WASHINGTON (AP) — During an extraordinary meeting in the Oval Office on Friday, President Donald Trump chastised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for being “disrespectful.” He then abruptly canceled the signing of a minerals deal that he claimed would have brought Ukraine closer to ending its war with Russia.
Affairs in Europe and around the world may become chaotic due to the startling turn of events. Zelenskyy was supposed to sign the agreement giving the United States more access to Ukraine’s rare earth resources and host a joint news conference during his meeting with Trump, but those plans were shelved following the heated exchange between the leaders in front of the media.
Uncertainty surrounds the implications of the explosion for the agreement that Trump maintained was necessary to reimburse the United States for the more than $180 billion in aid that Kyiv has received since the war began. Furthermore, it’s unclear what, if anything, Trump wants Zelenskyy to do to salvage the agreement.
Shortly after Trump yelled at the Ukrainian leader, displaying open contempt, senior Trump advisers asked him to leave the White House.
Trump told Zelenskyy, “You’re gambling with World War III, and what you’re doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country that has shown you far more support than many people say they should have.”
Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Zelenskyy engaged in a heated back and forth in the final ten minutes of the nearly 45-minute meeting. Zelenskyy had called for skepticism regarding Russia’s commitment to diplomacy, pointing to Moscow’s years of broken promises on the international scene.
Prior to the sit-down, Zelenskyy’s primary goals had been to warn against Trump becoming too close to Russian President Vladimir Putin and to pressure him not to leave his nation. Rather, he was yelled at as Trump seemed to exaggerate the situation for the cameras.
