President Trump said on Friday that Ukrainian President Voldy Mir Zelensky “overestimated his hand” during the day's explosive oval office meeting, indicating that future US support would be at risk if Zelensky didn't want to end the fight.
“As you know, we had a meeting today, and from his perspective it didn't work at all. Trump told White House reporters preparing to leave for the weekend in Florida.
Asked what Zelensky must do to resume consultations, Trump said instead of criticizing Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian leaders must say, “I want to create peace.”
“He has to say, 'I want to make peace,'” Trump said. “He doesn't need to stand there and say, 'Putin, Putin, it.' All the negative things. He has to say, “I want to create peace.” I don't want to fight war anymore. ”
When Vance said Trump was engaged in diplomacy, the moment the meeting began to emerge from sincerity off the rails, Zelensky questioned, “What kind of diplomacy, JD, are you talking?” Note that Putin broke the ceasefire and killed the Ukrainians.
Trump has shown that the US will not continue to support Ukraine if Zelensky does not come to the negotiation table to end the war.
“I just want to do a deal and it's a good thing if the deal happens. But you can't involve people who don't have cards. We're not going to keep fighting.
Zelensky arrived at the White House early Friday, and he was expected to meet with Trump and register for a deal that would allow the United States to access Ukraine's vital mineral supply. Trump promoted the deal as a way to regain some of the aid the US provided to Ukraine in its war with Russia, boosting Ukraine's economy in the long term.
However, after about 30 minutes of relatively sincere exchange, the meeting was left to chaos, with Trump and Vice President Vance accusing Zelensky of being ungrateful to American support and having little leverage in the meeting.
White House officials asked Zelensky to leave after the meeting ended, and could not save consultations on Friday.
Trump ended the war in Ukraine and spoke with both Zelensky and Putin. He met with European allies of France and Britain this week. Both argued that they must guarantee that they are protected against future Russian attacks.
Tensions have risen between Trump and Zelensky in recent weeks after the US president called Ukrainian leaders “a scary, jobless dictator.” Trump recently suggested that Ukraine would blame the start of a war with Russia. More than three years ago, Moscow invaded Ukraine without provocation.
