EDITORIAL: Why the Western world should be grateful to Ukraine

Donald Trump has made no secret of his great admiration for Vladimir Putin.

Even so, seeing the President of the United States uncritically parroting the lines of a murderous tyrant continues to shock anew each time he does it.

Mr Trump’s attack on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office signified an abandonment of a century of American foreign policy.

Here was the leader of the free world, siding with a dangerous despot over the democratically-elected leader of the country Putin is seeking to crush with his imperialistic ambition.

It was a spectacle unmatched for its sheer repulsiveness.

The excruciating altercation was sparked by Mr Trump’s toady Vice President JD Vance who inexplicably began berating Mr Zelensky, lecturing him for not showing adequate gratitude to the US for that nation’s military and financial support.

As Mr Zelensky attempted to point out, the US’s motivation for offering that support — which the US Department of Defense values at US$182.8 billion — is not entirely altruistic.

The Western world — the US included — itself should be grateful to Ukraine for its heroic resistance efforts, which have exposed significant weaknesses in Russia’s military capabilities.

But Mr Trump reacted with fury at Mr Zelensky’s comment that the US would feel the consequences should Putin be allowed to triumph in Ukraine.

“Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel,” Trump chided. “You’re gambling with the lives of millions of people. You’re gambling with World War III.”

Mr Trump expects nothing less than fawning sycophancy — and half of Ukraine’s mineral wealth — from Mr Zelensky.

“You don’t have the cards right now,” Mr Trump told Mr Zelensky as the car crash meeting unfolded before the eyes of the world.

Clearly, he wants Ukraine to fold to Putin — without any security assurances from the US should Russia violate the terms of a ceasefire, as it has done many times before.

That would be a catastrophe for the Western world, even if Mr Trump is too busy hero-worshipping Putin to see it.

Certainly, it would have been advisable for Mr Zelensky to bite his tongue in response to Mr Vance’s condescension. Swallow the rising bile, get the deal signed and get out.

Instead, Ukraine’s future hangs in the balance and the Western alliance is further fractured.

The only tiny fleck of positivity to be gleaned from this diplomatic disaster is the manner in which the rest of the free world has wrapped its arms around Ukraine. Literally, in the case of UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, whose embrace of Mr Zelensky on the steps of Downing Street in the aftermath of the explosive row with Trump was a clear expression of European solidarity.

Sir Keir is now spearheading a campaign to convince other European nations to pick up the slack in Ukraine.

They are coming to terms with the grim truth that Mr Trump’s America may no longer be a reliable ally.