President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine met with US President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington, DC on Friday, 28 February. Their meeting, however, came to a premature end. President Trump asked Zelenskyy and his delegation to leave following a public altercation in front of the press.
The original purpose of the meeting was to have President Zelenskyy sign an agreement per which the extraction of Ukraine’s state-owned rare minerals would be managed by a newly established fund, which is 50 per cent owned by the US government, awarding it 50 per cent of the revenue. Both President Trump and Zelenskyy have spoken optimistically about the deal prior their meeting. However, when the day came to sign the agreement, tensions blew up between the parties.
When President Zelenskyy arrived at the White House, President Trump made a flippant statement about his usual, casual attire. However, by the time it came to the press gaggle in the Oval Office, the POTUS actually remarked: ‘I do like your [Zelenskyy’s] clothing,’ when the issue was brought up by a reporter. So, tensions on that front were smoothed out.
Things started to go off the rails when President Zelenskyy brought up past examples of President Putin of Russia violating the terms of ceasefires, and insinuated that US diplomacy is to blame for that. In response, US Vice President JD Vance pointed out that ‘it is disrespectful to litigate this in front of the American media’.
Soon after President Trump told his Ukrainian counterpart: ‘Right now, you’re not in a very good position. You’ve allowed yourself to be in a very bad position…You don’t have the cards right now. With us, you start having cards.’ As a testament to the tense atmosphere in the room, President Trump went on to say: ‘It’s going to be a tough deal to make because the attitudes have to change,’ referring to President Zelenskyy’s statements and demeanour during the public part of their meeting.
There was no improvement in the communication between the two parties behind closed doors either, as President Trump decided to ask Zelenskyy and his delegation to leave even before their scheduled lunch and joint press conference, cancelling both. He then posted to Truth Social that ‘President Zelenskyy is not ready for Peace if America is involved…He can come back when he is ready for Peace.’ This caused the major US stock indexes to drop sharply, as the markets were calculating with an imminent ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine. However, the stock market rebounded to even higher before the day closed.
In the aftermath, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who has been one of the biggest proponents for Ukrainian aid on the Republican side, praised President Trump for his conduct during the meeting with Zelenskyy; and even suggested that the Ukrainian leader should resign. President Zelesnkyy responded that is up to the Ukrainian people to decide that. However, it is unclear how the Ukrainian people could voice their opinion on that matter, given that he has been refusing to hold an election, despite the fact that his first term in office was scheduled to end in May 2024.
During an interview with Fox News’s Bret Baier after his ill-fated meeting with President Trump, Zelenskyy also refused to concede that he owns the POTUS an apology. Many analysts believe that this was yet another major blunder in diplomacy, at a crucial time for his war-torn country.
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