President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s White House sit-down got off to a rocky start on Friday when the American leader blamed his counterpart for escalating the war in his country, prompting a testy back-and-forth and the cancellation of a joint press conference.
Vice President JD Vance joined the tense conversation to accuse the Ukrainian leader of being “disrespectful” ahead of a planned signing of a deal on Ukrainian mineral rights.
“Do you think that it's respectful to come to the Oval Office of the United States of America and attack the administration that is trying to prevent the destruction of your country?” Vance said. “Have you said ‘thank you’ once?”
Zelenskyy, who has repeatedly thanked Americans for supporting his country, tried to sound the alarm on Russia's aggression, days after the president suggested that Ukraine, rather than Russia, was to blame for its invasion.
“During the war, everyone has problems. Even you, but you have a nice ocean, don’t feel [them] now,” Zelenskyy said.
“Don’t tell us what we’re gonna feel. Because you’re in no position to dictate that,” Trump said. “You’re not in a good position. You don't have the cards right now. With us, you start having cards… You're gambling with the lives of millions of people. You're gambling with World War III.”
“I’m not playing cards,” Zelenskyy responded.
The meeting came weeks after US-Russian talks on the war in Saudi Arabia which excluded Ukraine. Trump later called Zelenskyy a "dictator," which he later denied, and said he was left out of peace talks because he wasn’t important.
Trump defended his recent coziness with Russian President Vladimir Putin as an important step towards peace. This, after Zelenskyy urged Trump to make “no compromises” to Putin.
“If I didn’t align myself with both of them, you’d never have a deal,” Trump said. “You want me to say really terrible things about Putin and then say, ‘Hi Vladimir, how are we doing on a deal?’ That doesn’t work that way.”
Trump went on to claim the “tremendous hatred” Zelenskyy had for Putin was “very tough.”
“You want me to be tough, I can be tougher than any human being you've ever seen,” Trump added. “But you're never going to get a deal that way.”
In a statement after the meeting, Trump claimed that Zelenskyy was not ready for peace.
“We had a very meaningful meeting in the White House today... It’s amazing what comes out through emotion, and I have determined that President Zelenskyy is not ready for Peace if America is involved,” Trump wrote. “He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace.”
Watch the exchange here:
Shares