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Trump after canceled meeting: Not ready for peace

TT

Updated 20.18 | Published 17.35

         

       

US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj at the White House in   Washington DC – before they started arguing.

1 / 2Photo: Doug Mills/AFP/TT

Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyj's meeting was canceled early and the Ukrainian president has left the White House. The agreement that the leaders were supposed to agree on has not been signed.

"He can come back when he is ready for peace," Trump writes.

Volodymyr Zelenskyj and Donald Trump got into a long and heated verbal argument in front of the television cameras when the two were supposed to greet each other before today's planned meeting.

- You are gambling with the lives of millions. You are gambling with a third world war, and what you are doing is very disrespectful to our country, Trump said, pointing hard at Zelensky before continuing angrily:

- You should be grateful!

The meeting, which was supposed to last about two hours, was interrupted after a short while, and the announced press conference has been canceled.

On his Truth Social platform, Trump calls the meeting “productive” and writes:

“It is amazing what can be achieved through emotions, and I have come to realize that President Zelensky is not ready for peace if the United States is involved, because he feels that our involvement gives him a great advantage in the negotiations. I do not want to give advantages, I want PEACE,” Trump writes and continues:

“He was disrespectful to the United States in this beloved Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for peace.”

A fight before the curtain opens

The two had then ended up in a rarely seen fight at the highest international level.

A gathering of journalists could only watch as Trump, Zelensky and even US Vice President JD Vance used increasingly harsh words against each other.

– Make a deal, or we’ll pull out, a noticeably irritated Trump told his Ukrainian guest.

Zelensky tried to explain the situation in Ukraine relatively calmly – but with an obvious inner turmoil – and that high-pitched tones had not helped so far and were not likely to do so now either.

– You’re not acting grateful at all, Trump replied.

– It’s going to be very difficult to get anything done this way. It’s going to be difficult to get a deal done because attitudes are going to have to change.

Trump had said just minutes earlier that he was not on Ukraine’s side.

– I’m for both Ukraine and Russia, he said and later continued:

– I’m not allied with anyone. I’m allied with the US and the best for the world.

Promised weapons

According to the BBC, Trump promised to send more weapons to Ukraine, but “hopefully not send that much, because a deal is close.”

How this will turn out is unclear. This also applies to the agreement that Friday’s meeting was supposed to be about – an agreement that was not signed before Zelenskyj left the White House.

According to previous information, the agreement that was to be signed is to ensure American support for a “stable” Ukraine and the country’s economic development. In exchange, Ukraine is to contribute half of all future revenues from newly discovered natural resources to a common fund.