HA! King Charles shows his true colors!

[MsAmerica]

King Charles shows true colors meeting Zelensky at Sandringham after tense Trump peace talks
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/king-charles-shows-true-colors-meeting-zelensky-at-sandringham-after-tense-trump-peace-talks/ar-AA1A68qs?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=28947ee1d7b345ef8401c639ed705256&ei=21

King Charles shows solidarity with Zelensky in invite to Sandringham after Trump clash
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/king-charles-trump-zelensky-starmer-ukraine-b2707246.html

Warm reception for Zelensky as he meets King at Sandringham
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce98v8mnxm3o

Zelensky Meets King Charles as Calls Grow to Cancel Trump UK State Visit
https://www.newsweek.com/volodymyr-zelensky-king-charles-meeting-donald-trump-state-visit-cancel-calls-keir-starmer-2038377

I know the King and this is the key reason he met President Zelensky today
King Charles is doing exactly what he must - by extending a very public hand of friendship to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
https://www.express.co.uk/news/royal/2021437/king-charles-volodymyr-zelensky-friendship-donald-trump

The first time a member of the RF has earned his keep. IMHO.

Oh fgs. Have a look at how previous monarchs have used soft diplomacy.
I'm no royalist but I dislike this empty generalisation.

Seems like everyone wants a selfie with Mr Z these days. David Beckham next?

But why is this a FU to Trump? Trump’s entire message to Europe for the past 8 years has been to step up your defence spending and stop relying on the USA to fund it all. I should think Trump will be delighted if King Charles plays a role in achieving this.

Absolutely. Starmer is right to create "a coalition of the willing". It's the way forward.

@RominaDina totally agree, it’s just a shame it took Trump to force them in to finally doing it.

Actually the US has military bases all over Europe which is a strategic advantage not just for Europe but for the US as well. So let’s not kid ourselves as though the world just looks at the US to fund “it all”. It’s called having a diplomatic relationship to avoid wars and bloodshed.

@LadyBracknellsHandbagg Putin’s poisons are well established so I’m not surprised that the king hasn’t met Putin especially if he’s met Zelensky in the past.

@AllTheBestUsernamesHaveBeenTaken well ok, of course the USA hasn’t been funding it all but there are number of European countries who have been spending less than 2% of gdp on defence. Will be interesting to see if they now step up, as Trump has repeatedly requested them to.

We have to be involved because whether you like it or not we live in Europe and Putin is a threat to Europe. I'm very pleased the UK Government in the 1940s didn't just say they weren't going to get involved.

And of course you wouldn't be bleating about unfairness if we were the ones involved and other countries took your stance on it?!

Yes,

I’ve only very recently started to learn about this.

Although it’s a good thing Europe builds up it military capabilities and is able to defend itself without the US, should relationships between the US and European nations completely break down then American military installations dotted around Europe could be lost to the US. Indeed, if Europe can defend itself, what use the US? (I don’t really know to what extent). It’s been a workable arrangement up until now. It seems like Trump’s US must be looking to isolate itself from the rest of the world. But without the military bases in Europe, Australia and the spying capabilities etc., how good would they be at defending themselves from China snd Russia? For over a week 3 Chinese warships have been circumnavigating Australia just outside Australian waters. At one point they were only 150 nautical miles off Sydney, and China gave very little notice they’d be there A Virgin aeroplane flying across the Tasman Sea pivked up the ‘notice’ given by China from the actual ships, I think. Noticr was not given the usual channels and in the usual time frame. China pretty much announced ‘we are here and we will be doing live fire exercises.’ China is flexing. It’s rumbling about Taiwan is getting louder.

Then of course, there’s more mundane things America relies on Europe for - things like cars and iPhone parts. Can America manufacture those things or will they find themselves paying a huge premium for them?

whats the end game?

If Charles showing his true colours means supporting Ukraine when the US is going to hand their land over to Russia then I'm all for it. It's got to be better than him spending his time on organic biscuits.

No wonder Ukraine said no. Give up minerals to America, land to Russia, and no firm agreement on security? It’s a bad deal in all the ways.

'the King' has also offered a state visit to Trump, via Starmer. Trump has accepted the offer.

The King does what the government requires him to do- the Monarch always has.

Europe including the UK has pledged support for Ukraine including troops on the ground and pilots in the air. BUT only with the backing of the USA.

This whole thing is a load of crap.

Starmer went over and sucked up to Trum, gave him the invite from the palace, made a point of saying that this was a one off as no president had ever had two invites.

Then there was the whole WH debacle with Zelensky, he stormed out, came to Europe, lots of hugging and embracing and oh so much support for Ukraine and meeting the king.

And now Zelensky is saying that he’s prepared to sign away the minerals etc to the US.

From the outside it all looks like we’re showing overwhelming support.

On the inside these people are all in league, including Trump and Zelensky, and all of this is an act put on for the plebs.

@AzurePanda Trump has also encouraged an insurrection when he felt the votes were “rigged” and now is apparently pardoning the Jan 6 rioters. He has abused his powers time and time again and has personally fired special counsel prosecutors who worked on the criminal cases against him. He’s removed members of the media who have asked him poignant questions and has instead kept those who are happy to toe the line and are happy to keep the status quo. He’s allowed Musk, who has publicly given a nazi salute, to give his speech in the Oval Office in which fElon’s son comically told the Donald to shush his mouth. So yes, I agree, European countries should be spending more on defense, rely less on the US thereby effectively diminishing his importance on the global stage so he will have less of a say on things.

@Never2many Wait, has Zelensky done a U turn?

Edited: Just had a quick google, but it turns out that Zelensky was ready to sign the minerals deal but then left without signing.

This. Some people are very ill informed about the role of the monarch. We see it so often on these threads.

Bollocks.

I don't think it was an FU to Trump's words that Europe ought to pull its weight more.
I do think it was a quiet FU to Trump and Vance for their unpleasant personal behaviour to Zelensky on Friday. Scornful words and lost patience may well happen often in the negotiations that we never see or hear but those nasty two were just polishing their egos in public, and enjoying themselves doing it. It's easy to kick a man when he's down. Jew-haters did it in the streets of Germany in the 1930s.

Another post I wish I could like more than once @upinaballoon.

Zelensky didn't spend long at Sandringham, The BBC text said he had tea there. I know HLMQE2 liked cake but I hope they offered Zelensky some nice beef sandwiches and trifle.