How Zelensky is Outmaneuvering Trump's Patronizing Gambit

Ukraine is promoting a multipolar coalition that turns American distance into leverage for Ukraine. Make us preferred on Google Share Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn Bluesky Email Copy Copied Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky and President of the Bundestag Julia Kloeckner (unseen) attend a press conference in Kyiv on March 11, 2026, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Tetiana DZHAFAROVA / AFP) Content Share Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn Bluesky Email Copy Copied Flip Make us preferred on Google When US President Donald Trump returned to the White House with a promise to effectively end the war in Ukraine with a wave of his hand, the script seemed written. His Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, would accept whatever it entailed, and Washington would be fine with this option. Ukraine’s very survival depended on an American hand-holding agreement –treating its president as though he were a desperate supplicant, with no option but to do as Trump wanted. This assumption was reiterated in Trump’s subsequent meetings with Zelensky – culminating in the explosive October 2025 Oval Office blowup. Follow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official . Zelensky nevertheless had other ideas. In the ensuing months, he built a web of connections that stretched across the Gulf monarchies, the leading European nations, and the broader European Union. Ukraine, it turned out, has not only cards, but even an ace or two up its sleeve. What Trump had derided as desperation shifted into leverage, triggering a realignment of global security that goes on with or without Washington’s authorization. Zelensky’s breakthrough came during his unexpected Middle East tour in March 2026, when he secured 10-year cooperation agreements with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. Other similar arrangements are in the works with Oman, Kuwait, and Bahrain. These are not charity transactions but sophisticated exchanges that position Ukraine as a country exporting tech and consulting in the defense industry. Other Topics of Interest Kernel Partners With NASA Harvest to Advance Satellite Crop Monitoring Kernel, Ukraine’s largest agroholding, is working on providing ground data to NASA Harvest to refine satellite models for crop analysis and soil management. The value proposition is simple. After four years of fighting Russian drone and missile attacks – including thousands of Iranian-designed Shahed drones –Ukrainian forces have acquired skills the Gulf states sorely need. Iran’s drones pose just as daunting a threat to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar in the Middle East conflict that continues. Zelensky sent his own 200-plus Ukrainian soldiers, now equipped with specialized anti-drone units, to the region, pooling combat-experienced skills across a host of fronts, from SIGINT/ELINT identification systems to mobile firing forces and short-range air defense batteries. In exchange, Ukraine gets what no amount of Western political pressure can deliver: assured oil and diesel for delivery in the upcoming year, financial aid, missile interceptors, and long-term cooperation with investments in Ukrainian technology. These alliances could help transition Ukraine from a country dependent on Western fuels to one with a diverse energy mix. They make Ukraine a provider of security services globally, using combat experience as a tool of geopolitical clout. While Trump and Vice President JD Vance continued publicly to pressure Zelensky to give in to terms favoring Russia – Germany and Norway quietly penned production agreements and technology-sharing deals. On April 14, Zelensky signed an important agreement in Oslo with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre. It created joint drone production facilities, under which Ukrainian drones are to be produced in Norway, in clear commitment to incorporating Ukrainian technology into European industrial production. Norway explicitly acknowledged “the critical importance of sustaining and furthering Ukraine’s drone capability and technological edge,” describing Ukraine as a peer. Germany has also increased its cooperation with Ukraine. Berlin and Kyiv have signed cooperation agreements, including one of the largest partnerships in European drone manufacturing. They cover not only the acquisition but also the joint development of military technologies, and seven drones currently under development have already been launched. The UK and France have committed themselves to a similar strategy, increasing aid packages, setting up joint training programs, and embedding Ukraine into European security planning. Despite the Trump administration’s often-cited “unfriendly, patronizing tone,” European capitals have recognized Ukraine’s steady evolution. It is no longer viewed by them as a victim in need of assistance. Ukraine is now a nation fully engaged. Why? Because