Following a chaotic meeting between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday, the Ukrainian leader was forced to leave the White House, leaving plates of spring green salad and rosemary roasted chicken untouched and a joint news conference canceled. With the two leaders exchanging grins and handshakes, the meeting got off to a positive start. Vice President JD Vance, however, interrupted to address a question on Trump’s backing of Russia, and chaos ensued.
Trump rambled on about how the Russia-Ukraine war would never have occurred if he had been president throughout the first half hour of the meeting, which was filled with friendly discussions and formalities. When Trump started to place the responsibility for the war on Ukraine, even though Russia was the one who had invaded the country in 2022, the atmosphere started to change.
But when a reporter asked Trump if he was “aligned” with Putin of Russia, Vance, who has largely remained mute during Trump-world leaders talks in the White House, interrupted.
ZELENSKYY VS VANCE SLUGFEST LIT THE FUSE
Vance remarked, “The United States had a president that stood up to Vladimir Putin during press conferences for four years, and Putin invaded Ukraine, destroying a large portion of the country. Perhaps practicing diplomacy is the way to both peace and prosperity”.
The meeting seemed to fall apart at this point. A clearly furious Zelenskyy contended that Putin was untrustworthy and cited the ceasefire agreement reached in 2015 following Russia’s annexation of Crimea as Vance advocated for negotiation as the means of bringing the war to a stop.
Zelensky stated, “He (Putin) occupied our parts, big parts of Ukraine, part of East and Crimea… nobody stopped him. He just occupied and took. He killed people, you know?”
At this time, the Ukrainian President’s tone became severe as he proceeded to teach the Vice President about history.
Zelensky added, “But after that he broke the ceasefire, he killed our people and he didn’t exchange prisoners. We signed the exchange of prisoners, but he didn’t do it. What kind of diplomacy, JD, you are speaking about? What do you mean?”
Vance responded, “I am talking about the kind of diplomacy that’s going to end the destruction of your country.”
Vance became agitated as tensions began to rise and accused Zelenskyy of being “disrespectful” to Trump, who was attempting to put an end to the three-year-old dispute.
Vance stated, “I think it’s disrespectful for you to come to the Oval Office and try to litigate this in front of the American media. You guys are going around and forcing conscripts to the front lines because you have manpower problems. You should be thanking the president”.
It turned out to be the decisive moment as Zelenskyy folded his arms and became more aggressive. “Have you visited Ukraine before? Have you noticed the issues we face? Zelenskyy answered.
Once more, an agitated Vance criticized Zelenskyy for attacking the administration in the Oval Office, saying it was rude.
Vance stated, “I have actually watched and seen the stories and I know that what happens is that you bring them on a propaganda tour… And do you think that it’s respectful to come to the Oval Office and attack the administration that is trying to prevent the destruction of your country?”
Zelenskyy proceeded by saying that if the war in Ukraine carried on, the United States would also be affected, and Trump, who had been silently observing the slugfest, stepped in.
“You are in no position to dictate how we are going to feel,” Trump stated.
Vance interrupted once more, saying Zelensky was not appreciative of the US’s assistance. He inquired, “Have you said thank you once?” Zelensky retorted angrily, “A lot of times.”
Someone had lighted the fuse. Before Zelenskyy bounded out of the White House, the meeting then turned into a three-minute shouting fight.
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