US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has claimed it’s something that happened before the cameras were turned on that caused yesterday’s (28 February) argument between two leaders.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump’s meeting at the Oval Office descended into a heated exchange as the US president accused the Ukrainian of ‘gambling with World War III’.
A video shared by the White House features Trump telling Zelenskyy: “You're not in a very good position, you've allowed yourself to be in a bad position... you don't have the cards right now... you're gambling with the lives of millions of people!”
The Ukrainian president ended up leaving early, putting plans for the countries to sign a minerals agreement on hold.
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But US Secretary of State Rubio suggested it was Zelenskyy’s behaviour before the footage that led to this, now very public, blow out.
He defended Trump’s actions as he said: “You guys only saw the end. You saw what happened today. You don’t see all the things that led up to this, so let me explain.
"The President’s been very clear; he campaigned on this. He thinks this war should have never started. He believes – and I agree – that had he been president it never would have happened.
“Now here we are. He’s trying to bring an end to this conflict. We’ve explained very clearly what our plan is here, which is we want to get the Russians to a negotiating table. We want to explore whether peace is possible.”
He claimed that for the ‘last 10 days’ in every engagement the US has had with Ukraine ‘there’s been complications in getting that point across’.
Rubio added: “This agreement could have been signed five days ago, but they insisted on coming to Washington and there was a very – and should have been a very clear understanding: Don’t come here and create a scenario where you’re going to start lecturing us about how diplomacy isn’t going to work.
"President Zelenskyy took it in that direction, and it ended in a predictable outcome as a result. It’s unfortunate.”
The Secretary of State went on to say Zelenskyy should ‘apologise for turning this thing into the fiasco that it became’.
In an interview with Fox News following yesterday’s tense exchange, the Ukraine president says he is confident the relationship with Trump can be salvaged.
He said the whole ‘bad for both sides’ but that he is ‘not sure that we did something bad’.
“I just want to be honest, and I just want our partners to understand the situation correctly, and I want to understand everything correctly. That's about us not to lose our friendship," Zelenskyy added.
And Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform: “We had a very meaningful meeting in the White House today. Much was learned that could never be understood without conversation under such fire and pressure.
"It’s amazing what comes out through emotion, and 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.”
Topics: Ukraine, Politics, World News, US News, Donald Trump
Jess Battison