US President, Donald Trump has berated Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a meeting in front of reporters in the Oval Office.
This came at a pivotal moment for Ukraine as Zelenskyy tried to persuade the White House to provide some form of US backing for Ukraine’s security against any future Russian aggression.
The situation deteriorated after the Ukrainian leader pushed back against US Vice President JD Vance’s comment that “the path to peace” is to engage in diplomacy with Russia.
Trump shouted at Zelenskyy that he is “gambling” with the lives of millions of people. He added, “You’re gambling with World War III and what you’re doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country.”
When Zelenskyy tried to respond, Trump then said, “No, no – you’ve done a lot of talking.”
“Your country is in big trouble. You’re not winning this … You have a damn good chance of coming out OK because of us. If you can get a ceasefire right now, I tell you, you take it – so the bullets stop flying and your men stop getting killed.”
Donald Trump
Zelenskyy remarked, “Of course, we want to stop the war,” adding that he wants security guarantees though. To this, Trump asserted, “You’ll get a ceasefire faster than an agreement.”
Also, Trump argued that coming out strong against Russian President Vladimir Putin would be counterproductive to reaching a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.
He pushed back against concerns that he aligns himself too much with the Russian leader.
“Well, if I didn’t align myself with both of them, you’d never have a deal. You want me to say really terrible things about Putin and then say, ‘Hi, Vladimir. How are we doing on the deal?’ It doesn’t work that way.
“I’m not aligned with Putin. I’m not aligned with anybody. I’m aligned with the United States of America, and for the good of the world, I’m aligned with the world, and I want to get this thing over with.”
Donald Trump
Referring to Zelenskyy, Trump continued, “You see the hatred he’s got for Putin — that’s very tough for me to make a deal with that kind of hate.” He added, “I’m aligned with the world. I’m aligned with Europe. I want to see if we get this done.”
Trump stressed that a deal will not be achieved through toughness on Putin.
After the heated exchange in the Oval Office, Trump wrote on Truth Social that Zelensky can come back to the White House “when he is ready for peace.”
“We had a very meaningful meeting in the White House today. Much was learned that could never be understood without conversation under such fire and pressure.
“It’s amazing what comes out through emotion, and I have determined that President Zelenskyy is not ready for Peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations. I don’t want advantage, I want PEACE.”
Donald Trump
Mineral Deal Not Signed
Prior to the heated exchange, Trump said that an agreement on rare earth minerals would be signed in the East Room of the White House. “We have something that is a very fair deal,” Trump said, adding that it is a big commitment from the United States.
He said that the US wants to see the killing in the war stopped, adding that US money for Ukraine should be “put to different kinds of use like rebuilding.”
Zelenskyy called Putin a terrorist and told Trump that Ukraine and the world needs “no compromises with a killer.” “Even during the war there are rules,” he said.
Many Ukrainians fear that a hastily negotiated peace — especially one that makes too many concessions to Russian demands — would allow Moscow to rearm and consolidate its forces for a future invasion after current hostilities cease.
Speaking about the rare earths agreement, Trump said that the US is lacking in many such minerals while Ukraine has among the best on the planet.
He added that US interests plan to take those reserves and use them on everything from artificial intelligence operations to military weapons.
However, Zelenskyy departed without signing the minerals deal and without holding the joint news conference with Trump.
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