The article <a href="https://scheerpost.com/2025/03/02/european-leaders-voice-support-for-zelensky-following-heated-exchange-with-trump/" author="Kyle Anzalone" source="Scheer Post">European Leaders Voice Support for Zelensky Following Heated Exchange With Trump</a> describes Trump's feelings about where he and Zelenskyy differ. <bq>Following the presser, Trump expelled Zelensky from the White House, and posted on Truth Social that the deal was off. “I have determined that <b>President Zelensky is not ready for Peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations. I don’t want advantage, I want PEACE</b>,” he wrote.</bq> That statement seems surprisingly clear. I guess that most people will interpret the all-caps <iq>PEACE</iq> to mean "capitulation to Putin," but that's their loss. I think Trump might kind-of mean it. But he isn't doing it on some sort of anti-empire principle, not for a pro-peace principle. Or not <i>just</i> that. There is enough evidence that Trump is an asshole but he has many times lamented the senseless loss of life. He only approves of lost life, lost livelihoods, and lost quality of life if it's <i>sensible</i>, which usually means that either he or someone who will owe him a favor would benefit from it. Another statement cited in the article was from, <img attachment="natas_a_pirc_musar.webp" align="right" caption="Nataša Pirc Musar"><bq>Nataša Pirc Musar, the President of Slovenia, posted on X, “What we witnessed in the Oval Office today undermines these values and the foundations of diplomacy. <b>We stand firmly in support of Ukraine’s sovereignty.</b>”</bq> Note that this statement applies <i>only</i> to Ukraine. No-one else's sovereignty matters at all to the EU, NATO, or the U.S. Libya, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan---the list goes on and on. Even Greece's sovereignty didn't matter more to the EU than paying its biggest banks back ¢100 on the € that they'd loaned to Greece. Don't be fooled into thinking that the EU and its leaders have principles when they say things like this. They don't respect <i>sovereignty</i>, they cynically pretend to respect some countries' sovereignty when it serves their interests. Trump, at the helm of the U.S., is no different. As far as he and his administration are concerned, Ukraine does not serve U.S. interests, so they are dropping them like a hot rock. No-one in the current administration will acknowledge that it was many successive previous administrations---including the first Trump administration---that led Ukraine down this primrose path in the first place, but that's honestly been the prerogative of the stronger partner since the dawn of time. The same advice applies when you learn that the only one supporting a move toward peace is, <bq>Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said, “Strong men make peace, weak men make war. Today President [Trump] stood bravely for peace. Even if it was difficult for many to digest. Thank you, Mr. President!”</bq> Orban has his reasons and they almost certainly have nothing to do with a general principle about respecting the sovereignty of other nations.