Zelenskyy’s gratitude speed – does not thank you in a minute – explains how foreign leaders speak to Trump

With peace talks on the table and a chance to bounce back from his disastrous White House who rumbled six months ago, Zelenskyy made sure to show his gratitude to American president Donald Trump at the meeting on Monday at the oval office.

In fact, he said he thank Nine times to Trump and others at the first minute of their brief public meeting which preceded a short press conference.

“Thank you very much, Mr. President,” he said. “First of all, thank you for the invitation and thank you very much for your efforts, your personal efforts to stop the murders and arrest this war. THANKS.”

In February, Zelenskyy’s meeting with Trump quickly turned into a public relations disaster when Vice-President JD Vance reprimanded him for not being grateful.

“You should thank the president for trying to put an end to this conflict,” said Vance in a moment that took Zelenskyy off guard. “Did you say thank you once?” In all this meeting? No, in all this meeting, did you say thank you? ”

Zelenskyy tried to defend himself, saying that he had always expressed his appreciation in the United States for the military and financial support he provided after Russia invaded him in 2022. But the damage was caused.

World leaders have taken their opinion and learned that flattery is the means of winning the unpredictable Trump, a strategy fully exposed during a greater meeting later in the day which included other European leaders and the NATO chief.

Zelenskyy was advised by his peers on how to approach the meeting, said German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who made his debut at the much smoother oval office in June.

“He asked for this,” said Merz. “He saw that my meeting with Donald Trump went very differently from his meeting.”

With a chance to make a better second impression in the oval office, gratitude diplomacy was at the center of Zelenskyy.

In addition to thanking the president six times, Zelenskyy expressed his gratitude to Melania Trump for having personally written the Russian president Vladimir Putin to think of Ukrainian children and to extract peace.

And he thanked his European allies twice who had arrived as reinforcements in Washington to present a unified front to put pressure for a ceasefire and security guarantees if there is a peace agreement with Russia.

During a later meeting with the best leaders in Europe, Zelenskyy expressed his thanks at least seven times, including two mentions for a card that Trump had presented to him.

“Thank you for the card, by the way,” he said.

He was not alone.

Trump himself used the word T about a dozen times in the later meeting and praised his colleagues from Europe.

He described the Italian Prime Minister of Giorgia Meloni a great leader with a long career to come, said that he had loved the French president Emmanuel Macron even more since he got to know him – something he noted was unusual for him – and he complimented the tan.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who worked hard to forge a close relationship with Trump, thanked the president on four times, noting that after three years of fighting, no one else had been able to bring the conflict closer to as possible.

“So thank you,” said Starmer.

Ben Hodges, a former commander of the American army in Europe, said that “the much deference and tribute” paid to Trump was “nauseous but necessary” to keep Trump in favor of NATO.

NATO secretary general, Mark Rutte, who addressed Trump as “Donald” at the meeting, later called “incredible” president.