A press conference at the White House scheduled for Friday where US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky planned to sign the US-Ukraine minerals deal was canceled, following a tense shouting match between the two inside the Oval Office earlier in the day.
▲ US President Donald Trump meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as US Vice President JD Vance reacts at the White House in Washington, DC, US, February 28, 2025. [REUTERS/Brian Snyder]
What should have been a normal press pool spray before the high-stakes Trump-Zelensky bilateral meeting transpired into a fireworks-filled blowup aired on TV that no one would expect, all starting with an interjection by US Vice President JD Vance, who was present in the room, demanding that the Ukrainian leader be thankful for Trump's effort to get his country out of its three-year conflict with Russia.
▲ The press conference was cancelled following a heated meeting between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on February 28, 2025. [Photo/agency]
"You should be thanking the president for trying to bring an end to this conflict," Vance told Zelensky during the unprecedented public confrontation, which later saw the three of them -- Trump and Vance versus Zelensky -- repeatedly race to talk over one another.
Rebuking Vance, Zelensky's remarks that the United States will "in the future" feel the problem brought to it by the Ukraine-Russia conflict was pushed back by Trump, who said Zelensky was "in no position to dictate what we are going to feel" given that he "allowed" himself "to be in a very bad position."
"You don't have cards right now. With us you start having cards," Trump said as Zelensky, whose voice was barely audible in the face of a shouting Trump, was heard saying he was not playing cards.
"You're gambling with the lives of millions of people. You're gambling with World War III. You're gambling with World War III. And what you're doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country," Trump piled on and continued.
▲ Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky leaves the White House early following a heated meeting with US President Donald Trump on February 28, 2025. [Photo/agency]
After the chaotic Oval Office confrontation, Trump posted a statement on Truth Social saying: "I have determined that President Zelenskyy is not ready for Peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations. I don't want advantage, I want PEACE. He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace."
▲ US President Donald Trump and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky openly clash in the White House on February 28, 2025. [Photo/agency]
For his part, Zelensky took to X and said: "Thank you America, thank you for your support, thank you for this visit. Thank you (President Trump), Congress, and the American people. Ukraine needs just and lasting peace, and we are working exactly for that."
