Keir Starmer will have been pleased on Thursday after his meetings with Donald Trump managed to avoid any major gaffe or diplomatic incident. There was some relief when Trump chose not to repeat his past comment that Volodymyr Zelensky was a dictator. However, the same cannot be said of Friday’s meeting between Zelensky and the US president. Trump met the Ukrainian president at the door of the White House where he gave reporters a thumbs up ahead of his arrival. However, the mood quickly turned sour when they sat down for initial remarks ahead of talks and a press conference where the pair were expected to sign a US-proposed minerals deal with Ukraine.
Sat in the Oval office, Trump was accompanied by key members of his team including JD Vance and Marco Rubio. The mood music was initially positive as Trump said it would be ‘great’ if he and Zelensky can stop the war between Russia and Ukraine. The exchanges – which spanned 53 minutes – started off constructively with Trump praising Ukraine and Vance stating that Russia had ‘destroyed’ Ukraine. Zelensky in turn spoke about the important role America could play and spoke of how powerful the US was. He shared photos with the president of Ukrainian suffering which led Trump to say it showed how important it was to end the conflict.
Zelensky said that there should be ‘no compromises’ with Vladimir Putin when it comes to a ‘peace’ deal. Trump went on to tell the assembled press pack that Nato and Europe need to ‘step up’ and not rush to talk about security when a deal still needed to be done. However, the mood then began to become rather hostile as Vance took issue with Zelensky’s attitude and tone – eventually accusing him of being ‘disrespectful’.
‼️A heated back and forth between @ZelenskyyUa, @POTUS, and @VP now in the Oval. pic.twitter.com/j1YCy4Jm3K
— Misha Komadovsky (@komadovsky) February 28, 2025
This then led to a tense exchange of words between Zelensky, Vance and Trump. Trump accused the Ukrainian leader of ‘gambling with World War Three’ – and suggested he ought to be ‘thankful’. The US president went on to say that Zelensky does not have the ‘cards’ right now adding that the exchange is ‘going to make great television’. Trump added that it would be ‘very hard’ to do business like this. Reporters quote Vance – who has long been sceptical of US funding to Ukraine – of accusing Zelensky of ‘litigating in front of the American media’ – suggesting his comments were ‘disrespectful’: ‘Have you said thank you once?’
The quite extraordinary exchange points to trouble ahead. Rather than head into private discussions and take part in a press conference, Zelensky’s visit was cut short. Trump has now said he is unsure he can end the conflict – pointing the finger of blame at Zelensky. While Starmer and Emmanuel Macron both had civil meetings with Trump, little was secure in terms of security commitments. If Zelensky’s White House visit turns into a nightmare, European leaders will soon face some tough decisions about their next move. On Sunday, European leaders will gather with Starmer to discuss their next steps. Judging by today’s display, they may have unappetising choices ahead of them.
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