Trump, Zelensky Clash In Oval Office Shouting Match

On Friday, the US president Donald Trump and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky engaged in a remarkable shouting match in the Oval Office, with Russian-Russian relations still at stake.

As a meeting intended to ease tensions over the sudden US outreach to Russia ended up inflaming them, a furious Trump told Zelensky.

You’re taking millions of people’s lives and gambling, you say. You’re gambling on World War Three, and what you’re doing disrespects the United States, Trump continued.

Zelensky attended the White House to discuss a peace deal with Russia and sign a deal allowing him to share Ukraine’s mineral wealth, despite the US president’s recent criticism of his Ukrainian counterpart as a dictator.

Following a week-long diplomatic dance, the leaders of France and Britain have also visited the White House to persuade Trump not to leave Kyiv.

However, after Vice President JD Vance declared that “diplomacy” was required to put an end to the war, things started to get sour. When Vance accused Zelensky of being “disrespectful” in the president’s office, he responded with “what kind of diplomacy.”

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‘Tough deal, ‘ 

After the leaders’ disagreement over whether the US had failed to halt Putin’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, Trump then supported his vice president.

Trump responded, “You’re not acting at all appreciative.”

Trump predicted a “very difficult” situation for conducting business like this. Because the attitudes have to change, “it’s going to be a difficult decision.”

Zelensky accused Trump of “speaking loudly” while fighting his way to Trump in a more eloquent voice.

Trump spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin two weeks ago, sparking discussions to end the three-year-old conflict, without engaging Kyiv, and upended Washington’s longstanding policy on Ukraine.

Trump admitted to speaking with Putin on “numerous occasions” on Friday, according to Trump’s statement to reporters.

Even though he has refrained from providing Kyiv security guarantees as part of a truce with Russia, the US leader has demanded a deal that would give Washington preferential access to Ukraine’s rare-earth and other natural resources as the price of any additional support.

Trump retorted the meeting’s theme of “drill, baby, drill” for oil on Thursday, saying, “We’ll be dig, dig, dig, dig” for Ukraine’s resources.

Trump also mentions that he believes Putin as the UK’s prime minister presses Ukraine to make guarantees.

Dictator Without Elections

Trump recently softened his position on Zelensky in recent days, blaming him for the invasion of Russia in February 2022, and making a number of Kremlin rants about the conflict.

At a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday, Trump said of Zelensky, “I have a lot respect for him.” We’ll get along really well, they say.

Trump, a billionaire real estate mogul, insists the minerals deal is necessary to recoup the money that Washington has provided to Ukraine in military and other aid.

Before Zelensky arrived in Washington, he claimed that US and Ukrainian officials would decide the nature of the security guarantees for Ukraine and the precise amounts of the money at stake.

Trump has reportedly expressed admiration for the authoritarian Russian leader in the past and said he trusts Putin to “keep his word” on any ceasefire, but he has sincere assurances about security.

In the event of a resolution to end the Ukraine war, Britain and France have both offered peacekeepers, but they insist that there must be American “backstop,” including American intelligence and perhaps air power.

Following a phone call on February 12th, Putin and Trump both stated that they had agreed to meet privately, but they have not yet set up a meeting.

Russia’s assault on Ukraine continued as Moscow and Washington cooled, though.

Russian forces stormed the Ukrainian border from the Russian region of Kursk on Friday, according to Kyiv, near areas of the region that Ukrainian forces seized last summer.

Source: Channels TV