A White House official confirmed that President Trump asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to leave, a press conference was canceled, and discussions about a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine ground to a standstill after a heated meeting between the two leaders.
During their meeting on Friday, Trump said that Zelenskyy was not prepared to bring peace to his nation and accused the Ukrainian leader of “disrespecting” the United States.
“I have determined that President Zelenskyy is not ready for peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. I desire peace, not gain. In the hallowed Oval Office, he disdained the United States of America. When he is prepared to accept peace, he is welcome to return.
In the midst of peace talks in Ukraine, Zelenskyy paid a visit to Washington. He was supposed to sign a minerals pact, which would grant the United States access to Ukrainian resources in return for the support the United States had given the country since Russia invaded in 2022.
However, the situation deteriorated. Both Trump and Vice President JD Vance criticized Zelenskyy for allegedly not appreciating the United States’ support throughout the years and for putting the Ukrainian leader in a “bad position” during negotiations after he claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin was untrustworthy and had broken other agreements.
“You’re just playing cards,” Trump remarked. The lives of countless individuals are on the line when you do this. You’re taking a chance on the third world war. You’re taking a chance on the third world war. Also, you should know better than to act in such a way toward our nation.
Zelenskyy responded to Vance’s statement that Ukraine was facing issues with personnel and military recruiting by saying, “everybody has problems, even you” and that the United States will experience the effects of conflict “in the future.”
“Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel,” Trump said harshly. We’re attempting to resolve an issue. Don’t try to predict our emotions for us.
“You are in no position to dictate that, remember that.”
In another heated exchange, Vance demanded to know whether Zelenskyy had ever shown gratitude during the whole discussion, which prompted Zelenskyy to accuse Vance of speaking “loudly.”
When Zelenskyy tried to reassure Trump that Ukraine was fine, Trump hit back and warned him that the country was in “big trouble.”
“Hold on a second,” Trump interrupted. No, no, you’ve spoken quite a bit. A major crisis has befallen your nation.
At a news conference in the Oval Office, Zelenskyy was asked whether he thought Trump supported Ukraine. He responded that he did, and he emphasized once again how important it was to halt Putin’s aggression.
In response to Zelenskyy’s remarks on Europe’s role in the dispute with Russia, Trump stepped in to say the United States’ role was more important. That, however, was denied by Zelenskyy.
Depending on what is deemed help, the exact amounts of financial support to Ukraine might differ somewhat. But the Council on Foreign Relations reports that since 2022, Congress has allocated $175 billion to help Ukraine.
A German think group called the Kiel Institute calculates that all European aid to Ukraine from January 2022 to December 2024 amounts to almost $138.7 billion, with the United States chipping in $119.7 billion during the same period.
Gratitude for the backing from the United States was expressed by Zelenskyy in a social media post on X after he left the White House.
“Thank you America, thank you for your support, thank you for this visit,” said Zelenskyy. We appreciate you, @POTUS, Congress, and everyone in the United States. We are working tirelessly to ensure that Ukraine achieves a fair and durable peace.
Friday afternoon, Trump spoke with members of the media before leaving for Florida. He informed reporters that the meeting “didn’t work out exactly great from (Zelenskyy’s) standpoint.”
Trump expressed his belief that he exaggerated the situation. “We have a desire for tranquility. Whoever signs up as a strong power will not be someone who refuses to make peace once they feel empowered. And I witnessed it taking place.
Peace is what I seek. We are not planning to engage in a conflict that will last ten years just for fun. Let there be peace. It seems to me that he has ulterior motives that I do not share if we go ahead and join up. His goal is to continue fighting. The termination of the death is our goal. This week, 2,000 individuals lost their lives,” he went on to say.
If you wanted to know if Trump told Zelenskyy to quit the White House, he would respond with, “I think you know the answer to it.”
“My only goal is to finalize a deal,” Trump maintained. If the deal goes through, that’s great. However, a person without the cards cannot be encouraged. … Either we finish the battle or we let them to go and see what happens. I say let them battle it out.
The United States has been working with Russia and Ukraine to promote peace discussions, which has led to heightened tensions between Zelenskyy and Trump in recent weeks. Upon learning that Ukraine was absent from the February 18 meeting between U.S. and Russian officials in Saudi Arabia, Zelenskyy informed reporters, “Nobody decides anything behind our back.”
After that, Trump and Zelenskyy got into an angry exchange, with Trump calling Zelenskyy a “dictator” and Zelenskyy accusing Trump of spreading Russian “disinformation” and failing his nation.
Trump, however, refrained from reiterating that claim on Thursday.
“Did I say that?,” he queried reporters when asked if he still stood by his comments. I still can’t believe what I just said. Now on to the next question.
During his meeting with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday, Trump informed reporters that peace negotiations were nearing completion. However, he was careful not to provide any details regarding a peacekeeping presence in the region until the deal was finished.
“I believe we’re extremely close to a deal,” Trump stated. But we haven’t finalized anything just yet. Peacekeeping is something I like to avoid discussing until we reach an agreement. I enjoy being productive.
In addition, Trump stated that he would not anticipate Putin to go back on whatever deal he made to end the conflict with Ukraine.
He will not, in Trump’s opinion, break his promise, he stated on Thursday. When we finalize the agreement, I doubt he will return. I believe the agreement will be upheld at this point.
