I am surprised by these emotional swings.“Oh, Trump pressures Putin, hooray! What did we say?!” “Oh, Trump pressures Zelenskyy, everything is bad! What did we say?!”It reminds me of the joke about a broken clock that still shows the correct time twice a day."Trump is neither an ally of us nor of Putin, but there are several reasons why he wants to end this war and cannot turn away from it."Therefore, it is entirely predictable that he will pressure whoever is susceptible to it, starting with the side he perceives as weaker. If that side resists, he shifts pressure to the other side, then back to the first, and continues like this until the sides “meet in the middle.”So, in the “harsh” White House conversation, where Trump yelled at Zelenskyy and repeated Putin’s talking points, there is nothing surprising or tragic. Trump said all this not because he truly believes it (he doesn’t care at all), but because he decided it was time to pressure Zelenskyy, who had almost naively begun to believe that Trump had evolved into Ukraine’s ally. In such a situation, the two main tasks are: (1) not to give in to pressure, and (2) avoid a public scandal.Which the Ukrainian side successfully did.All is fine, we continue working.SourceAbout the author. Oleksii Panych, philosopher, member of the Ukrainian Centre of the International PEN Club, blogger.The editorial team does not always share the opinions expressed by blog or column authors.