In Kyiv, Ukrainians residing underneath close to day by day Russian bombardment watched with astonishment as their nation’s most vital ally rolled out a purple carpet in Alaska for the person they blame for over three years of warfare, bloodshed and loss.
Natalya Lypei, 66, a Kyiv resident, did a double-take. However the pictures flashing on her telephone display screen had been actual: U.S. President Donald Trump greeted Russian President Vladimir Putin warmly and clapped because the Russian chief approached him, after having been escorted into the nation by 4 American fighter jets.
Trump additionally ignored the arrest warrant issued for Putin by the Worldwide Prison Court docket that has stored him principally confined at house or in nations which can be sturdy allies.
“How are you going to welcome a tyrant like that?” she requested, echoing the ideas of many Kyiv residents.
The purple carpet remedy, the shortage of concrete choices for Ukraine and, most importantly, neglecting the importance of sanctions — a coverage that might flip the tide in Kyiv’s favor — have felt like a betrayal for Ukrainians who’ve borne monumental struggling within the nearly three-and-a-half years since Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Tens of 1000’s of Ukrainian servicemen, the nation’s bravest and most expert, have been killed and wounded, 1000’s of civilians have been killed in Russian strikes, and a fifth of the nation is underneath occupation, severing households, properties and Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
Get breaking Nationwide information
For information impacting Canada and around the globe, join breaking information alerts delivered on to you after they occur.
On Ukrainian social media, memes of Putin and Trump strolling down a purple carpet strewn with lifeless Ukrainian our bodies had been broadly shared.
Zelenskyy had anticipated the assembly can be a boon for Putin and that there can be little or no in the way in which of outcomes. Talking to reporters within the days main as much as the assembly, he mentioned it will find yourself being a public relations victory for the Russian chief. Above all else, he was searching for a photograph on American soil — which he received in Friday’s assembly.
It was the primary time in a decade that Putin had stepped foot within the U.S., ending worldwide isolation spurred by the 2022 Ukraine invasion; in different phrases, it was a win. For Lypei, whose serviceman son was killed final 12 months, it was like attending one other funeral, a recent loss. This time, her nation’s hopes for a simply peace.
“It hurts me lots that my baby died in a full-scale warfare, and at the moment we noticed a brand new funeral,” she mentioned. Her 34-year-old son fought with Ukraine’s 79th Brigade and was killed within the Donetsk area, the very space Putin needs Ukraine to vacate as a situation for a truce.
“I don’t want anybody that sorrow, that disappointment, these tears,” she mentioned.
Natalya Cucil, 60, one other Kyiv resident mentioned she was stunned that Trump didn’t produce any outcomes from the assembly, regardless of his acknowledged efforts to finish the warfare.
“There are not any outcomes and we don’t know if there can be, though we all the time anticipate one thing and hope for it,” she mentioned.
Pensioner Anatolii Kovalenko, 72, mentioned it doesn’t matter what was mentioned between the 2 leaders, it’s clear his nation’s adversary has gained within the sphere of public relations.
“Putin gained this assembly 100%,” he mentioned.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
