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Lessons from Europe: 'Kissing the ring' doesn't win Donald Trump's support

What could India take away from Alaska and Washington? One, pandering to an egotistical leader is self-defeating. It opens the path to serial humiliation

Russia Ukraine Conflict, Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin
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If “kissing the ring” was designed to bring Mr Trump towards a more supportive position on Ukraine, it failed | Illustration: Binay Sinha

Shyam Saran

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For an outside observer, it was painful to watch the orchestrated obsequiousness of some of the world’s most powerful nations in front of US President Donald Trump at the meeting on Ukraine in Washington on Monday. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine joined the seven key European leaders — Emmanuel Macron of France, Keir Starmer of the United Kingdom, Friedrich Merz of Germany, Giorgia Meloni of Italy, Alexander Stubb of Finland, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Union, and Mark Rutte, secretary general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato).
 
They competed for Mr Trump’s approbation by lauding him
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