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What was supposed to be a triumphant White House visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to mark the signing of a mineral rights deal between the United States and Ukraine devolved into an Oval Office shouting match between Zelensky, President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance.<\/p>\n
Zelensky left the White House less than an hour after the emotional eruption, cutting short talks that were supposed to cement an economic relationship between Washington and Kyiv and create a mechanism to repay the billions in American military aid that has been sent to Ukraine since 2022. <\/p>\n
Trump took to his Truth Social site to announce the collapse in talks, writing that he and Zelensky had \u201ca very meaningful meeting in the White House\u201d with \u201cmuch\u201d learned that \u201ccould never be understood without conversation under such fire and pressure.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s amazing what comes out through emotion, and I have determined that President Zelenskyy is not ready for Peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations. I don\u2019t want advantage, I want PEACE. He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace,\u201d Trump said. <\/p>\n
The conflagration kicked off on Friday after the American vice president began lecturing Zelensky for what he called a lack of open gratitude towards the United States for the aid his country has received to combat Russia\u2019s invading forces.<\/p>\n
Earlier in the day, Zelensky had arrived at the White House and was greeted by Trump outside the West Wing, with the U.S. leader shaking his hand and making a jovial quip about the Ukrainian president\u2019s customary wartime outfit before escorting him to the Oval Office.<\/p>\n
As reporters watched, the two men spoke about the mineral deal that Zelensky\u2019s government has been discussing with Trump administration officials for several weeks, with Trump saying it was \u201can honor\u201d to have Zelensky at the White House \u2014 his first visit to Washington since the change of administration \u2014 and describing the work to reach a deal as \u201cvery hard\u201d while saying it was going \u201cvery well.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have something that is a very fair deal, and we look forward to getting in, getting some of the rare earth, but it needs to look at the inside, and it’s a big commitment for the United States, and we appreciate working with you very much, and we will continue to do that,\u201d said Trump, who also commended Ukraine\u2019s armed forces as having been \u201cvery brave\u201d during the three-year-old war that began with Russia\u2019s invasion in February 2022.<\/p>\n
But the conversation took a turn after roughly 30 minutes of questions from reporters as the subject turned to whether the agreement between the U.S. and Ukraine would include any security guarantees from the American side. <\/p>\n
When Trump was asked by a reporter from Polish radio about concerns that he is \u201caligned\u201d with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump replied that he was \u201cnot aligned with anybody\u201d save for \u201cthe United States of America, and for the good of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also accused Zelensky of harboring \u201ctremendous hatred\u201d for Putin and said that made it harder to \u201cmake a deal\u201d to end the war. <\/p>\n
It was then that Vance, who had been silently sitting with other Trump administration officials, decided to speak up.<\/p>\n
The 40-year-old former Ohio senator began by mocking Trump\u2019s predecessor, Joe Biden, and blaming him for Putin\u2019s decision to escalate the conflict with Ukraine by invading one year into Biden\u2019s term in 2022. <\/p>\n
\u201cFor four years the United States of America, we had a president who stood up at press conferences and talked tough about Vladimir Putin, and then Putin invaded Ukraine and destroyed a significant chunk of the country … we tried the pathway of Joe Biden, of thumping our chest and pretending that the President of the United States’s words mattered more than the President of the United States’ actions,\u201d Vance said, adding that Trump was \u201cengaging in diplomacy\u201d by speaking with Putin about a peace deal after years of efforts to isolate the Russian dictator by the West.<\/p>\n
Zelensky responded by relating the history of the conflict and the multiple peace agreements that Putin has violated.<\/p>\n
\u201cI signed with him, the deal I signed with him. Macron and Merkel, we signed ceasefire. Ceasefire. All of them told me that he will never go. We signed him gas contract … but after that, he broke this ceasefire, he killed our people, and he didn’t exchange prisoners. We signed the exchange of prisoners, but he didn’t do it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Turning to Vance, he said: \u201cWhat kind of diplomacy, JD you are speaking about?\u201d<\/p>\n
Vance replied: \u201cI’m talking about the kind of diplomacy that’s going to end the destruction of your country.\u201d<\/p>\n
He then began lecturing Zelensky about contradicting Trump in front of reporters, telling the Ukrainian leader that \u201cdisrespectful for you to come to the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media\u201d and echoed Russian propaganda talking points about Ukraine\u2019s use of a military draft.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou should be thanking the president for trying to bring an end to this conflict,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
After Zelensky invited Vance to visit Ukraine and see the state of things on the front lines, Vance reacted dismissively by accusing Zelensky of holding \u201cpropaganda tours\u201d for visiting American politicians.<\/p>\n
A short <\/p>\n
More follows…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inboxGet our free Inside Washington emailGet our free Inside Washington email I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our\u00a0privacy policy What was supposed to be a triumphant White House visit […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4196,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[173],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n