Donald Trump has declared that Volodymyr Zelensky is “not ready for peace” after an extraordinary and hostile confrontation between the leaders at the White House that descended into a shouting match.
In astonishing scenes at the Oval Office during which the two leaders argued and spoke over each other, the US President repeatedly berated the Ukrainian leader for being insufficiently thankful and threatened to withdraw support for Ukraine.
Zelensky subsequently cut short his visit and left the White House early, with a planned signing ceremony on a historic US-Ukraine minerals deal followed by a joint news conference both cancelled.
The deal would have given the US control over huge swathes of Ukraine’s critical minerals and rare earths.
Earlier, Trump had welcomed Zelensky on his arrival at the White House before they headed for talks. The Ukrainian leader had hoped to appeal for continued security assistance from the US to protect his country against further Russian aggression.
But during the meeting, Trump and his Vice-President, JD Vance, accused Zelensky of being “disrespectful” to America, with Trump claiming he was “gambling with World War Three”.
Trump warned Zelensky that he must make a peace deal with Russia “or we are out”, adding: “And if we’re out, you’ll fight it out. I don’t think it’s going to be pretty. You’re right now not in a very good position. You don’t have the cards right now with us, you start having problems right now….
“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.”
Zelensky pointed out that the minerals deal still lacked the security guarantees Ukraine needed to protect it from the Russian President, Vladimir Putin.
“That is why we will never accept just a ceasefire. It will not work without security guarantees … this document is not enough, strong army is enough, because his soldiers are afraid,” he said.
Trump repeated his belief that Putin would honour any agreements and said he had positioned himself “for both Ukraine and Russia” in peace talks.
Zelensky openly challenged Trump and Vance over their “diplomacy” towards Putin. He pointed out that Putin had since 2014 repeatedly broken deals, invading Crimea and eastern Ukraine, and urged Trump to “make no compromises with a killer”.
He added: “So, what kind of diplomacy, JD, are you speaking about?”
This appeared to rattle Vance, who raised his voice, accusing Zelensky of disrespect and of organising “propaganda tours” of Ukraine when Zelensky pointed out that Vance had never visited the country.
Vance told him: “Mr President, with respect. I think it’s disrespectful for you to come to the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media.”
Isabella Bengoechea and Richard Holmes
A UK intelligence source has told The i Paper: “The world has changed in the last 90 minutes.”
On Friday, No 10 and UK diplomats were maintaining a watching brief, and a Foreign Office source said: “Let’s see what develops in the coming days.”
Sir Keir Starmer expressed his “unwavering support for Ukraine” after speaking with both Trump and Zelensky following their heated exchange in the White House, Downing Street said.
As Western allies try to get their heads around the repercussions of the meeting for Ukrainian – and their own – interests, there is no doubt that the spectacle of two purported allies scrapping at each other in the White House will be being celebrated in Moscow.
The former Ukrainian prime minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk told Times Radio that champagne corks were “already popping” in the Kremlin, describing the situation as “the worst-case scenario”.
“Now we need new mediators, new envoys to the White House, somehow to repair the damage,” he said. “I can reiterate that I know for sure who is happy right now: war criminal [Vladimir] Putin. And he’s not the only one. The gang of godfathers, the axis of evil.”
Dmitry Medvedev, the former Russian president, posted an abusive social media post about Volodymyr Zelensky, calling him an “insolent pig”, and celebrated him getting “a proper slap down in the Oval Office”, adding: “And [Donald Trump] is right: The Kiev regime is “gambling with WWIII.”
Maria Zakharova, the Russian foreign ministry’s spokeswoman, said that “how Trump and [JD] Vance restrained themselves and did not hit him is a miracle of restraint.”
In another tense moment, Zelensky warned that just because the US was not experiencing war now, it did not mean it would not experience war in future. “You have nice ocean and don’t feel now. But you will feel it in the future….. God bless… You will not have the war.”
Trump responded: “Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel. We’re trying to solve a problem. Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel, because you’re in no position to dictate that exactly. You’re in no position to dictate what we’re going to feel.”
Yet in a bizarrely comical flash of sudden bonhomie from Trump, he praised Zelensky’s clothes as “beautiful” after a reporter criticised Zelensky for wearing his trademark military clothes.
The reporter said: “Why don’t you wear a suit? You’re the highest level office in this country, and you refuse to wear a suit.”
Zelensky, a wartime president who is well known for wearing his military garb, said he had bigger problems with the war. “I will wear [a suit] after this war will finish. Yes, maybe, maybe something like yours, maybe something better. I don’t know, we will see.”
Trump ended the press conference, saying, “This is going to be great television”.
After Zelensky departed the White House in his armoured limousine, he tweeted: “Thank you America, thank you for your support, thank you for this visit. Thank you @POTUS [President of the United States], Congress, and the American people. Ukraine needs just and lasting peace, and we are working exactly for that.”
Ukraine’s panicked allies pledged their continued support for Volodymyr Zelensky after the White House showdown between Donald Trump and the Ukrainian President.
The French President Emmanuel Macron, who sat down with Trump earlier this week in a highly positive meeting, highlighted that Russia was the aggressor, and Ukrainians were the aggressed people.
“We must … respect those who have been fighting since the beginning,” he said.
The Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said: “Dear [Zelensky], dear Ukrainian friends, you are not alone”, and the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, said: “Ukraine, Spain is with you.”
In Ukraine itself, there was widespread support for their leader.
Denys Shmyhal, the prime minister, expressed support on X: “President [Zelensky] is right. “Peace without guarantees is not possible.”
Oleksii Kuleba, Vice Prime Minister for the Reconstruction of Ukraine and the Minister for Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine, said on Telegram: “Unwavering commitment to Ukraine’s interests and devotion to his country. This is what we saw today in the United States. Support for the President of Ukraine.”
A UK intelligence source has told The i Paper: “The world has changed in the last 90 minutes.”
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