WASHINGTON
US President Donald Trump abruptly ended a White House meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday after a fiery exchange in the Oval Office derailed critical talks.
Zelenskyy got into a heated war of words with Trump and US Vice President JD Vance during an over 40-minute exchange. Vance repeatedly accused the embattled Ukrainian leader of being ungrateful for American support in Kyiv's war effort.
Zelenskyy in US for rare earth minerals agreement
The meeting was supposed to be about a US-Ukraine deal on the country's rare earth minerals, which the US president was seeking as compensation for financial aid given to Ukraine in its war against Russia.
Ukraine is sitting on massive reserves of critical rare earth minerals that could total trillions of dollars. It holds about 5% of the world’s total mineral resources, according to a 2024 World Economic Forum report.
During the meeting, Trump said the US gave Ukraine "through this stupid president (President Joe Biden), $350 billion, we gave you military equipment. ... if you didn't have our military equipment, if you didn't have our military equipment, this war would have been over in two weeks".
Trump said a day earlier that the deal would serve as a "backstop" for Ukraine as Kyiv seeks security guarantees from the US as part of a deal to hand over extraction rights.
"It's really going to get us into that country. We'll be working there. We'll have a lot of people working there. And so, in that sense, it's very good. It's a backstop, you could say," Trump told reporters as he hosted UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the White House.
A news conference scheduled for later Friday was canceled after the Oval Office exchange.
Trump called Zelenskyy 'disrespectful'
During the meeting, Trump repeatedly told the Ukrainian president that he is not "now not in a very good position," accusing Zelenksyy of allowing his country "to be in a very bad position".
"You don't have the cards right now with us, you start having problems right now," said Trump.
Zelenskyy responded: "I’m not playing cards."
In response, the US president told Zelenskyy he was playing cards.
"You're gambling with the lives of millions of people. You're gambling with World War II. You're gambling with World War III, and what you're doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country, that's back to you far more than a lot of people say they should."
Heated exchange erupts after vice president steps in
Trump was talking about his position on Russia and Europe when he was asked if he was aligning "too much with Putin" by a reporter.
He said he was aligned with the United States of America, and for the good of the world, he was aligned with the world, and he wanted to end the Ukraine war.
Trump was then interrupted by Vance, who said, "I will respond to this,"
"Look, for four years, the United States of America, we had a president who stood up at press conferences and talked tough about Vladimir Putin, and then Putin invaded Ukraine and destroyed a significant chunk of the country," said Vance.
Zelenskyy later said Ukraine signed a gas contract with Putin but later he broke the 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 you are speaking about? What do you mean?" asked Zelenskky.
"I'm talking about the kind of diplomacy that's going to end the destruction of your country, Mr. President. Mr. President, with respect, I think it's disrespectful for you to come to the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media," Vance responded.
'You have a nice ocean and but don't feel now' with war in Ukraine
The exchange between Zelenskyy and Vance continued until they talked about problems in the Ukrainian military and stories surrounding the war.
"Do you think that it's respectful to come to the Oval Office of the United States of America and attack the administration that is trying to prevent the destruction of your country?" asked Vance.
Zelenskyy, for his part, said there are a lot of questions.
"Let's start from the beginning. First of all, during the war, everybody has problems, even you, but you have a nice ocean and but don't feel now, but you will feel it in the future," said the Ukrainian president.
Trump furious after Zelenskyy says, 'You don't feel now'
The US president stepped in and said, "You don't know that," after which the tension escalated.
Meanwhile, Vance asked again, "Have you said thank you?"
Zelenskyy responded: "A lot of times" and accused Vance of speaking very loudly about the war.
When Trump said Vance was not speaking loudly, and Ukraine was in big trouble, Zelenskyy asked, "Can I answer?"
"No, no, you've done a lot of talking. Your country is in big trouble," said Trump.
"You're not winning. You're not winning this. You have a damn good chance of coming out okay, because of us," Trump added.
Trump: People are dying and Ukraine is running low on soldiers
The US president continued to take aim at the Ukrainian president, saying, "You're running low on soldiers. It would be a damn good thing. Then you tell us, I don't want to ceasefire. I don't want to ceasefire. I want to go and I want this ... Look, if you could get a ceasefire right now, I tell you, you take it so the bullets stop flying and your men stop being killed."
Zelenskyy then suggested Ukrainian people are in favor of a ceasefire.
"Ask our people about ceasefire. What they think," said Zelenksyy.
"That wasn't with me, that was with a guy named Biden who was not a smart person," said Trump.
"It was your president," Zelenskyy responded.
"That was with Obama who gave you sheets and I gave you javelins. Yes, I gave you the javelins to take out all those tanks. Obama gave you sheets. In fact, the statement is Obama gave sheets and Trump gave javelins, you got to be more thankful, because, let me tell you, you don't have the cards. With us, you have the cards, but without us, you don't have any cards," Trump added.
