Zelenskyy meets Vance in Rome, hours after Russia's largest drone attack on Ukraine

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: NPR

May 18, 2025 10:21 AM ET



KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with top U.S. officials and European leaders in Rome on Sunday, part of stepped-up diplomatic efforts ahead of a high-stakes phone call Monday between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on ending the war in Ukraine.

Zelenskyy spoke with U.S. Vice President JD Vance and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the U.S. ambassador's residence, while German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he had spoken both to Zelenskyy and to Rubio on the sidelines of the new pope's inauguration.

Merz said that he had also agreed with the leaders of France and Britain "that we will speak again with the American president in preparation for this conversation." My firm impression is that both the Europeans and the Americans are determined to work together, but now also in a goal-oriented manner, to ensure that this terrible war ends soon," Merz told reporters in Rome.

Trump said he plans to speak by phone Monday with Putin, and will then speak to Zelenskyy and leaders of various NATO countries, about ending the war in Ukraine. The intensified diplomacy came as Russia launched its largest drone barrage against Ukraine since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022, after the first direct talks between Moscow and Kyiv in years failed to yield a ceasefire.

Read more: https://www.npr.org/2025/05/18/nx-s1-5402815/zelenskyy-meets-vance-in-rome-hours-after-russias-largest-drone-attack-on-ukraine

[Norrrm]

1. Vance better wear a tie.

[blue-wave]

2. After the way they

treated Zelenskyy in the last oval office visit, I'm surprised Zelenskyy didn't give them the middle finger. Goes to show who is the class and who is the classless act. Slava Ukraini!! Heroyam Slava!!

[Safe as Milk]

3. Wow! Putin feels generous! He only wants PART of Ukraine!

Oh... that's a "maybe."

And Donny Dictator framed Putin's position as entirely wrong. Putin isn't "relenting" by negotiating down to part of Ukraine as Russia. Putin couldn't conquer all of UKR anyway. UKR has too much support from allies to fold and give up territory. Putin can't save face, either. All he can do is throw more soldiers into the meat grinder and build more hatred for him in his own country. Too many deaths. For nothing. Retreating will get him killed by people inside the Kremlin. Carrying on with the war will get him killed by people outside the Kremlin. But he started the war, his soldiers are getting slaughtered, and he's wasting billions. By now, Putin knows all of this. He's hoping for some bolt from the blue that will turn the tide for him, but it won't come.

Trump may not want to offend Putin, but Vlad has been giving Trump the cold shoulder, and that means a lot to Trump. Way more than it should. If Trump is going to flip sides against Putin, it should be a rational and pragmatic decision. But that's the best of any world. Trump can't meet the moment in that context, but he can choose vengeance and retaliation instead. That might happen. If Trump goes back to NATO, Putin had better be looking for a 5th story window and a skydiving suit. At least the suit would add color.

[DallasNE]

4. At This Point

None of these talks will produce results. They remind me of the Vietnam talks where it took around 2 years to reach agreement on the shape of the table in Paris. Where the talks were being held. The reason is the same, too. Conditions are not ripe on the ground for peace. Stop wasting time and apply those tough sanctions on Russia. Maybe in another 18 months condition s will have changed enough for talks. There is a long, hard sloughing ahead.