Washington: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. President Donald Trump clashed on Friday, with Zelenskyy questioning Trump’s tilt toward Russia and Trump accusing him of being disrespectful as their differences erupted into a shouting match.
Trump and Zelenskyy talked over each other as Trump insisted Zelenskyy was losing the Ukraine war and said, “people are dying, you’re running low on soldiers.”
He threatened to withdraw U.S. support in a standoff in front of reporters ahead of a planned signing ceremony for a revenue-sharing minerals agreement.
“You’re either going to make a deal, or we’re out, and if we’re out, you’ll fight it out. I don’t think it’s going to be pretty,” Trump told him.
“You don’t have the cards. Once we sign that deal, you’re in a much better position. But you’re not acting at all thankful, and that’s not a nice thing. I’ll be honest. That’s not a nice thing.”
Zelenskyy openly challenged Trump over his softer approach toward Russian President Vladimir Putin, urging him to “make no compromises with a killer.”
Zelenskyy pushed back on Trump‘s claims that Ukrainian cities have been reduced to rubble by three years of war. Trump stressed that Putin wants to make a deal.
“You are gambling with World War Three,” Trump told Zelenskyy at one point, urging him to be more thankful.
Vice President JD Vance interjected that it was disrespectful of him to come to the Oval Office to litigate his position, a point Trump agreed with.
“You didn’t say thank-you,” Vance said. Zelenskyy, raising his voice, responded: “I said a lot of times thank-you to American people.”
Zelenskyy, who gained billions of dollars’ worth of U.S. weaponry and moral support from the Biden administration for its fight against Russia, is facing a sharply different attitude from Trump. Trump wants to quickly wind down the three-year war, improve ties with Russia and recoup money spent to support Ukraine.
“I hope I’m going to be remembered as a peacemaker,” Trump said.
Earlier, Trump told Zelenskyy that his soldiers have been unbelievably brave and that the United States wants to see an end to the fighting and the money put to “different kinds of use like rebuilding.”
Trump has adopted a much less committed stance toward European security, a change in tone that has sent shockwaves across Europe and stoked fears in Kyiv and among its allies that it could be forced into a peace deal that favours Russia.
NO SECURITY GUARANTEES IN DEAL
The agreement negotiated in recent days would open Ukraine’s vast mineral wealth to the United States but does not include explicit American security guarantees for Ukraine, a disappointment for Kyiv. Trump says the presence of Americans in business would serve as a form of guarantee.
How much the deal would be worth to the United States is not spelled out. Trump has said he expects to gain hundreds of billions of dollars. Zelenskyy has said he would not sign an agreement that would put his country in debt for generations.
Ukraine would contribute 50% of “all revenues earned from the future monetization of all relevant Ukrainian Government-owned natural resource assets” to a reconstruction fund jointly owned and managed by the United States and Ukraine.
The agreement does not specify how the funds would be spent, or identify specific assets it covers, though it says they would include deposits of minerals, oil and natural gas as well as infrastructure such as gas terminals and ports.
The Washington talks are a diplomatic boost for Zelenskyy who has repeatedly spoken of the importance of meeting Trump in person before the U.S. president holds talks with Putin.
“The Ukrainians have been quite savvy at turning it round, and using this (the minerals deal) as an opening to engage the U.S.,” said a senior Kyiv-based European diplomat, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.
Kyiv hopes the agreement will spur Trump to back Ukraine’s war effort, and potentially even win support from Republicans in Congress for a new round of aid.
Ukraine has rapidly expanded its defence industry production but remains heavily reliant on foreign military assistance, while also struggling to replenish manpower as it battles a much larger foe.
While Ukraine repelled Russia’s invasion from the outskirts of Kyiv and recaptured swathes of territory in 2022, Russia still controls around a fifth of Ukraine and has been slowly taking ground since a failed Ukrainian counteroffensive in 2023. Kyiv’s troops hold a chunk of land in Russia’s western Kursk region after a 2024 incursion.
Trump has engaged in a long-distance feud with Zelenskyy in recent weeks, criticizing his handling of the war, calling him a “dictator” and urging him to agree to the minerals deal.
(Reporting by Steve Holland and Nandita Bose; Additional reporting by Tom Balmforth, Simon Lewis and Jeff Mason; Editing by Humeyra Pamuk, Colleen Jenkins, Gerry Doyle, Peter Graff and Rod Nickel)
Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
President Trump did the absolutely correct thing by showing the mirror to Zelensky. President Zelensky must not think that the US is going to underwrite his expenses for this pointless and needless war. He could have settled with Putin much earlier – but he kept fighting, egged on by his European allies. These European allies are all talk and no action – they have neither the military power nor the financial power to back Ukraine in it’s fight against Russia.
What Europe wants is that US should keep paying for the expenses of the war and also provide all kinds of military equipment to Ukraine while Zelensky continues the fight, no matter how many Ukrainians end up dead. While they themselves do absolutely nothing.
Maybe reality will dawn on Zelensky and he will see reason after this humiliation. If not, he should be left alone to fend for himself. If Europe so wishes, it can join the war on Ukraine’s behalf and get it’s ass whooped by the Russians. The US must not remain involved in this conflict any more. Not one more dollar of US taxpayer money should be given to Ukraine.