The News
US President Donald Trump said Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “is not ready for Peace if America is involved,” cutting short talks with the Ukrainian leader after a fractious meeting descended into a shouting match.
Zelenskyy had traveled to Washington to sign a minerals deal agreed earlier this week, and the high-stakes Oval Office meeting was aimed at Kyiv securing US support against Russian aggression.
But in full view of the media, talks descended into angry exchanges Friday, with the US leader repeatedly castigating his Ukrainian counterpart for not being sufficiently grateful for America’s support.
“He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace,” the president posted on Truth Social.
Zelenskyy abruptly left the White House at Trump’s request shortly after the meeting. The leaders did not sign the minerals deal they had been widely expected to finalize, a White House official told Semafor.
After the meeting, Zelenskyy said, ”Thank you America, thank you for your support, thank you for this visit.”
In this article:
Know More
Before the meeting descended into heated exchanges, Trump praised the minerals deal that the two countries agreed earlier this week, and said the US would be open to continuing to send arms to Ukraine, “although hopefully not very much.”
Tempers flared after Trump and Vice President JD Vance pressed the Ukrainian leader to accept a peace deal with Russia on whatever terms the US dictates.
The Ukrainian leader warned that Moscow was unlikely to accept a lasting peace deal, and that this could strengthen the Kremlin, saying that Washington may end up feeling Russia’s influence “in the future.”
Speaking over Zelenskyy in a raised voice, Trump emphasized Kyiv’s weak negotiating position, accusing him of “gambling with World War Three.”
The US president insisted that Ukraine had to either “make a deal or we’re out, and if we’re out, you’ll fight it out,” adding that “I don’t think it’s going to be pretty.”
Vance, meanwhile, lambasted Zelenskyy as “disrespectful” for coming to Washington to “attack the administration that is trying to prevent the destruction of your country,” saying he should be “thanking the president.”
It is unclear where things stand after the meeting, which played out in front of the media. As journalists left the Oval Office, Trump was asked if he would continue negotiating with Zelenskyy. “We’ll see,” Trump replied.
— Shelby Talcott contributed reporting.
Mathias Hammer’s view
Trump and Zelenskyy have long had a fractious relationship. But before the meeting, it seemed Trump was ready to reconcile, saying he did not remember calling the Ukrainian president a “dictator” just a few days ago. Ukrainian officials were hopeful that signing a minerals deal which Washington had pushed hard for would stabilize the relationship further.
European officials had advised Zelenskyy to make nice with Trump and avoid any further verbal spats after Zelenskyy riled the White House by saying Trump was “living in a disinformation space.” Many could not believe their eyes when they saw how quickly the meeting descended into shouting.
Zelenskyy’s apparent unwillingness to show full subservience to the world’s superpower in its most famous office appeared to light the touchpaper for the ever-mercurial Trump.
After Vance began assailing Zelenskyy for what he said was the Ukrainian leader’s lack of gratitude for US support, Zelenskyy pushed back. Trump’s thunderous response, loudly backed up by his deputy, turned the meeting into a live-streamed display of America’s power on the world stage — with the US president himself closing the meeting by saying “this is going to make great television”.
While the price Ukraine will pay for the disastrous exchange remains to be seen, Zelenskyy’s performance could play well at home, where many Ukrainians have grown fed up with Trump’s outreach to the Kremlin.
“A lot of Ukrainians are going to be proud of their president for this,” Zelenskyy’s biographer and Time Magazine journalist Simon Shuster said.
Notable
- “It’s humiliating. It’s enraging. And it’s deeply detrimental to America’s standing in the world,” Cold War historian Sergey Radchenchko said of the meeting.
- “I think Zelenskyy just doomed his country,” the conservative researcher Sumantra Maitra argued on X. “You cannot be arrogant while appearing with your hegemonic protector.”
- “The question for me, for the Ukrainian people, I don’t know if Zelenskyy can ever get you where you want to go with the United States,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, who has long been one of Kyiv’s closest Republican allies, said on Fox. “Either he dramatically changes or you have got to get someone new.”