On Friday, February 26, 2025, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet with Vice President JD Vance and President Donald Trump. During his visit to the nation’s capital, Zelenskyy was scheduled to participate in a bilateral meeting with Trump and Vance, attend a news conference, and sign a deal that would give the United States access to Ukrainian rare earth and critical minerals. However, those plans were derailed when Zelenskyy, Trump, and Vance engaged in a heated back-and-forth regarding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Meeting in the Oval Office, Zelenskyy, Trump, and Vance’s conversation began without any apparent issue. Then, things became heated when Trump responded to a reporter who asked, “Do you — And now I’m talking with my friends in Poland, and they are worried that you align yourself too much with Putin. What’s your message for them?”
“Well, if I didn’t align myself with both of them, you’d never have a deal. You want me to say, uh, really terrible things about Putin and then say hi, Vladimir. How are we doing on the deal? It doesn’t work that way. [Laughter] I’m not aligned with Putin. I’m not aligned with anybody. I’m aligned with the United States of America,” Trump answered. “And for the good of the world. I’m aligned with the world. And I want to get this thing over with. You see the hatred he’s got for Putin. It’s very tough for me to make a deal with that kind of hate. He’s got tremendous hatred. And I understand that. But I can tell you the other side is exactly in love with, you know, him either.”
Once Trump finished answering, Vance chimed in with his comments, seemingly setting off Zelenskyy.
“I want to respond to this. So look, for 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. The path to peace and the path to prosperity is maybe engaging in diplomacy,” Vance added. “We tried the pathway of Joe Biden of thumping our chest and pretending that the president of the United States words mattered more than the president of the United States is actions. What makes America a good country is America engaging in diplomacy. That’s what President Trump is doing.”
Zelenskyy particularly took issue with the use of the word “diplomacy.” The Ukrainian President called out Putin for “killing [his] people” and “[refusing to] exchange prisoners.”
“I signed with him, Macron and Merkel, we signed ceasefire. Ceasefire. All of them told me that he will never go. We signed him with gas contract, gas contract, yes. But after that he broken the ceasefire. He killed our people. And he didn’t exchange prisoners. We signed the exchange of prisoners. He didn’t do it. What kind of diplomacy, JD, you are speaking about?” Zelenskyy asked.
From there, the conversation became increasingly heated as Vance called Zelenskyy “disrespectful” and said Zelensky “should be thanking [Trump] for trying to bring an end to this conflict.” Vance also accused Zelenskyy of bringing Ukrainians impacted by the war “on a propaganda tour.” Tensions continued to rise when Zelenskyy warned the fallout of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine would continue to impact the U.S. in the future.
“First of all, during the war, everybody has problems, even you, but you have nice ocean and don’t feel now, but you will feel it in the future,” Zelenskyy said.
“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,” Trump replied.
Ultimately, the meeting devolved as the world officials raised their voices and Trump accused Zelenskyy of “gambling with the lives of millions of people.”
“You’re gambling with World War III. And what you’re doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country,” Trump said.
After the combative meeting, the scheduled news conference with Zelenskyy and Trump was canceled. In the aftermath, lawmakers from around the world shared their thoughts about the verbal back-and-forth between world leaders.
“The scenes from the White House are shocking,” German lawmaker Johann Wadephul wrote. “How can you stab the president of an invaded country in the back like this? Free Europe will not betray Ukraine!”
“President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has strong support in Ukraine, broad support in Europe, and he has led his people through a very demanding and brutal time, under attack from Russia. That Trump accuses Zelenskyy of gambling with World War III is deeply unreasonable and a statement I distance myself from,” Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere added.
However, not all world leaders have stood beside Zelenskyy after he met with Trump. Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev called Zelenskyy a “cocaine clown” and an “ungrateful pig.”
“For the first time, Trump told the cocaine clown the truth to his face: The Kyiv regime is playing with the Third World War. And the ungrateful pig received a strong slap on the wrist from the owners of the pigsty. This is useful,” Medvedev said.
“How Trump and Vance held back from hitting that scumbag is a miracle of restraint,” Maria Zakharova, the spokesperson for Russia’s Foreign Ministry, added.
As for Zelenskyy’s relationship with Trump moving forward, the Ukrainian President said he would not apologize to Trump, but feels it would be “difficult” to defend his country without the support of the U.S.
“It will be difficult without your support,” Zelenskyy said.
“Your people help to save our people.”
Meanwhile, Trump shared a statement via Truth Social and said, “[Zelenskyy] can come back when he is ready for peace.”
“We had a very meaningful meeting in the White House today. Much was learned that could never be understood without conversation under such fire and pressure,” Trump wrote. It’s 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.”
