Donald Trump has clashed with Volodymyr Zelensky in a furious exchange at the White House, with the US president telling his Ukrainian counterpart to make a deal with Russia “or we are out”.
The pair interrupted each other repeatedly in front of the media during what was supposed to be a prelude to the two leaders signing a minerals deal.
After relations first became strained over Trump’s handling of Ukraine peace talks with Russia, the minerals agreement was supposed to be a stepping stone towards further security ties between the countries.
But Zelensky was told by the Americans to leave before the deal could be signed.
At one point, Trump told Zelensky he was not thankful enough for US military and political support, and that he was “gambling with World War Three”.
Zelensky had earlier argued there should be “no compromises” with Russian President Vladimir Putin – but Trump said Kyiv would have to make concessions to reach a peace deal with Russia.
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and currently controls around 20% of Ukrainian territory.
The meeting to discuss the US-Ukraine deal, which involved access to Ukrainian oil, gas and rare minerals, came after the new US president appeared to blame Zelensky for the war and chided him for not starting peace talks with Russia earlier.
His tone had softened in recent days, with Trump saying he had “a lot of respect” for the Ukrainian leader.
But Friday’s conversation soured after the US Vice-President JD Vance – who was sat alongside other politicians in the room – told Zelensky that the war had to be ended through diplomacy.
Zelensky responded by asking “what kind of diplomacy?”, referencing a previous ceasefire deal in 2019, agreed three years before Russia’s full-scale invasion when Moscow was supporting and arming separatist fighters in Ukraine’s east.
The vice-president then accused Zelensky of being disrespectful and “litigating” the situation in front of the media.
From there, the discussion escalated quickly, as Trump and Vance accused Ukraine’s president of being ungrateful for three years of US support during the war with Russia, with Trump saying Zelensky was in no position to tell the US how it should feel.
Not long after the meeting – and well ahead of the pre-planned schedule – Zelensky was seen leaving the White House in his official vehicle.
(BBC)
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