Zelensky’s bilateral successes have driven something bigger: a kind of comprehensive European mobilization that operates outside – and to a certain degree in response to – American ambivalence. The EU pledged €30.6 billion ($36 billion) to Ukraine in 2025, with the intent to double military aid to €40 billion ($47 billion), partially from frozen Russian assets. But the mobilization goes far beyond Ukraine-specific assistance. The EU has implemented unprecedented spending mechanisms, such as the SAFE (Security and Action for Europe) Regulation, which funds up to €150 billion ($177 billion) in EU-backed loans and heavily encourages EU-based production. States are embarking on a bold €800 billion ($944 billion) spending plan and applying what is known as the “escape clauses” for countries to permit expenditures beyond normal budget constraints. The European Commission even has a special Commissioner for Defense and Space (Andrius Kubilius) to institutionalize this policy area. The mobilization will include plans for a European air shield, increased cyber operations, and reduced dependence on foreign procurement. Poland is amassing a considerable stockpile of munitions, artillery, and aerial assets. Belgium and Spain each have provided €1 billion ($1.2 billion) in assistance and are providing additional F-16s, joining a growing list of EU countries in its wake, putting words into action. The new members of NATO, Sweden and Finland, are now supporting and integrating Ukraine into a wider Nordic security system within the Nordic Union, extending across the Baltic. France and the United Kingdom are stepping up to discussions on nuclear cooperation. Germany is playing the role of Europe’s architect and norm-setter – formerly a domain of Washington. Hungary’s previous blocking position is expected to soften markedly following Viktor Orbán’s election defeat this month. Budapest’s removal of some of the major roadblocks to unified EU coordination should be a transformation of European consensus, leaving no persistent veto player around to complicate spending decisions and weapons transfers. This political realignment improves the EU’s ability to act forcefully, without the diplomatic friction evident in previous negotiations. Trump’s distancing the US from Europe, and the risk even of its disengagement, have expedited European integration more thoroughly than decades of diplomatic entrenchment. Zelensky’s stance, ideas, and negotiations have shown both the need and the possibility of developing a security architecture without American control. Europe is not just filling a void; it’s building autonomous capabilities, factoring in Ukraine’s potential, which will outlast any given American administration. Trump’s and Zelensky’s interaction has exposed the fundamental miscalculations in the current US approach to foreign policy, especially after the US-Israeli war with Iran, both with regard to Ukraine, but also Europe and its partners, and beyond. Every new partnership with Gulf states, each pact with European powers, and every inflow of EU financing reduced Washington’s leverage and expanded Kyiv’s options. Zelensky’s endurance and thinking outside the box over the past year has not only been successful crisis management on the international scene; it’s signaling a broader reorganization of global security arrangements. Ukraine has shown that a country under existential threat can still wield agency, cobble together alliances, and harness unique assets to gain geopolitical clout. The Gulf deals make Ukraine a security provider in areas far from Ukraine’s borders. Closer relations with Germany, Norway, and the wider EU, in addition to the strategic partnership with the UK, help create a European security system in which Ukraine is anchored and not simply a periphery dependent. This nascent architecture is multipolar for its intended interdependence. It doesn’t exclude American involvement, but it also doesn’t rely on the US’s control or consent. European countries are building capabilities, financing structures, and industrial partnerships that will remain viable regardless of who Washington stands for and how it conducts itself. Trump came into office thinking that he had every card in negotiations over Ukraine’s future. For the last few months, Zelensky has been telling the opposite story. His strategy – forging partnerships, deploying military expertise, catalyzing mobilization across Europe – has helped produce a geopolitical reality in which American ambivalence accelerates rather than inhibits the emergence of alternative security architectures. The views expressed in this opinion article are the author’s and not necessarily those of Kyiv Post.  Bohdan Nahaylo, Chief Editor of Kyiv Post since December 2021, is a British-Ukrainian journalist, author and veteran Ukraine watcher based between Kyiv and Barcelona. He was formerly head of Amnesty International's Soviet Union unit, a senior United Nations official and policy adviser, and Director of Radio Liberty’s Ukrainian Service.