(AFP) – Donald Trump said Monday that Washington would “not put up with” Volodymyr Zelensky’s rhetoric much longer, as the US president prepared to meet his top team after a disastrous Oval Office row with the Ukrainian leader.
“This is the worst statement that could have been made by Zelensky, and America will not put up with it for much longer,” Trump said on social media, citing a story quoting Ukraine’s president saying the end of the war with Moscow was far off. “This guy doesn’t want there to be Peace as long as he has America’s backing.” Trump also took aim at European leaders who met Zelensky for crisis talks in London at the weekend, saying that they had “stated flatly that they cannot do the job without the US.”
“Probably not a great statement to have been made in terms of a show of strength against Russia. What are they thinking,” Trump said on his Truth Social network. Trump’s broadside came after a meeting between Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Zelensky at the White House on Friday which descended into an extraordinary on-camera argument.
Trump and Vance raised their voices and accused Zelensky of being disrespectful and ungrateful for US military assistance, as the Ukrainian pushed his demand for American security guarantees as part of any truce. Zelensky was then told to leave the White House, with a crucial deal giving Washington preferential access to Ukraine’s mineral resources left unsigned. Trump will now meet his top aides on Monday to discuss next steps on Ukraine.
“What we need to hear from President Zelensky is that he has regret for what happened, he’s ready to sign this minerals deal and that he’s ready to engage in peace talks,” US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz told Fox News. White House officials did not confirm a report by the news outlet Axios that Trump was considering cutting all military aid to Kyiv following the row.
European leaders, who have offered peacekeepers to guarantee any ceasefire but also want a US “backstop,” met in London on Sunday in a desperate bid to resolve the row. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke by telephone Monday with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy to discuss the leaders’ meeting in London. Rubio “confirmed the United States is ready to negotiate to end the Ukraine-Russia conflict and will continue working with the UK towards peace in Ukraine,” State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said.
But in a sign of the tensions at play, Germany’s likely next chancellor Friedrich Merz said Monday he thought Trump had deliberately escalated the Oval Office clash. “According to my assessment this was not a spontaneous reaction to what Zelensky was saying but clearly a deliberate escalation,” Merz told a press conference in Berlin. Waltz had earlier denied that the clash was deliberate. “This was no ambush,” Waltz told Fox. “This was an opportunity and a moment, and I think President Zelensky truly did his country a real disservice.” – Danny KEMP
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