Following a meeting with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that was cut short due to a disagreement in the Oval Office, President Donald Trump informed reporters what his Ukrainian counterpart needed to do to deserve an invitation back to the White House.
“He’s got to say, ‘I want to make peace,’” Trump said while walking to board Marine One on Friday evening.
“He doesn’t have to stand there and say, ‘Putin this, Putin that,’ all negative things. He’s got to say, ‘I want to make peace. I don’t want to fight a war any longer.’ These people are dying. He doesn’t have the cards.”
Hours earlier, a meeting between the two sides in the Oval Office turned into a yelling fight. Matters became tense when Zelenskyy began to demand that the pact be modified to include greater security guarantees from the United States before he signed it.
Trump told Zelenskyy in the Oval Office that Ukraine is “not in a very good position.”
“You don’t have the cards. With us, you have the cards,” Trump said.
“You’re gambling with the lives of millions of people. You’re gambling with World War III,” Trump said. “What you’re doing is very disrespectful to this country.”
The White House later disclosed that the Ukrainian leader was asked to leave early, no deal had been signed, and the joint press conference scheduled later that day had been canceled.
“He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace,” Trump went on to write on Truth Social.
Before departing the White House, Trump stated that Zelenskyy had indicated a desire to return to the White House, and that he could not allow the Ukrainian leader to do so.
The president also stated that Zelenskyy no longer desired a cease-fire with Russia, emphasizing to the press, "You can't embolden somebody who does not have the cards."
“I want it to end immediately,” Trump said of the war in Ukraine. “I want a cease-fire now. He says, ‘Oh, I don’t want a cease-fire.’ Well, all of a sudden he’s a big shot because he has the U.S. on his side.”
“Either we’re going to end it or let him fight it out,” Trump said. “And if he fights it out, it’s not going to be pretty, because without it, without us, he doesn’t win.”
Zelenskyy subsequently told Bret Baier of Fox News that he and the Ukrainian people wanted the conflict to stop more than anybody else. Zelenskyy stated that he was prepared to sign the minerals deal, which was the principal purpose for his visit to Washington.
However, Zelenskyy stated that he will not agree to a cease-fire unless his country receives security guarantees from the United States to protect them against another Russian attack.
“We want peace,” he said. “That’s why I’m in the United States. That’s why I visited President Trump. And thanks for the invitation again. The deal on minerals is the first step to security guarantees. It’s meant for the peace. Closer to peace.”
When asked if he felt like he owed Trump an apology for how he acted in the Oval Office, Zelenskyy appeared to disagree and stressed the need to talk with Trump again to hear his plans to stop Russian leader Vladimir Putin and secure peace for Ukraine.
“I respect [the] American people,” the Ukrainian leader said. “I think that we have to be very open and very honest, and I’m not sure that we did something bad. I think maybe sometimes, some things we have to discuss [outside] of media, with all respect to democracy and to a free media. But there are things that, where we have to understand the position of Ukraine and Ukrainians, and I think that is the most important thing.”
