Were the last few weeks a total charade? Was it always an act? All the talk of sending Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine, of hitting Russia with crippling new sanctions, could it have all been meaningless—even destructive? How could that be—there were countless articles that Trump was on the verge of sending Tomahawks or even that he had actually agreed to send them. There were quotes from Trump and others that he was going to hurt the Russian economy, to make Russia pay the costs of the war, etc.
Zelensky was indeed on his way to Washington, we were assured, to agree a large weapons deal with Trump, to get further American backing and even to improve his relationship with Trump. A new day was about to dawn.
And then Trump and Putin had a phone call and all the talk of Tomahawks to Ukraine and sanctions on Russia disappeared into the ether. And that might be the less bad part of what has just transpired in the last hours.
