If there was a silver lining in Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy handing a victory to Vladimir Putin on Friday with the failed minerals deal, it was President Donald Trump effectively luring Putin to the negotiation table through what Putin might see as a more neutral arbiter in Trump.
Friday's Oval Office blowup was "extremely frustrating" and a "missed opportunity for everybody," Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., said, because "Ukraine is still in a precarious position" before potential talks to end Russia's war on Ukraine.
"This ultimately, obviously, there needs to be a negotiated settlement," Lawler told NPR. "I think what President Trump is trying to do is get Vladimir Putin to the table for a negotiation.
"In order to have the strongest possible hand in that negotiation, I think the objective is to have an economic cooperation agreement with Ukraine and the United States, which will strengthen that ability to negotiate.
"And in order to negotiate a settlement, you need to get both sides to the table. Joe Biden's administration did not engage with Putin for over three years. That obviously complicates the ability to get someone to the table to have an initial discussion."
Zelenskyy balked at the minerals deal because it did not come with security guarantees, but Lawler noted economic cooperation with Trump's America is de facto security against further Putin aggression.
"In order for Ukraine to have a very strong hand in the negotiation, the greater the economic cooperation with the U.S. moving forward, the more investment guarantees from the U.S., the easier it will be long term to have security guarantees, and that's important," Lawler said.
Trump is playing chess, while Zelenskyy was sticking to his old war-aid talking points he had used during the Biden administration, and Lawler rejected the NPR interviewer's suggestion Trump was scoring an economic prize out of Ukraine.
"It's not about giving to the U.S.: They're going to need significant economic investment to rebuild when this conflict is over like the rest of Europe during World War II in the aftermath," Lawler said.
"So, having this economic cooperation agreement is critical for the rebuilding efforts moving forward.
"And by having that level of U.S. investment and engagement, when there is a final agreement, it's going to be a lot harder for Vladimir Putin to renege on it and invade Ukraine again with U.S. investment on the ground.
"The only winner the other day was Vladimir Putin, that this deal did not happen."
But it just might be the moment that lures Putin to talk a settlement of his war on Ukraine.