Friday, President Trump and Vice-President JD Vance reprimanded President Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine, in an explosive television cry match unlike everything seen in the oval office between an American president and a foreign leader in modern times.
Trump and Mr. Vance castigated Mr. Zelensky for not having been grateful for American support in his war with Russia and sought to do it strong to conclude a peace agreement with all the terms that the Americans dictate. With high voices and temperatures that evade, Trump threatened to completely abandon Ukraine if Mr. Zelensky did not.
Speaking of the Ukrainian leader, Mr. Vance told Mr. Zelensky that he was “disrespectful” for him to come to the oval office and to assert his arguments in front of the American media and asked that he would thank Mr. Trump for his leadership. Trump jumped and said to the Ukrainian leader: “You are not really in good position at the moment” and that “you are playing with the Second World War”.
“You are going to conclude an agreement, or we came out,” added Trump. “And if we got out, you are fighting and I don’t think it’s going to be pretty.”
A few minutes later, Trump seemed to cancel the rest of the visit. “I determined that President Zelenskyy is not ready for peace if America is involved, because he considers that our involvement gives him a great advantage in negotiations,” he wrote on social networks. “I don’t want more, I want peace. It was missing in the United States of America in his Oval Office darling. He can come back when he is ready for peace. »»
Mr. Zelensky quickly left the White House in a black SUV
The exchange in front of television cameras was one of the most dramatic moments to play in public in the oval office and underlined the radical rupture between the United States and Ukraine since Trump took office. Mr. Trump actually took himself on the side of Russia while falsely blaming Ukraine for having triggered the war and qualified Mr. Zelensky as “dictator”.
Friday, Mr. Zelensky organized the visit to Washington in Washington aimed to smooth the rift and to seal an agreement required by Mr. Trump in which Ukraine would give several billion dollars in mineral rights to reimburse the military aid provided by President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and the Congress in the three years who followed the invasion of Russia in 2022.
Trump seemed ready to do well with Mr. Zelensky by telling journalists on Thursday that he did not remember the comment of the dictator and expressing respect for the Ukrainian chief. He welcomed Mr. Zelensky at the West Wing Porte Friday morning with an honor guard, and they politely hugged his hand but without obvious warmth.
The meeting, however, quickly became hostile shortly after they sat in the oval office with journalists present. Mr. Zelensky, dressed in his dark shirt and usual long sleeves, sought to explain the history of war with Russia, noting that it returned in 2014 when Moscow seized Crimea for the first time and occupied the territory in eastern Ukraine.
But Mr. Vance suddenly interrupted and began to season Mr. Zelensky. “I think it is disrespectful that you came to the oval office to try to plead in front of the American media,” he gave conferences. “You should thank the president.”
He accused Mr. Zelensky of mounting a “propaganda tour” in the United States. “Do you think it is respectful of coming to the oval office and attacking the administration that tries to prevent the destruction of your country?”
Mr. Zelensky tried to respond to Mr. Vance’s claims And said the United States could feel threatened by Russia one day. “You have a beautiful ocean and do not feel now, but you will feel it in the future,” he said.
It sparked Mr. Trump, who cut him. “Don’t tell ourselves what we are going to feel,” he said, raising his voice. “You are not in a good position, you do not have the cards at the moment.” He added: “You play with the Second World War.”
Mr. Vance jumped. “Did you say thank you once?”
Mr. Trump’s breath with Mr. Zelensky contrasts with his assessment of Mr. Putin, whom he has Only rented Since he won a second term. This week, the president called Mr. Putin “a very intelligent guy” and “A very cunning person.” He said he thought Mr. Putin really wanted peace and predicted on Thursday that “He will last word” If an agreement is concluded, despite several Russian violations of agreements in the past.
Although he spoke with Mr. Putin by phone, Mr. Trump gave little sense to the way he expects to negotiate a ceasefire or a lasting peace agreement. During the campaign last year, he promised to end the war within 24 hours and to do so even before its inauguration, Neither.
Since his entry into office, Mr. Trump has demanded that Ukraine put back some of his natural resources as a recovery for military aid provided by President Joseph R. Biden Jr. to defend himself against Russia. While Trump said on several occasions and wrongly that the United States had contributed to $ 350 billion and only Europe $ 100 billion, in fact, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, Europe allocated $ 138 billion, against $ 119 billion in the United States.
