Trump and Zelenskyy spat deepens hours after the world witnessed a shocking shouting match erupt in the White House’s Oval Office as the two leaders met to sign a minerals deal and discuss the fate of Ukraine.
US President Donald Trump hosted Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday at the White House in what was supposed to be a highly anticipated meeting between the two leaders to discuss the possibility of peace between Kyiv and Moscow.
The leaders were also set to sign a rare minerals agreement, after Trump had pushed for Kyiv to repay Washington for the “ridiculous amounts” of money given to them in aid in their fight against Moscow. The deal was put on hold after the meeting quickly turned into a disaster.
The world hoped the meeting would be a step back from last week’s escalation when both leaders traded jabs. Zelenskyy accused Trump of living in a Russian “disinformation space” while Trump accused Zelenskyy of being a dictator.
The meeting however did not go as anticipated. As the leaders spoke from the Oval Office to members of the media before going into a closed door meeting, tensions quickly escalated.
Trump and Vice President JD Vance accused the Ukrainian leader of being ungrateful and issued stark warnings about future American support.
Zelenskyy’s main objective going into the sit-down had been to urge Washington not to abandon his country and to warn against moving too close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine just over three years ago.
Instead, the Ukrainian leader was shouted at by Trump, who showed open disdain, as he mocked him with an imitating accent, and ridiculed him for his country’s reliance on the US, repeatedly telling him “you don’t have the cards to dictate” how the peace process moves.
Trump has repeatedly warned that a deal to end the fighting may not be favourable for Ukraine, even suggesting that Kyiv may have to concede territory to Moscow. The suggestions have sent European countries into a state of shock, who have scrambled to formulate a response to a new American administration that’s apparently indifferent to European security.
Washington and Europe’s relationship has taken a dive since Trump returned to the White House just over a month ago. The 47th US president has threatened to pull the US out of NATO if European countries don’t increase their defence spending, threatened tariffs on the EU, in addition to side-lining them from peace talks with Moscow.
The public spat is just another incident that threatens to further divide the long-time transatlantic allies, and throw the world into a deeper state of insecurity.
The meeting ended abruptly after White House officials reportedly asked Zelenskyy to leave.
But Trump, speaking to the media after the meeting as he prepared to embark Marine One to head to an event in Florida, doubled down on his stance at the meeting, claiming that Zelenskyy is not serious about peace.
