Tense meeting between Zelensky and Trump at White House: “You're playing with World War III”
US President Donald Trump on Friday accused his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky of "playing with World War III."
Volodymyr Zelensky's visit to the United States to sign the agreement on the exploitation of rare earths with Donald Trump represents a turning point in the relationship between the two countries and in the development of the conflict in Ukraine.
Tension in the Oval Office
As the leaders met at the White House, Zelensky had an argument with Vice President J.D. Vance, who accused him of behaving in a "disrespectful" manner. In this context, US President Donald Trump interrupted Zelensky, reminding him that he was "not in a good position" and saying that "he is playing with a Third World War (...) either you reach an agreement, or we leave."
Zelensky traveled to the United States to sign an agreement under which he would cede to Washington the exploitation of his country's mineral resources in exchange for some kind of support or security guarantees against Russia in the war that began in February 2022.
"Your people are very brave, but either you make a deal or we walk away. And if we walk away, you'll fight on your own," Trump told Zelensky. During the tense meeting, the US president also defended his neutrality in the conflict: "If I did not align myself with both (sides) there would never be an agreement."
"I'm not aligned with Putin, I'm not aligned with anybody. I'm aligned with the United States of America," he added. Trump said Zelensky has "tremendous hatred" for Putin and added that "the other side" is "not exactly in love" with him either. "They want me to be tough, I can be tougher than any human being they've ever seen... but they're never going to make a deal like that," he said.
For his part, Zelensky said there had been "a lot of conversations" after armed clashes between Russia and Ukraine began in 2014. "I signed an agreement" for a ceasefire in 2019, Zelensky said, adding that he had been assured the deal would hold, but Putin broke the ceasefire and launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. "He didn't. What kind of diplomacy are you talking about, JD (Vance)?" he told the vice president.
Vance responded: "I think it's disrespectful for you to come to the Oval Office and try to fight this in front of the American media."
The meeting between Trump and Zelensky comes days after the two engaged in a verbal spat that reflects the recent rift between the US and Ukrainian governments.
The US president called his Ukrainian counterpart a "dictator" among other insults on the 18th after the latter accused him of living in a "disinformation bubble" created by Russia. Despite this, in the following days both parties reported progress on the mineral transfer agreement.