After Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was invited to the White House to reportedly sign a rare earth minerals deal and discuss security guarantees on Friday — it turned out to be anything but friendly during a meeting in front of the press in the Oval Office. Answering a question about whether the U.S. has been too friendly to Russian President Putin, tensions started to rise between Zelenskyy and U.S. President Donald Trump before U.S. Vice President JD Vance interjected in defence of Trump. “The path to peace and the path to prosperity is maybe engaging in diplomacy,” Vance said. The friendly nature of the meeting began to turn at that point. With his arms folded, Zelenskyy began to debate Vance on his Russian diplomacy point before saying “But you have nice ocean and don’t feel now. But you will feel it in the future,” Zelenskyy said. Trump then interjected: “Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel… you’re in no position to dictate,” the U.S. president said adding “You’re gambling with WWIII.”
- Read the transcript of Trump, Zelenskyy and Vance’s chaotic meeting
- Trump says Zelenskyy ‘gambling with WWIII’ as D.C. meeting turns to chaos