President Volodymyr Zelensky’s high-stakes meeting on Friday with US President Donald Trump got off to a rocky start, and ended without a signing of the highly anticipated bilateral mineral rights deal that had been discussed for weeks.
After a series of heated debates between Zelensky and Trump and US Vice President JD Vance – live on television – wherein Trump and Vance accused Zelensky of not being “thankful” for US support and purportedly refusing a ceasefire, a reporter asked Vance what would happen if Moscow broke a ceasefire agreement, to which Trump chose to answer after Vance reiterated the question for him.
“What if anything? What if a bomb drops on your head right now? What if they break it? I don’t know, they broke it with [former US President Joe] Biden, because Biden... [Russia doesn’t] respect him. They didn’t respect [former US President Barrack] Obama,” Trump said.
“They respect me,” Trump added.
Trump then went on to say that “[Russian leader Vladimir] Putin went through a hell of a lot with [him].”
“Let me tell you, Putin went through a hell of a lot with me, he went through a phony witch-hunt, when they used him and Russia… Russia, Russia, Russia. You ever hear [sic] of that deal? That was a phony Hunter Biden, Joe Biden scam,” Trump said, referring to the Russian interference during the 2016 US presidential elections.
Trump said the allegations were a “scam” that Putin “had to put up with.”
Trump added that perhaps Putin “might’ve broken deals” with other US presidents, but he “didn’t break’em with [him].”
“[Putin] wants to make a deal. I don’t know if he can make a deal. The problem is, I’ve empowered you [Zelensky] to be a tough guy, and I don’t think you’d be a tough guy without the United States. Your people are very brave,” Trump said.
Zelensky said a quiet “thank you” after the last remark.
“But you either gotta make a deal, or we’re out. And if we’re out, you’ll fight it out. I don’t think it’s gonna be pretty, but you’ll fight it out. But you don’t have the cards, but once we sign that deal, you’re in a much better position, but you’re not acting at all thankful,” Trump added.