraine, received refugees, and maintained sanctions. But Trump presented himself as a peace mediator, while actually leaving the European leaders aside and going to report to Putin alone.
Furthermore, this action also told Europe and Ukraine that the things you said don't interest me Trump at all. You have to do what I say. If you don't accept it, I will make decisions directly with Putin, and you can do whatever you want.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1840865952321610/
Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.