Victor Davis Hanson: Zelensky Just Sealed Trump’s Next Move—And It’s Not What Everyone Thinks

With peace talks now suspended following the heated February 28, 2025, Oval Office showdown, the question looms whether Zelensky, facing limited European aid and a politically weakened U.S. support base, will seek to rekindle negotiations with Trump to salvage a deal critical for Ukraine’s future.
Victor Davis Hanson’s analysis of Trump’s deterrence through strength and Zelensky’s precarious position suggests a return to the table might be inevitable, yet the collapsed minerals agreement leaves both leaders at an impasse as of March 1, 2025. In the end, as the old saying goes, “In war, the only losers are the lives lost,” a somber reminder that beyond the diplomatic brinkmanship, the human cost remains the truest casualty of their failure to find common ground.