“A disaster in the White House for Volodymyr Zelensky … and for Ukraine”, despair The Economist. Same disarray with the journalist of New York Times,, Peter Baker: “I have been covering the White House since 1996, and I have never seen that.” Friday, February 28, the visit of the Ukrainian president to the White House – whose initial goal was to sign an agreement on minerals – turned to the geopolitical grip, under the eyes of the Hilful world. The Ukrainian president slammed the door under the cries of Donald Trump.
“The stormy exchanges were a striking violation of the courtesy of the oval office, where even difficult exchanges have generally taken place with calm voices and diplomatic language,” comments the Washington Post. However, everything had not started so badly. If the reception is not excessive fervor on the perron of the west wing, at 1600 Pennsylvania avenue, President Donald Trump serves the hand of his Ukrainian counterpart. He even taxes him with a joke on the now famous outfit with his guest’s military accents: “He was very elegant,” he said to journalists.
Tension earns a little when Donald Trump deplores Volodymyr Zelensky’s “hatred” for Vladimir Putin. For the moment, the Ukrainian head of state is content to be fooled in his chair but says nothing. Then, it was JD Vance, the American vice-president, who launched hostilities, calling to bet on “diplomacy” to end the war triggered three years ago by the invasion of Russia. Volodymyr Zelensky, as calmly as he can, expresses his disagreement and argues that the chief of the Kremlin, after annexed Crimea in 2014, had then never kept his word concerning Ukraine. “JD Vance set a trap for the Ukrainian president, who refused to flatter Donald Trump,” explain our colleagues as The Economist.
“Zelensky might should have cajolate Trump”
Indeed, the presentation bristles JD Vance who accuses his interlocutor of “disrespect” in Washington. In front of a Donald Trump back, the vice-president accuses him of “forcing conscripts” to go fight. Enough to stretch the Ukrainian head of state. “Have you ever been in Ukraine?” He asks. JD Vance replies that he will certainly not make a “propaganda” visit. Volodymyr Zelensky, jostled, tries to defend himself. He predicts that the United States, although separated from Europe by an ocean, will end up “feeling” the effects of war. And this is where the trap closes. “At this stage, Zelensky might should have cajolate Trump, a conduct favored by other recent visitors to the White House, notably Emmanuel Macron in France and Keir Starmer of Great Britain”, continues The Economist.
Because, that’s when Donald Trump gets carried away: “Don’t tell ourselves what we are going to feel!” The head of state of the world’s first power gestures, his voice continues to swell. Volodymyr Zelensky is stiff in his chair, feet planted in the ground, arms crossed. Besides, the Ukrainian ambassador to the United States is struggling to hide her dismay. “You have put yourself in a very bad position. You don’t have the cards in hand […]. You play with the third world war and what you are doing is very disrespectful towards our country, “says the American president. The exchange continues, for a handful of minutes, in front of dumbfounded journalists.
“It was not a final scene of ‘The Apprentice'”
Donald Trump, more and more upset, goes so far as to put his hand on the shoulder of Volodymyr Zelensky to push him. JD VANCE, he puts oil on the fire: “Did you only say thank you?” The Ukrainian president is struggling to be heard. When Donald Trump assures that without American military help war would be finished “in two weeks”, the Ukrainian head of state, which we feel exasperated, launches this spike: “In three days. This is what I heard from Putin.” Successful mission for the White House which managed to bring out the war chief of his Gonds. The American president is the final shot by threatening his guest: “Conclude an agreement where we let you down”. He ends Reunion, at least in his public part, by returning the press of the Oval Office. “I think we have seen enough. It will make a big moment of television,” says Donald Trump.
“It was not a final scene of ‘The Apprentice’, but a discussion that could determine the fate of millions of people, the existence of a sovereign nation and the security of a continent. And it has completely derailed,” reacts the New York Times. Shortly after, the departure of Volodymyr Zelensky, Donald Trump is working on his network Truth Social : “He can come back when he is ready for peace.” Still in the provocation, an adviser to the American president publishes the working lunch menu planned with the Ukrainian delegation, specifying that the roast chicken and the crème brûlée were finally tasted by American officials. “Places have freed themselves,” he quips.
Asked a few hours later on Fox News On whether his relationship with Donald Trump could be repaired, Volodymyr Zelensky replied “of course”, even if he also said he did not have to apologize to the American leader. Saying that he did not “want to lose” the crucial support of Washington, he wanted Donald Trump to be really more “for his part, compared to the Russian president, in negotiations to put an end to the conflict in Ukraine, invaded by Russia three years ago. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio then called him on Cnn To “apologize for making us waste our time for a meeting that was going to end in this way”. More than a violent altercation, the future of Europe is at stake.