Trump berates Ukrainian president, says he’s ‘not ready for peace’

White House support for Ukraine appeared to completely collapse on Friday after President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated the Ukrainian President during a tense Oval Office meeting between the leaders, accusing Volodymyr Zelenskyy of not seriously looking for ways to end the ongoing conflict with Russia .

In a statement on social media following the meeting, Trump stated that 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.”

White House officials did not immediately clarify whether Trump’s statement means a full end to U.S. military and humanitarian support for Ukraine, which has received nearly $70 billion in military aid from America over the last three years.

The Pentagon has said it has no more money to replace equipment it has sent to Kyiv, and Congress is unlikely to continue such support.

Zelenskyy was in Washington to sign a deal with the administration permitting American access to Ukraine’s rare earth minerals in exchange for its economic and security aid so far in the war. Officials in Kyiv have negotiated the agreement in an effort to salvage U.S. support as Washington draws closer with Russia.

The Trump administration has taken a harsh approach toward Europe in its opening months. At a gathering of countries who support Ukraine’s self defense in February, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned that Europe would need to assume far more responsibility for its own security, including in Ukraine.

At a separate conference in Munich later in the month, Vice President JD Vance warned European officials that the U.S. military was retrenching from the continent in favor of more vital areas of the world.

Friday’s Oval Office meeting started out cordial but quickly devolved into an angry debate between the three leaders.

At one point, Vance told Zelenskyy that he was “disrespectful … to come to the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media. You should be thanking the president for trying to bring you into this conference.”

Trump then joined in.

“You’re gambling with the lives of millions of people,” he said. “You’re gambling with World War III, and what you’re doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country that’s backed you far more than a lot of people say they should.”

In recent weeks, Trump has called Zelenskyy a “dictator” and accused the Ukrainian president of provoking the war, which Russia started. In the meantime, the United States has started negotiating a peace deal directly with Moscow, relegating Ukraine to the sidelines.

For his part, Zelenskyy warned that the United States would not be safe from Russian aggression forever, and that supporting his fight against the invading military force would benefit all free democracies.

“You have a nice ocean and don’t feel it now,” he said. “But you will feel it in the future.”

Zelenskyy left the White House after the shouting match, which was supposed to have been followed by a joint press conference with Trump.

The leaders of Britain and France visited Washington this week in an effort to lobby Trump to maintain American support for Europe and Ukraine specifically.

The Associated Press reported that Zelenskyy is still expected to sign a economic agreement with the U.S. aimed at financing the reconstruction of war-damaged Ukraine, a deal that would closely tie the two countries together for years to come.

The deal, which is seen as a step toward ending the three-year war, references the importance of Ukraine’s security. Earlier in the meeting, before tempers flared, Trump said the agreement would be finalized on Friday.

Noah Robertson is the Pentagon reporter at Defense News. He previously covered national security for the Christian Science Monitor. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English and government from the College of William & Mary in his hometown of Williamsburg, Virginia.

Leo covers Congress, Veterans Affairs and the White House for Military Times. He has covered Washington, D.C. since 2004, focusing on military personnel and veterans policies. His work has earned numerous honors, including a 2009 Polk award, a 2010 National Headliner Award, the IAVA Leadership in Journalism award and the VFW News Media award.

周五，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普和副总统JD·万斯在与乌克兰总统泽连斯基于椭圆形办公室举行的紧张会晤中，严厉斥责了泽连斯基，指责他没有认真寻求结束与俄罗斯持续冲突的方法，此后白宫对乌克兰的支持似乎彻底崩溃。

会后，特朗普在社交媒体上发表声明称，泽连斯基“如果美国介入，就不会接受和平，因为他觉得我们的介入能让他在谈判中占据巨大优势。我不要优势，我要和平。”

白宫官员没有立即澄清特朗普的声明是否意味着美国将彻底停止对乌克兰的军事和人道主义援助。过去三年，美国已向乌克兰提供了近 700 亿美元的军事援助。

五角大楼表示，它没有更多资金来更换已送往基辅的设备，而国会也不太可能继续提供此类支持。

泽连斯基此次访问华盛顿是为了与美国政府签署一项协议，该协议允许美国获取乌克兰的稀土矿产，以换取乌克兰迄今为止在战争中提供的经济和安全援助。基辅官员一直在努力促成这项协议，试图在华盛顿与俄罗斯关系日益密切的情况下挽回美国的支持。

特朗普政府上任伊始便对欧洲采取了强硬态度。今年2月，在一次支持乌克兰自卫的国家会议上，美国国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯警告说，欧洲需要承担更多自身安全责任，包括在乌克兰的安全问题上。

当月晚些时候在慕尼黑举行的另一次会议上，副总统 JD Vance 警告欧洲官员，美国军队正在从欧洲大陆撤军，转而前往世界上更重要的地区。

周五在椭圆形办公室举行的会议开始时气氛友好，但很快演变成三位领导人之间的激烈争论。

万斯曾对泽连斯基说，他“很不尊重人……竟然跑到椭圆形办公室来，试图在美国媒体面前争论这件事。你应该感谢总统让你参加这次会议。”

随后特朗普也加入了讨论。

“你们是在拿数百万人的生命冒险，”他说。“你们是在拿第三次世界大战冒险，你们的所作所为是对这个国家的极大不尊重，这个国家对你们的支持远远超过了许多人认为应该给予的。”

近几周来，特朗普称泽连斯基为“独裁者”，并指责这位乌克兰总统挑起了这场由俄罗斯发动的战争。与此同时，美国已开始直接与莫斯科进行和平谈判，将乌克兰排除在外。

泽连斯基则警告说，美国不会永远免受俄罗斯的侵略，支持他对抗入侵军队的斗争将有利于所有自由民主国家。

“你们现在拥有美丽的大海，却感受不到它的好处，”他说。“但将来你们一定会感受到的。”

在激烈的争吵之后，泽连斯基离开了白宫，原计划随后与特朗普举行联合新闻发布会。

英国和法国领导人本周访问了华盛顿，试图游说特朗普继续支持美国对欧洲，特别是对乌克兰的支持。

美联社报道称，泽连斯基仍有望与美国签署一项经济协议，旨在为重建饱受战争蹂躏的乌克兰提供资金，这项协议将使两国在未来数年内紧密联系在一起。

这项被视为结束三年战争的重要一步的协议，强调了乌克兰安全的重要性。在会晤早些时候，双方情绪尚未激动之时，特朗普曾表示协议将于周五最终敲定。

诺亚·罗伯逊是《防务新闻》的五角大楼记者。他此前曾为《基督教科学箴言报》报道国家安全新闻。他拥有弗吉尼亚州威廉斯堡威廉与玛丽学院的英语和政治学学士学位。

利奥为《军事时报》报道国会、退伍军人事务部和白宫的新闻。自2004年以来，他一直报道华盛顿特区的新闻，重点关注军人和退伍军人政策。他的作品荣获多项荣誉，包括2009年波尔克奖、2010年国家头条新闻奖、国际退伍军人协会新闻领导力奖和美国退伍军人协会新闻媒体奖。