Donald Trump 'setting Zelensky up to fail' after Vladimir Putin's 'manipulation'

Donald Trump knows there is zero chance of a workable peace deal being agreed when Volodymyr Zelensky visits the White House on Monday, former defence committee chairman Tobias Ellwood has warned. And the Ukrainian President is being "set up to fail" by his US counterpart, who was himself "manipulated" by Vladimir Putin during their high-profile summit on Friday, the ex-British Army officer claimed.

Mr Ellwood said: "I see Trump deliberately setting this up to fail so he can then walk away and say, ‘I tried, they didn’t want to play ball.’” The former MP for Bournemouth East painted a picture of a summit dominated by strategic manoeuvring rather than concrete support for Ukraine. He told Express.co.uk: “Everybody's takeaway is, 'oh my goodness, didn't Putin pull off a fast one, red carpet treatment, handshake with the American president and somehow, then walking away with not even agreeing a ceasefire, let alone a deal.’

"But Trump isn't stupid, and he knows that he's up against all the promises that he made. And I'm looking at the bigger picture, the five or six chess moves down the line.

“And I see Trump deliberately setting this up to fail so he can then walk away and say, 'Listen, I brought the stakeholders around the table. I knocked heads together. They didn't want to play ball. I'm out of here.'"

Mr Trump’s attitude would be that he had "done his best" but that he was now going to do “look after America”, Mr Ellwood suggested - possibly by doing some deals with Russia.

Mr Ellwood, who is now a Distinguished Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, was highly critical of the Trump administration's approach to diplomacy.

He explained: “With the offer on the table that Trump is putting together, there's no chance that Zelensky can agree to it, because it's appeasement.

“He is the president but he would never would want to be the president that gives a fifth of his country to a bully, only for the bully to then re-arm, regroup and do it all again."

He further highlighted the lack of experienced diplomats in the current administration.

Referring to the New Yorker's first term in the White House, Mr Ellwood said: "Trump 1.0 was effectively American statecraft, traditional American statecraft. You had in and around the White House and the State Department, gifted diplomats, seasoned diplomats, that could organise a summit, make sure all the details are sorted in advance and get results and they're all out. They're gone.

"And with Trump 2.0 he's brought in his own team of buddies, friends, contacts, mostly for the real estate, and they just simply don't have the experience to do any of this."

He warned of the potential consequences of this approach, saying: "They will not challenge Trump - they're all rowing behind his vision, which is to say, he's now realised he's between a rock and a hard place now so he's forcing Zelensky to fail.

"And that leaves Britain and Europe, in a very difficult place, because Europe and America not being on the same page is a very dangerous place. We saw that in World War 1 and World War 2.

"What's happened is, is that Trump has set up a relationship separate from Ukraine, to be friendly enough for a transactional relationship with Russia so they can start doing business together."

After their meeting at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Mr Trump is believed to have shifted from advocating a ceasefire in Ukraine to pursuing an overall peace agreement.

On Saturday, he discussed the conflict with European allies, noting Putin’s insistence on keeping Donetsk and Luhansk while showing openness to freezing the front lines in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson. Mr Zelensky has firmly rejected ceding any Donbas territory.

The summit left many questions unresolved, with leaders including UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer emphasising the need for ironclad security guarantees for Ukraine and insisted borders should not change by force.

Mr Putin described the talks as “frank” and avoided commitments to end hostilities, continuing attacks along a 1,000-kilometre front.

Mr Zelensky supports a potential trilateral US-Russia-Ukraine meeting but has insisted sanctions must increase if Russia evades honest negotiations.

Experts have noted that Mr Trump struggles to influence Putin, who seeks long-term gains, while Ukrainians aim for peace but face territorial threats.