In a dramatic Oval Office confrontation on Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky engaged in a heated shouting match, throwing efforts to broker peace with Russia into turmoil.
“You’re either going to make a deal or we’re out,” Trump snapped at Zelensky, as a meeting intended to calm tensions over the U.S.’s sudden diplomatic outreach to Russia only escalated the discord.
“You’re gambling with the lives of millions of people. You’re gambling with World War Three, and what you’re doing is very disrespectful to this country,” Trump added, visibly frustrated.
Zelensky had traveled to Washington to finalize an agreement on Ukraine’s mineral resources and discuss a potential peace settlement with Russia — despite Trump recently labeling him a “dictator.” The visit followed a flurry of diplomatic efforts, with leaders from France and Britain urging Trump to maintain U.S. support for Kyiv.
Tensions boiled over after Vice President JD Vance asserted that “diplomacy” was essential to end the war. Zelensky challenged the statement, asking, “What kind of diplomacy?” Vance fired back, accusing the Ukrainian leader of being “disrespectful” in the president’s office.
Trump quickly sided with his vice president, and the discussion devolved into a bitter exchange over whether the U.S. had failed Ukraine after Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.
“You’re not acting at all thankful,” Trump told Zelensky.
“It’s going to be a very hard thing to do business like this,” he added. “It’s going to be a tough deal to make because the attitudes have to change.”
Zelensky, in contrast, kept a steadier tone, accusing Trump and his team of “speaking loudly.”
The clash followed Trump’s recent controversial decision to engage in direct talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin about ending the conflict — without involving Ukraine in the initial discussions. Trump later revealed he had spoken to Putin “numerous occasions” in the weeks leading up to the White House meeting.
Trump has made continued U.S. support for Ukraine contingent on securing preferential access to the country’s valuable rare-earth minerals, even while withholding any firm commitment to provide Kyiv with long-term security guarantees as part of a ceasefire arrangement with Russia.
“We’ll be dig, dig, digging” for Ukraine’s resources, Trump declared on Thursday, invoking rhetoric reminiscent of his “drill, baby, drill” campaign slogan.
Despite the Oval Office clash, Trump had softened his public stance on Zelensky in recent days. Just last week, he had condemned the Ukrainian leader as a “dictator without elections” and echoed Kremlin narratives by blaming Ukraine for Russia’s 2022 invasion.
“I have a lot of respect for him,” Trump claimed during a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. “We’re going to get along really well.”
Trump, a businessman-turned-politician, insists that the mineral deal is essential for the U.S. to recover the billions it has spent on military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
Zelensky, meanwhile, said U.S. and Ukrainian officials would work out the details of any security guarantees and financial commitments during his visit.
However, Trump’s repeated praise for Putin and his insistence that he trusts the Russian leader to “keep his word” on any ceasefire have alarmed U.S. allies. Both Britain and France have offered to send peacekeepers if a deal is reached but insist that American intelligence and air power are necessary as a “backstop.”
Although Trump and Putin have discussed the possibility of an in-person summit, no date has been set. Meanwhile, Russia’s assault on Ukraine continues, with Kyiv reporting fresh cross-border attacks from Russian forces in the Kursk region on Friday.
(AFP
