Trump, Zelenskiy fail to sign minerals deal after unruly Oval Office meeting
- 28 February, 13:57
The Ukrainian leader left the White House on Friday without signing a natural resources agreement following an angry meeting in Oval Office. The meeting in the White House turned into a headed debate with US President Donald Trump and Vice-President JD Vance scolding Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Trump accused Zelenskiy of gambling with World War III and demanded that he shows more gratitude for US military aid sent to Kyiv throughout the three years of the war with Russia. “What you're doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country, that's back to you far more than a lot of people say they should,” Trump berated Zelenskiy. “You're not in a good position. You don't have the cards right now. With us, you start having problems right now,” the US president went on saying. Trump told Zelenskiy to “make a deal or we are out.” JD Vance who was also attending Oval Office meeting berated Zelenskiy for being ungrateful and ordered him to “say thank you” to Trump. He also brought up conscription problem within the Ukrainian army.
“Right now, you guys are going around and forcing conscripts to the front lines because you have manpower problems, you should be thanking the president for trying to bring it into this,” Vance noted.
Zelenskiy was then told to leave the White House and a planned press conference related to mineral deal was cancelled. Trump wrote on social media that Zelenskiy could return “when he is ready for peace”. Ukrainian leader, however, thanked the US and its people in his first social media post after the disastrous Oval Office meeting. Zelenskiy stressed that his country “needs just and lasting peace.”
The angry debate casted doubts over Trump’s efforts to broker a deal to end the war between Russia and Ukraine. In addition, the fate of the minerals deal between US and Ukraine remains uncertain after the angry exchange between the two countries’ leaders.
