Zelenskyy argues with Trump and VP Vance on camera
Pravda Ukraine
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has argued with US President Donald Trump and US Vice President JD Vance during their meeting, which was broadcast live.
Source: broadcast of the meeting between Zelenskyy and Trump at the White House on 28 February
Details: Trump told Zelenskyy that Ukraine does not “have the cards right now” and that Ukrainians should be more grateful. In response, Zelenskyy said he “is not playing cards”.
Details: Vance initially stated that Trump’s administration was currently proving through its diplomatic efforts that it was working on settling the war in Ukraine. Zelenskyy reminded him that Russia has occupied Crimea and parts of eastern Ukraine since 2014, and no one stopped Putin, despite several US administrations changing – from Barack Obama to Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
Quote from Zelenskyy: “During 2014 nobody stopped him [Putin – ed.]. He just occupied and killed people. You know that we had conversations with him, a lot of conversations… I signed the deal with him in 2019… But after that, he broke this ceasefire. He killed our people and he didn’t exchange prisoners. We signed the exchange of prisoners, but he didn’t do it. What kind of diplomacy, JD [Vance], are you speaking about?”
Details: Vance replied that he was talking about the kind of diplomacy that could “end the destruction of your country” and pointed out that Ukraine was “forcing conscripts” to go to the front line due to a shortage of personnel on the battlefield.
Quote from Zelenskyy: “A lot of questions. Let’s start from the biggest. First of all, during the war, everybody has problems. Even you. But you have a nice ocean, and you don’t feel it now. But you will feel it in the future.”
Trump interrupted him, saying: “You don’t know that. Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel. We’re trying to solve the problem. You’re in no position to dictate what we’re going to feel.”
“I am not dictating,” Zelenskyy replied, explaining that the United States “will feel the influence”.
Trump said that Zelenskyy was “not in a good position” and didn’t “have the cards right now”, but with the United States, he would “have the cards”.
“I’m not playing cards. I am very serious. I am a president in war,” the Ukrainian president responded.
“You’re gambling with World War III. And what you’re doing is very disrespectful to this country,” Trump interrupted.
Zelenskyy replied that he does respect the US.
JD Vance then joined the argument, asking, “Have you said thank you once?”
“A lot of times,” Zelenskyy answered.
Vance then brought up Zelenskyy’s visit to a factory in Pennsylvania during the US election campaign, implying that he had shown support for the opposition.
“Please, you think that if you speak very loudly about the war, you can…” Zelenskyy began, addressing Vance’s raised voice.
Trump interrupted Zelenskyy: “He’s not speaking loudly. Your country’s in big trouble.”
When the Ukrainian president attempted to ask a question, Trump told him, “You’ve done a lot of talking.”
Zelenskyy managed to say that Ukraine had stood firm for three years, despite being alone at the beginning of the war. Trump cut him off, insisting that Ukraine had not been alone and that the previous president, Joe Biden, had given it “US$350 billion”.
As the argument escalated, both presidents began speaking over each other, making it difficult to understand what was being said. Eventually, JD Vance attempted to silence Zelenskyy, saying that he should not be arguing in front of the American media when it was clear that he was “wrong”.
“Then you tell us: I don’t want a ceasefire, I don’t want a ceasefire. I want to go… I want this…. Look, if you can get a ceasefire right now, I tell you: you take it,” Trump said.
To this, Zelenskyy asked where the guarantees for Ukraine were. Trump did not answer.
When one of the journalists asked what the United States would do if Russia violated the ceasefire, Trump answered: “What if anything? What if a bomb drops on your head right now? What if they break it? I don’t know. They broke it with Biden because they didn’t respect him. They didn’t respect Obama. They respect me.”
Background: Trump stated during the meeting with Zelenskyy that he supports both Ukraine and Russia.
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