United States President Donald Trump’s allies began to press Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky to change his position on the war with Russia or to move away, further increasing tension with the Ukrainian leader.
On the other hand, European leaders gave a demonstration of support to Zelensky at a London meeting on Sunday (2) with UK Prime Minister Keir Stmerer, asking his colleagues to intensify his defense efforts, just two days after Trump and vice president JD Vance to conflict with Zelensky in the Oval Hall, encouraging him to leave an agreement earlier without signing an agreement. planned from minerals.
The discussion surprised leaders around the world and raised questions about the next phase of the war, which Russia began to invade Ukraine three years ago, and Trump’s efforts to end it.
Zelensky argued at the meeting that Russia President Vladimir Putin did not honor a 2019 ceasefire agreement and described it as a killer and a terrorist.
Trump National Security Counselor Mike Waltz said it was not clear to the government that Zelensky was ready to negotiate the end of the war. Waltz stressed Trump’s goal is a permanent peace between Moscow and Kiev involving territorial concessions in exchange for safety guarantees led by Europe.
Asked if Trump wanted Zelensky to resign, Waltz told the “State of the Union” program from CNN: “We need a leader who can deal with us, eventually deal with the Russians and end this war.”
“If it is clear that President Zelenskiy’s personal or political motivations differ from the end of the combat in his country, then I think we have a real problem in our hands,” Waltz added.
Senator Lindsey Graham from South Carolina, one of Trump’s leading allies and also a Ukraine defender, wondered if the United States could still work with Zelensky after the White House confrontation in comments on reporters on Friday (28).
The mayor, Mike Johnson, issued a similar message on Sunday.
“Something needs to change. Either he needs to fall to himself and go back to the table in gratitude, or someone else needs to lead the country to do so, ”said Congress’s main republican to NBC’s“ Meet The Press, referring to Zelenskiy.
“I would like to see Putin defeated, frankly. He is an opponent of the United States. But in this conflict, we have to end this war. ”
“Absolutely shameful”
American Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent of Vermont aligned with Democrats, rejected suggestions that Zelensky should resign.
“I think it’s a horrible suggestion. Zelensky is leading a country, trying to defend democracy against an authoritarian dictator, Putin, who has invaded his country, ”Sanders said in the Meet The Press. American Republican Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma said in the same program that he did not agree with Zelensky’s resignation requests.
The Democrats expressed disgust with the content of Trump’s meeting with the Ukrainian leader.
American Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut has criticized the White House for closer to Russia than other democracies.
“It’s absolutely shameful what is happening now. The White House has become an arm of Kremlin, ”he said on the“ State of the Union ” CNN. “The whole pretext for this meeting… It was an attempt to rewrite the story to sign an agreement with Putin that gives Ukraine to him. This is disastrous for US national security. ”
Waltz called “absolutely false” that the meeting in the Oval Hall was an ambush, and the Trump government put the burden on the Ukrainians to change their position.
“We will be ready to engage again when they are ready to make peace,” said Secretary of State Marco Rubio on ABC’s “This Week” program. He said he didn’t talk to Zelenskiy or Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha since Friday’s meeting.
“No one here is saying that Vladimir Putin will win the Nobel Peace Prize this year,” Rubio said as he argued that negotiations with Moscow were necessary. “You will not bring them to the table if you are calling them names, if you are antagonistic.”
Democrat Amy Klobuchar, a US senator for Minnesota, said in the “This Week” that she was “shocked” with the confrontation in the Oval Hall and met Zelenskiy before he went to the White House on Friday.
“There is still an opening here” for a peace agreement, she said.
