Is Donald Trump ready to let go of Volodymyr Zelensky? High US officials have left the idea that the Ukrainian leader may have to leave after the unprecedented clash with the American president on Sunday, March 2.
The anger caused by the fiasco of the Friday meeting at the White House seems far from falling. “We need a leader who can deal with us, deal with the Russians at one point and put an end to this war,” said President Trump’s national security advisor Mike Waltz. “If it becomes obvious that President Zelensky, either for personal motivations is political, diverges from the desire to put an end to the fighting in his country, then I believe that we have a real problem,” he added, questioned on the CNN channel.
Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky had a spectacular weapon pass on the White House on Friday, Washington reproaching the Ukrainian leader for having been disrespectful and lacking in gratitude towards the United States for their efforts to end the conflict between Ukraine and Russia. The diplomatic incident had the immediate effect of the cancellation of the signing of an agreement on Ukrainian minerals.
The argument developed in Washington is that such an agreement will link the fate of the two countries and, in so doing, dissuade Russia from any new attack against Ukraine. The American president also relayed a message on Sunday on his Truth Social network, a message saying that “now, Zelensky will have no choice but to retropedal and accept the terms posed by Trump”. Last week he had qualified the Ukrainian president as “dictator”, questioning his democratic legitimacy.
Change “attitude”
The Republican President of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson added, saying Sunday that “something should change”. “Either (President Zelensky) returns to the reason and the negotiating table with gratitude, or someone else must lead the country to do so,” he said on the NBC channel.
Friday, immediately after the White House altercation, the influential republican senator Lindsey Graham said: “Zelensky must either change deep attitude or leave”.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, for his part, accused Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday evening of having “made everything to condom” by refusing to sign the agreement as it stands.
Speaking of a “huge missed opportunity”, Mike Waltz said he was “amazed” by the behavior of Volodymyr Zelensky, stressing that there were doubts about the will of the Ukrainian leader “to never be able to negotiate” with Russian President Vladimir Putin or “put an end to this war”. According to him, an agreement would imply “territorial concessions” from Ukraine and “security guarantees by Europe”, while on Sunday in London, fifteen kyiv allies in London in London in the presence of the Ukrainian president.
“Replace me will not be so easy”
Volodymyr Zelensky replied with irony, proposing to “grant Ukrainian citizenship” to Senator Lindsay Graham. “His voice will gain in relevance, and I will begin to hear it as a citizen of Ukraine as regards who must be president,” he said in an interview with several British media on Monday. “Replacing myself will not be so easy,” he continued. “It would not be just a question of organizing elections. It would also be necessary to prevent me from applying, which would be a little more complicated”.
The Ukrainian President, who has made security guarantees for his country an top priority, once again proposed to “exchange” his post for Ukraine membership at NATO. “If there is NATO and the end of the war, it will mean that I have accomplished my mission,” he said.
He also reiterated on Sunday ready to sign the mineral agreement “if all parties are ready”. “I am ready for all constructive formats in relations with the United States. I think we have everything you need,” he said in front of the press, adding, however, that we must “understand certain red lines”.
“Horrible”
In the United States, some discordant voices, including elected Republicans, were offended by these calls for resignation. “Frankly, that would only dive Ukraine into chaos,” said Republican senator James Lankford on NBC.
Independent senator Bernie Sanders, for his part, called “horrible” calls for the departure of Volodymyr Zelensky. This one “is at the head of a country which tries to defend democracy against an authoritarian dictator, Putin,” he said on NBC. “I think that millions of Americans are embarrassed, are ashamed to have a President of the United States who says that Ukraine began war, that Zelensky is a dictator,” he continued.
In a CBS survey on Sunday, 52 % of Americans interviewed said they were in favor of supporting Ukraine against 4 % for Russia, with 44 % supporting either. Several daily newspapers reported that the Trump administration plans to end military aid to Ukraine already approved under former Democratic President Joe Biden.