Afrasianet - Anas Zaki - U.S. President Donald Trump didn't need to leave the White House on Tuesday to navigate two of the world's biggest contemporary wars: Russia's war on Ukraine and the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.
Trump's agenda included receiving Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at 9:30 a.m. Washington time, and just 90 minutes later he was due to receive Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
What is interesting here is that Trump, who has become involved in both wars in one way or another, returned to power at the beginning of last year with a clear rhetoric rejecting what he described as "endless wars", and only six months later he was boasting that his efforts as a peacemaker had resulted in the cessation of six international wars.
Trump has repeatedly promised that his efforts will extend to the world's biggest war in recent years, the Russia-Ukraine war , which has been raging since February 2022, which he described as "Biden's war," in an attempt to blame his predecessor, Joe Biden.
But Trump has not been able to keep his promise to stop this war, and it has been joined by another major war that the United States started with Israel when they attacked Iran on February 28.
After Trump received Zelensky and then Netanyahu, the three joined the memorial service for the late Republican Senator Lindsey Graham.
Graham was one of the most vocal supporters of arming Ukraine, and he is also a staunch supporter of Israel and confronting Iran. His departure ceremony came as an opportunity to hold two meetings that summarize Trump's foreign policy impasse between a war he inherited and failed to end and another in which he himself decided to enter.
Biden's War
In fact, the two wars are not similar in terms of causes, parties, or arenas, but they meet at a key point, which is the centrality of the American position, and they cannot continue or stop in isolation from Washington's decision, which shows the extent of Trump's influence on the one hand and the size of the responsibility placed on him on the other hand, no matter how much he tries to impose it on others.
During his election campaign, Trump focused on blaming his rival at the time and considered that the weakness of the Biden administration is the reason for the continuation of the war, stressing his ability to end it quickly and stop the American attrition, which was represented in the tens of billions of dollars provided by Washington to support Kyiv militarily and economically.
At the time, many were close to being convinced that Trump could do it, relying on his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin and his supposed ability to push Moscow and Kyiv into a quick deal.
But a year and a half after his return to the White House, it turned out to be bigger than Trump's statements: Russia wants to consolidate its territorial gains and keep Ukraine away from the Western security system, while Kyiv demands guarantees that prevent Moscow from exploiting any truce to rebuild its forces and resume the offensive later.
Ahead of today's meeting, Zelensky said anti-ballistic missile defense and strategic cooperation with the United States are the "number one priority" in his meetings with the US president and his team.
The Ukrainian president seems to be counting on his recent improvement in relations with his American counterpart, after the first months of Trump's current term witnessed several skirmishes, most notably that famous meeting at the White House at the end of February 2025, in which Zelensky was subjected to insults the likes of which he may not have heard from enemies, let alone allies.
On his way to Washington, Zelensky made a brief visit to Britain on Monday, during which he met with new Prime Minister Andy Burnham, where the two sides confirmed their continued cooperation and discussed providing more British aid to Ukraine, led by the "Stone Clock" technology, which is said to prevent Russian air defense systems from tracking and targeting drones.
How did Russia comments ?
Russia commented on the visit through Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who winked at the Washington channel and spoke of what he described as its duplicity.
Peskov said Washington is willing to help reach a peace settlement, something that is welcomed by Moscow, which also notes that the Americans continue to supply Ukraine with weapons under the pretext that they are handing them over to NATO , and what happens next is none of their business.
The Russian statement appears to be putting pressure on Trump, especially since Zelensky wants more anti-missile defenses, especially Patriot interceptors, as well as completing an agreement on drones.
While Trump is increasingly impressed with Ukraine's military capabilities and attacks on Russia's oil sector, the Defense Department has told Congress that it may delay until 2029 spending $400 million already approved by lawmakers to help Kyiv.
Therefore, observers believe that Zelensky does not want today's meeting to be just talk about peace, but rather wants to know whether Trump is willing to exert real pressure on Russia, or whether he will continue to ask the two sides to negotiate without giving Ukraine the tools to improve its position at the negotiating table.
Trump's War
After Zelensky, the second meeting comes that witnesses the discussion of a radically different war, as the United States did not inherit the current confrontation with Iran, but it was it that started it on February 28, under the direct orders of Trump, as part of a coordinated military operation with Israel that the Pentagon called "Epic Fury."
In the early hours of the operation, Trump said he wanted to end the Iranian ballistic missile threat and give the Iranians a chance to topple their regime. The goals then expanded to include destroying Iran's missile and naval capabilities, cutting off Tehran's support for its regional allies, and preventing it from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
But months later, despite the destruction inflicted on Iran and the countries of the region, Washington does not seem to have achieved its goals, and its first goal is to open the Strait of Hormuz freely and absolutely to maritime navigation, something that existed before the war.
Netanyahu arrives at the White House wanting to maintain military pressure on Iran and convince Trump that the recently stalled negotiations will not lead to a deal that would allow Tehran to rebuild its nuclear and missile capabilities. Before leaving, he announced that Iran would be at the forefront of the issues he would discuss.
But Netanyahu is no longer meeting with a U.S. president who is completely in tune with his calculations. Trump wants a deal that can be presented as a successful end to the war, while the Israeli prime minister fears that Washington's desire for a solution will turn into a temporary settlement that postpones the confrontation and does not end the sources of threat that Israel sees.
In its coverage of the visit, AFP pointed out that Trump had sharply criticized Netanyahu, calling him a "very difficult man" and had earlier acknowledged that he had made harsh and profane words against him during a phone call.
Netanyahu, on the other hand, has always downplayed the importance of those differences. He considers them "differences in approach," stressing that the two sides agree on the goals of the war.
Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir appears to have chosen to take over the criticism of Trump, calling him a "very naïve businessman on the Iranian issue" and demanding that the use of force against the Iranians should continue and even do more.
Two overlapping wars
On the other hand, Ukraine is competing with Middle Eastern countries for limited American capabilities, especially air defense systems, interceptor missiles, and precision munitions.
This does not necessarily mean that every missile sent to the Middle East is pulled directly from Ukraine, but it does reveal the limits of the United States' ability to manage several major confrontations at once. When Zelensky orders Patriot missiles, and Trump discusses with Netanyahu the possibility of renewed Iranian strikes, the U.S. stockpile becomes a common element in the calculus of both wars.
Netanyahu and Zelensky also want Trump to do the same: the former wants to maintain the military option vis-à-vis Iran and the latter wants more military support against Russia.
Trump seems fond of using force in both cases, but he always says he uses force in order to strike a deal to end the war.
He has indeed inherited the war in Ukraine, but he has become responsible for its continuation and the way it is managed. As for Iran's war, he himself chose to enter it, and he is looking for a way out of it before it turns into a new model of wars that he promised not to start.
The question remains, therefore, whether Trump can combine the two extremes he is talking about so that he is the president who uses force and also the president who ends wars.
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