US President Donald Trump erupted at Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday, angrily sending the Ukrainian leader out of the White House after an extraordinary Oval Office meltdown because he was "not ready" for peace with Russia.
The abrupt exit, cutting short what was meant to be a day of Ukraine-US diplomacy, meant Zelensky left without a deal for joint development of his country's minerals resources that was to be part of a post-war recovery in a potential US-brokered truce.
Instead, an ugly clash blew up in the Oval Office where Trump and Vice President JD Vance shouted at Zelensky, accusing him of not being "thankful" for US help in the three-year war against Russian invasion.
Telling Zelensky that without US assistance Ukraine would have been conquered by Russia, Trump said Zelensky was in no position to negotiate.
"You don't have the cards right now," he said. "You're either going to make a deal or we're out, and if we're out, you'll fight it out and I don't think it's going to be pretty."
Zelensky departed shortly after, with Trump posting on social media that "he can come back when he is ready for peace."
The minerals deal was not signed and a joint press conference was canceled. US media reported that Zelensky had been told to leave by senior Trump officials.
'Not alone'
US allies in Europe -- increasingly worried that Trump will force Ukraine into a deal effectively handing victory to President Vladimir Putin -- quickly expressed support for Zelensky.
"You are not alone," Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk said.
"Ukraine, Spain stands with you," the Spanish premier, Pedro Sanchez, said.
The German foreign minister posted on X that "Germany together with our European allies stands united alongside #Ukraine -- and against the Russian aggression."
Democratic lawmakers in Washington reacted with shock.
Trump and Vance are "doing Putin's dirty work," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer posted.
But Russia was delighted with the collapse in relations between Kyiv and Washington, which has led the Western alliance supporting Ukraine for years.
"How Trump and Vance held back from hitting that scumbag is a miracle of restraint," foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
Trump's Republican Party took a similar position, blaming Zelensky.
"I can't believe most Americans, after what they saw today, would want to be partners with Zelensky," Senator Lindsey Graham said.
In Kyiv, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha praised Zelensky's "bravery," while a source in the presidency said Washington appeared to be "openly playing along with Russia."
Compromise row
The meltdown came after Trump said Ukraine will have to make "compromises" in a truce with Russia, which has occupied swaths of Ukraine, destroying cities and towns along the way.
But showing Trump pictures of war atrocities and referring to Putin, Zelensky said there should be "no compromises with a killer on our territory."
After Zelensky pointed out that previous Western-backed peace efforts involving Moscow had failed to stop Russia from seizing growing areas of Ukraine over the years before the full-scale invasion in 2022, Vance angrily interrupted and called him "disrespectful."
From then on, the session devolved almost entirely into Trump and Vance loudly berating the Ukrainian leader in front of US and international media outlets.
Trump's 'numerous' Putin calls
The leaders of France and Britain also came to the White House this week, seeking to persuade Trump not to take the Russian line and to bolster US support for Ukraine in any future truce.
Trump has alarmed Kyiv and European allies with his abrupt U-turn in US policy, casting himself as a mediator between Putin and Zelensky and refusing to condemn the Russian invasion.
Trump said in the Oval Office that he had "spoken on numerous occasions" to Putin -- more than has been publicly reported beyond the lengthy call between the two leaders earlier this month.
And speaking before the shouting match erupted, Trump told Zelensky that a truce is "fairly close." The US leader had also said that the proposed minerals deal would be "very fair."
The proposal was to give Washington financial benefits for helping Ukraine in a truce, even if Trump has repeatedly refused to commit any US military force as a back-up to European troops who might act as peacekeepers.
Trump called Zelensky a "dictator" last week, echoing Russian talking points. He has also said he trusts Putin -- whom he has often said he admires -- to "keep his word" over a ceasefire.
Yet on Thursday, Trump had signaled he was ready to work with Zelensky, saying "I have a lot of respect for him."
As tensions between Moscow and Washington escalated, Russia's assault on Ukraine continued.
Russian infantry were on Friday storming the Ukrainian border from the Russian region of Kursk, near areas of the region that were seized last summer by Ukrainian forces, Kyiv said Friday.
With AFP
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