Key takeaways from the fiery White House meeting with Trump and Zelenskyy

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, and Donald Trump, his counterpart in the United States, had a heated exchange at a press conference.

On Friday, Zelenskyy arrived at the White House to discuss a proposed deal to give the US access to Ukraine’s rare earth minerals, while pushing for US security assurances.

The tension quickly waned as the two leaders sat down for a press conference in the Oval Office, with Trump yelling at Zelenskyy and apologizing for US support.

Trump told Zelenskyy, “You’re either going to make a deal or we’re out.”

Shortly after the close of the meeting, Trump released a statement on social media, seeming to withdraw the US from negotiations with Ukraine and eject Zelenskyy from the White House. In the end, no agreement was reached.

If America is involved, “I have determined that President Zelenskyy is not ready for peace,” Trump wrote. “He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. When he’s ready for peace, he can return.

Ukraine has endured territorial incursions from Russia for more than ten years, leading to a massive invasion that first broke out in February 2022.

The international community has largely denounced Russia’s actions as illegal, and the US has been a pivotal partner in Ukraine’s defence, committing $65.9bn in military assistance since the start of the war three years ago.

Since Trump took office in January, that support has been questioned. Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and US ambassadors in Saudi Arabia earlier this month, without the help of Ukraine or Europe, to negotiate a peace deal.

Zelenskyy and other European leaders have denounced those proceedings as sidelining their interests.

Trump has since heightened tensions, calling Zelenskyy a “dictator” for holding wartime elections and accusing him of profiting from the “gravy train” in the United States.

Zelenskyy, along with Emmanuel Macron, the president of France, and Keir Starmer, the prime minister of the United Kingdom, made his week-long visit to Trump. But unlike those leaders, who took pains to praise Trump, Zelenskyy openly contradicted Trump and called Putin a “  killer and terrorist”.

What can we learn from their meeting in particular?

Fractures emerge quickly in meeting

There were rumors that the meeting would be prickly right away when Zelenskyy arrived at the White House.

Trump greeted Zelenskyy with a handshake and a joke about his outfit, which he donned as a military uniform, as a sign of his accomplishments during the war.

“He’s all dressed up today”, Trump said aloud, pointing at Zelenskyy’s outfit.

Trump used his usual phrasing as the leaders rolled into the Oval Office as they made their first press conference of the day, praising the agreement’s access to Ukraine’s rare earth minerals.

Trump said, “We’re going to sign the agreement at the conference in the East Room in a little while right after lunch.”

“  We have something that is a very fair deal, and we look forward to getting in and digging, digging, digging and working and getting some of the rare earth”.

However, it quickly became clear that the leaders had disagreed on the subject of the deal.

Zelenskyy emphasized that any agreement must contain genuine security guarantees for Ukraine, something that Trump has so far avoided.

“I hope that this document, first document will be first step to real security guarantees for Ukraine”, the Ukrainian president said. Our country’s people and our children are truly counting it.

A clash over relations with Putin

Trump also praised his ongoing discussions with Putin, claiming that they had “very good discussions” and would bring the conflict to a close.

Before Russia began seizing Crimea and Donetsk, the US president had previously stated that it was “unlikely” that Ukraine would revert to its pre-2014 borders. He also asserted that Ukraine’s&nbsp, attempts to join the NATO military alliance were a non-starter.

Trump’s comments were accused of making early concessions toward Putin. And Zelenskyy put forth on Friday that it would be crucial to upholding Ukraine’s territorial integrity.

“I really count on your strong position to stop Putin”, Zelenskyy said. I’m hoping we can stop him together. However, for us, protecting our nation, our values, our freedom, and democracy is extremely important. And of course, no compromises with the killer of our territories”.

Trump, on the other hand, argued that Zelenskyy’s animosity toward Putin was the cause of the stalining peace negotiations. He also used his position of “peacemaker” and “arbitrator” between the two conflicting factions.

“  You see the hatred he’s got for Putin. It’s difficult to come to terms with that kind of hate, Trump told the reporters while gesturing to Zelenskyy.

He also disputed his claim that Ukraine would have to sacrifice something for peace with Russia, saying, “I believe you’re going to have to always make compromises.” You can’t do any deals without compromises”.

The Ukrainian leader responded, saying that the conflict was not a clash of personalities but a violation of his nation’s sovereignty.

