Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and US President Donald Trump clashed on Friday, with Zelenskiy questioning Trump’s tilt toward Russia and Trump accusing him of being disrespectful as their differences erupted into a shouting match.
Trump and Zelenskiy talked over each other as Trump insisted Zelenskiy 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 will 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.”
Zelenskiy openly challenged Trump over his softer approach toward Russian President Vladimir Putin, urging him to “make no compromises with a killer.”
Zelenskiy 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 Zelenskiy 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. Zelenskiy, raising his voice, responded: “I said a lot of times thank-you to American people.”
Zelenskiy, 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 Zelenskiy 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.
