Washington, DC, USA —(Map)
On Friday, US President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House. The meeting, which was meant to be a step toward peace in Ukraine, turned into a shouting match. The publicly rude treatment of an ally has shocked people around the world.
Russia’s War on Ukraine – Background
Three years ago, Russia attacked Ukraine. The brutal war has been dragging on since then, with the US and most of Europe working hard to support Ukraine. European countries and the US have given billions of dollars in military aid to Ukraine.
But since Mr. Trump took office again in January, he has been changing the US position. The US and its allies were trying to isolate Russia, but Mr. Trump has reached out to its leader, Vladimir Putin. Last month, Mr. Trump falsely suggested that Ukraine had started the war, and called Mr. Zelensky a “dictator“.
Mr. Trump has also suggested that now US support for Ukraine depends on the country giving the US hundreds of billions of dollars in “rare earth” minerals. Rare earth minerals are needed for electronics.
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On Friday, US President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House. The meeting was meant to be a step toward peace in Ukraine, but it turned into a shouting match. Above, Mr. Trump meets Mr. Zelensky as he arrives at the White House.
After complicated talks, the US and Ukraine seemed to have reached an agreement about rare earth minerals. The deal was seen as a step toward reaching a secure peace deal between Ukraine and Russia, and was supposed to be signed at the White House on Friday.
Before the signing, the White House set up a meeting in front of reporters with Mr. Trump, Mr. Vance, Mr. Zelensky and others. For 40 minutes, the politicians answered questions from reporters.
Mr. Trump said that he wanted to end the war quickly and that Mr. Zelensky should be eager to accept a ceasefire. Mr. Zelensky said he wanted a ceasefire, but it was also important to make sure Russia would follow the rules of the ceasefire. He pointed out that Mr. Putin has broken ceasefires and other deals in the past.
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Mr. Vance (right) and Mr. Trump began to raise their voices at Mr. Zelensky, saying he hadn’t been thankful enough for the help the US has given Ukraine. A loud argument continued for over five minutes.
At this point Mr. Vance and Mr. Trump began to raise their voices at Mr. Zelensky, saying he hadn’t been thankful enough for the help the US has given Ukraine. A loud argument continued for over five minutes.
It was a shocking sight. No US president has ever spoken so rudely in public to any leader – and especially not to the leader of a country that’s considered an ally.
What did they argue about?
Mr. Vance accused Mr. Zelensky of not being “respectful”. Mr. Zelensky said that the US was lucky to be separated from the war by an ocean, but that the US would “feel it in the future”. This seemed to greatly upset Mr. Trump. “You don’t know that,” he responded sharply.
Mr. Trump began talking over Mr. Zelensky. “You’re not in a very good position,” he said. When Mr. Zelensky tried to respond, Mr. Trump talked louder. “You’re gambling with World War III,” he shouted.
Mr. Vance accused Mr. Zelensky of not saying “Thank you” for the support that the US has given Ukraine. Mr. Zelensky said he had said thank you “a lot of times”. Almost every time Mr. Zelensky tried to speak, he was interrupted by Mr. Trump or Mr. Vance.
Mr. Vance accused Mr. Zelensky of trying to “fight it out” in front of the American reporters. “We know you’re wrong,” he said.
“You’ve got to be more thankful,” said Mr. Trump. “You don’t have the cards [the power]. With us, you have the cards. But without us, you don’t have any cards.”
(Source: The White House [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.)
After the meeting, Mr. Zelenksy was asked to leave the White House. The agreement was not signed.
The argument seems to mark a huge change in the way the US is dealing with Ukraine and its other European allies. For decades, the US has worked closely with NATO and other allies to defend against threats from Russia. Now, Mr. Trump and his government appear to be supporting Russia.
Democrats in the US quickly responded, criticizing the president and thanking Mr. Zelensky for stopping “Putin from marching right into the rest of Europe.”
A long list of leaders of European countries also made it clear that they still strongly support Mr. Zelensky and Ukraine’s fight against Russia.
But now these leaders have some new questions to wonder about. One is how will they manage to support Ukraine if the US doesn’t help. Another is how much they can rely on the US as an ally now.
Did You Know…?
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer says that Britain and France are working with Ukraine on a plan to end the fighting. When the plan is ready, they will present it to the US.
Update: On Monday, Mr. Trump suspended all future US military aid to Ukraine. The White House said it was “pausing and reviewing” aid to Ukraine to make sure it was leading toward a “solution” to the war in Ukraine.
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