Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky exploded within what he called the “misinformation space” that Russia created around US President Donald Trump, but may have endanger American support to his country.
Not wanting to go with his arms crossed while Trump and Vice President JD Vance projected a Swiss -style ambivalence on Russian Ukraine invasion, Zelensky lay out the recognized manual of world leaders to deal with Trump – Fair and Deferencing – and ripined.
The scene contrasted strongly with the audiences Trump had with two other world leaders this week.
French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Strmer wanted to convince Trump to negotiate with Zelensky. Both resorted to flattering, with Macron recalling Trump’s visit to Notre Dame and Stmerer to hand a letter from King Carlos III.
Zelensky was at the White House to sign a deal with the US about rare land minerals, to whom Trump wants to access continuous military support. But Zelensky apparently failed to support a revisionist story in which Putin is not seen as a villain.
Trump, in turn, accused Zelensky of “playing with World War I.”
The confrontation that followed in the Oval Room, led in front of the journalists, was an unprecedented show in front of the White House television cameras.
Trump later expelled Zelensky from the White House and issued a statement on social networks.
“President Zelensky is not ready for peace if America is involved because he feels that our involvement gives him a great advantage in negotiations,” Trump wrote on social networks. “I don’t want advantages, I want peace. He disrespected the United States of America in his dear Oval Room. He can come back when ready for peace. ”
Americans are not used to visibly upset Trump videos – let alone the leader of a democracy that the US is supporting with military help.
Vance also intervened and instigated the discussion when he said that the US condemned Putin during the Biden administration only brought years of war.
“The way to peace and the way to prosperity is perhaps involvement in diplomacy,” Vance said, defending Trump’s apparent confidence in Putin. “We tried Joe Biden’s way, to hit the chest,” said Vance.
Zelensky countered that Putin already broke agreements before, as reached in 2019, when Trump was in office. Zelensky did not mention this, but this agreement was achieved at a time when Trump was preparing to face his first impeachment, as he retains help to Ukraine and presses Ukrainians to start an investigation from Biden.
Both Vance and Trump accused Zelensky of not being grateful enough for the help that Zelensky and Ukraine received from the US, and both also criticized Biden. Zelensky said he worked with Biden because he was the voters elected US president at the time.
Although Zelensky tried to intervene with more thanks during his comparison in the oval room, Trump scolded him, saying that the war was ended in “two weeks” without American military aid. Trump also inflated the amount of US help to Ukraine, which is less than $ 200 billion, saying it was $ 350 billion.
It was then that Zelensky interrupted Trump, accusing him of using Putin’s argument that the war was ended in three days without US support to Ukraine.
Trump clearly has an animosity to Zelensky and feels close to Putin.
“Putin went through a lot with me,” said Trump. “He went through a false witch hunt where they used him and Russia. Russia, Russia, Russia. ”
This is a reference to the evaluation of US information services that Russia has intruded into the 2016 elections in an effort to help Trump’s campaign. The following special council investigation found multiple contacts between Trump’s campaign and the Russians, but did not find enough evidence to claim collusion. The investigation overshadowed much of Trump’s first term.
Now, back to presidency, Trump does not see Putin as an enemy.
“Donald Trump changed sides in war and I think this is the context of the confrontation we just watched,” said Susan Glasser, a journalist who wrote a book about Putin’s rise in Russia.
In Russia, employees grabbed Trump’s arguments to praise the US president for giving Zelensky a talk.
“The insolent pig has finally had an appropriate slap in the oval room and @realdonaldtrump is right: the Kiev regime is’ playing with World War II,” said Dmitry Medvedev, a high Putin government official, in a post at X.
Zelensky, in turn, turned to X to thank the US again and Trump for his support, as if the explosion had never occurred.
“Thank you America, thank you for your support, thanks for this visit. Thank you @potus, Congress and American people. Ukraine needs just and lasting peace, and we are working exactly for it. ”
But damage can be irreparable. Even Ukraine supporters in the Republican Party, such as Senator Lindsay Graham of South Carolina, wondered if Zelensky can be a partner.
“I don’t know if we can ever do business with Zelensky,” Graham said outside the White House this Friday.
