US Vice President JD Vance went after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during Friday’s contentious Oval Office meeting with President Donald Trump, accusing the war-time leader of being ungrateful for American support and “disrespectful” of the White House.
Several officials and Ukraine supporters online immediately criticized the American president for his treatment of Zelensky and reiterated their calls of support of Ukraine.
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The testy exchange occurred after the leaders had been talking for almost an hour, and not long before he unceremoniously left the White House – without signing the much-anticipated bilateral deal that would have reportedly exchanged Ukraine’s mineral resources for continued American military support.
Trump had repeated many of the same claims he’s made over the last few weeks – such as the idea that the invasion would not have happened if Trump had been in office instead of former President Joe Biden – while Zelensky appeared to grow more and more frustrated.
“For four years, the United States of America, we had a president who stood up at press conferences and talked tough about Vladimir Putin,” Vance said. “And then Putin invaded Ukraine and destroyed a significant chunk of the country.”
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“The path to peace and the path to prosperity is maybe engaging in diplomacy.”
After Vance’s comments, Zelensky asked to respond directly to the vice president.
He explained that the war had started before Biden was in office, in 2014 – not 2015, as Trump tried to correct him. He reminded the Americans about the many promises Russian President Vladimir Putin has made in the past, and the dangers of trusting the dictator.
“Putin broke the ceasefire. He killed our people, and he didn’t exchange prisoners. We signed [a deal] to exchange prisoners, but he didn’t do it,” Zelensky said. “What kind of diplomacy, JD, are you speaking about?”
Vance became fed up. “I’m talking about the kind of diplomacy that’s going to end the destruction of your country,” he shot back.
Both Vance and Trump began raising their voices at Zelensky:
Zelensky: Yes, but if you...
Vance: Mr. President, with respect, I think it’s disrespectful for you to come to the Oval Office and try to litigate this in front of the American media. Right now, you guys are going around and forcing conscripts to the frontlines because you have manpower problems. You should be thanking the president.
Zelensky: Have you ever been to Ukraine to see the problems we have?
Vance: I’ve actually watched and seen the stories, and I know what happens is you bring people on a propaganda tour, Mr. President.
Do you disagree that you’ve had problems with bringing people in your military, and do you think that it’s respectful to come to the Oval Office of the United States of America and attack the administration that is trying to prevent the destruction of your country?
Zelensky: First of all, during the war, everybody has problems, even you. You have nice solutions and don’t feel (it) now, but you will feel it in the future.
Trump: You don’t know that. 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.
Zelensky: I am not telling you, I am answering...
Vance: That’s exactly what you’re doing...
Trump, raising his voice: You’re in no position to dictate what we’re going to feel. We’re going to feel very good and very strong.
Zelensky tries to interrupt.
Trump: You right now are not in a very good position. You’ve allowed yourself to be in a very bad position.
You don’t have the cards right now. With us, you start having the cards.
You’re gambling with lives of millions of people, you’re gambling with World War III and what you’re doing is very disrespectful to this country.
Vance: Have you said thank you once?
Zelensky: A lot of times.
Vance: No, in this meeting, this entire meeting? Offer some words of appreciation for the United States of America and the president who’s trying to save your country.
Zelensky: Yes, you think that if you will speak very loudly about the war...
Trump: He’s not speaking loud. Your country is in big trouble. No, no, you’ve done a lot of talking. Your country is in big trouble.
Zelensky: I know, I know.
Trump: You’re not winning this. You have a damn good chance of coming out OK, because of us.
Zelensky: We are staying strong from the very beginning of the war, we have been alone, and we are saying, I said, thanks.
Trump, speaking over Zelensky: You haven’t been alone.... We gave you military equipment. Your men are brave, but they had our military. If you didn’t have our military equipment, this war would have been over in two weeks.
Zelensky: I heard it from Putin in three days.
Trump: It’s going to be a very hard thing to do business like this.
Vance: Just say thank you.
Zelensky: I said it a lot of times.
Vance: Accept that there are disagreements and let’s go litigate those disagreements rather than trying to fight it in the American media, when you’re wrong. We know that you’re wrong.
Trump: You’re buried there. Your people are dying. You’re running low on soldiers. No, listen... And then you tell us, ‘I don’t want a cease fire. I don’t want a cease fire. I want to go and I want this.’
Trump: You’re not acting at all thankful. And that’s not a nice thing. I’ll be honest, that’s not a nice thing. All right, I think we’ve seen enough. What do you think? Great television. I will say that.
After their heated discussion, Trump posted a message on social media, claiming that Zelensky was “not ready for peace” and that he “disrespected the United States of America.”
“I have determined that President Zelensky is not ready for Peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations,” Trump wrote on X.
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