Putin has declared that he will never stop. And he’ll go further and further”, Zelenskyy said, as tensions started to boil over in the room. He despises us. Not my concern. He hates Ukrainians. He believes that we are not a country.

Trump began to criticize Zelenskyy and the reporters, pressing him to decide whether he could trust Putin to keep a potential ceasefire as the news conference turned into open aggression.

“  What if anything? What if something bombs your head right now? Trump yelled at a reporter before making a vehement, particularly sympathetic defense of Putin.

He appeared to frame Putin as an ally in his political rivalry with the Democrats. Trump cited the federal investigation into allegations that Russia had intervened on the Republican’s behalf in 2016.

Putin and I went through a lot, they said. He went through a phoney witch-hunt where they used him and Russia, Russia, Russia, Russia. Have you ever heard of that agreement?” Trump questioned and claimed that the investigation was a Democratic con. “He had to go through that”.

accusations of “disrespect”

The Trump team repeated well-worn accusations that the administration of his predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden, was responsible for allowing the war in Ukraine to start in the first place.

US Vice President JD Vance slammed Biden for “thumping]his] chest” to put an end to the conflict as the tensions began to mount. He added that the Trump administration was more focused on diplomacy than that.

But Zelenskyy took issue with that assessment and questioned what kind of diplomacy with Putin would be even possible, given that the Russian leader had already broken a 2014 agreement to stop the fighting in Donetsk and Luhansk.

The ad hominem attacks actually started at that time.

Vance responded, “I’m talking about the kind of diplomacy that’s going to end your country’s destruction.” I think it’s disrespectful for you to come to the Oval Office and try to litigate this in front of the American media”.

Trump reacted furiously when Zelenskyy claimed that Vance had never visited Ukraine and had not experienced the effects of the war.

Don’t explain how we’ll feel, please. We’re trying to solve a problem. Don’t explain how we’re going to feel, he said.

You’re gambling with millions of people’s lives, you say. You’re gambling with World War III”, Trump continued, speaking over Zelenskyy. You’re gambling on World War III, and what you’re doing disrespects this nation in particular.

Zelenskyy repeatedly tried to make it clear that he did indeed hope to end the war, but Trump glared and berated the Ukrainian leader for not showing any interest.

“You have to be thankful. The cards are not yours. You are buried there. Your people are dying. Trump said, “You’re running out of soldiers. Without the United States, I believe you would be a tough guy because I gave you that power.

Within minutes, the meeting was at an end.

A gurgurling future

No deal on rare earth minerals was signed that afternoon. Later in the day, a second news conference was postponed. As a line of Ukrainian delegation representatives walked out of the White House shortly after, Zelenskyy was spotted exiting in a dark vehicle.

The war of words soon shifted to the internet, where each leader offered remarks on what transpired in the Oval Office.

Under such fire and pressure, Trump wrote on his platform, Truth Social, “Much was learned that could never be understood without conversation.” However, he refuted Zelenskyy’s claims that he had “disrespected” his workplace.

Zelenskyy, meanwhile, offered a brief, more neutral acknowledgement of the meeting, focusing on his gratitude for US support.

America, I appreciate your support, and I appreciate your visit. The Ukrainian leader credited the US president with “Thank You @POTUS, Congress, and the American people” using the US president’s social media handle. “Ukraine needs just and lasting peace, and we are working exactly for that”.

With the fate of the US-Ukraine alliance in the air, Zelenskyy now travels to London for a meeting with European leaders.

Russian leaders praised Trump and Vance’s performance immediately following the meeting.

“How Trump and Vance held back from hitting that scumbag is a miracle of restraint”, Maria Zakharova, a spokesperson for Russia’s Foreign Ministry, wrote on Telegram.

Trump’s remarks were endorsed by prominent Republicans, including Senator Lindsey Graham. However, Zelenskyy’s supporters included numerous Democrats and prominent European figures.

“Dear Zelenskyy, dear Ukrainian friends, you are not alone”, Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk quickly posted on social media.

Analysts speculate that the historic meeting may not yet be the end of the two allies’ negotiations, especially as the US searches for sources for rare earth minerals to compete with China.

According to Samuel Ramani, an analyst at the Royal United Services Institute in the UK, “I don’t believe that this means the termination of the deal.”

“I think that the deal has shown a lot of flexibility. More than $500 billion in minerals was originally the US’s goal. The Ukrainians were able to sort of reshape the situation so that it resembled a reconstruction agreement rather than just being used as collateral for the previous military assistance.

Source: Aljazeera