A Play Within A Play

 I've seen it suggested- by a couple of people now- that the little contretemps at the White House was theatre- a piece of improvised drama in which all the players- including Zelensky- knew what they were going to do. A deal- involving mineral rights- had been hashed out in private and this was a bit of distraction to make us think the Ukraine war was ending with a bang and not a whimper.  If so, this is a reversal of the way things are normally done- with the shouting and intimidation happening behind closed doors and the public then being treated to the handshakes and smiles.  Please note that I'm not saying this is definitely what happened (because who- apart from the players and their stage hands- could possibly know?)- but that politicians are politicians and expecting them to play things straight is like expecting a worm not to wriggle....

Zelensky now has an interview with the King of England. I think he is being ushered off the stage amid fanfares so as to save his face and the faces of all his supporters. He is too closely associated with the war to be allowed to remain in office under the new settlement.

But everything is theatre, isn't it- and this is just a play within a play.....