President Trump again ripped into Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday for airing fresh doubts that the war with Russia can be ended quickly, as the relationship between the two leaders continues to deteriorate in the wake of Friday’s contentious Oval Office meeting.
A fresh back-and-forth over the timeline for ending Ukraine’s 3-year-old war with Russia was just the latest sign of the growing rift between Washington and Kyiv.
Mr. Trump, on the campaign trail, promised repeatedly to end the war quickly if elected, but the Ukrainian leader has proven resistant, fearing a quick deal without firm security guarantees would leave occupying Russian forces in control of large parts of his country and that Russian President Vladimir Putin cannot be trusted to honor a ceasefire agreement. Mr. Zelenskyy expressed his doubts in comments late Sunday after a meeting in London with supportive European leaders.
Asked about a proposed European initiative to halt the fighting, the Ukrainian leader cautioned that “we are talking about the first steps today, and, therefore, until they are on paper, I would not like to talk about them in great detail.”
“An agreement to end the war is still very, very far away, and no one has started all these steps yet,” he added.
Mr. Trump wasted no time pushing back on Mr. Zelenskyy’s statement. The comments contradicted Mr. Trump’s view that the window for a peace agreement could close quickly if not reached soon and that thousands of Ukrainian and Russian soldiers will die in the meantime.
“This is the worst statement that could have been made by Zelenskyy, and America will not put up with it for much longer!” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“It is what I was saying, this guy doesn’t want there to be peace as long as he has America’s backing and, Europe, in the meeting they had with Zelenskyy stated flatly that they cannot do the job without the U.S. — Probably not a great statement to have been made in terms of a show of strength against Russia. What are they thinking?”
Mr. Trump expanded on his grievances in remarks to reporters later in the day. “It should not be that hard a deal to make. It could be made very fast. Now, maybe somebody doesn’t want to make a deal, and if somebody doesn’t want to make a deal, I think that person won’t be around very long,” he said.
After Mr. Trump’s social media post, Mr. Zelenskyy took to X seeking to calm the waters, with his country deeply dependent on U.S. military and financial aid to hold off a larger Russian invasion force.
“We need real peace and Ukrainians want it most because the war ruins our cities and towns,” Mr. Zelenskyy added. “We lose our people. We need to stop the war and to guarantee security.”
Russia, which has been in direct talks with the Trump administration on improving bilateral relations in recent weeks, was quick to emphasize the growing rift between Mr. Zelenskyy and his most important ally, saying it was not clear that Kyiv was the only party not supporting immediate peace talks.
“The Kiev regime and Zelenskyy do not want peace,” Kremlin chief spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow. “They want the war to continue. So in this situation, of course, only Washington’s efforts and Moscow’s readiness will obviously not be enough.”
After the shouting
Mr. Trump and Mr. Zelenskyy got into a shouting match during Mr. Zelenskyy’s visit to the White House. The encounter shook U.S. allies and was instantly celebrated in the Kremlin.
At one point, Mr. Trump warned Mr. Zelenskyy that he didn’t “have the cards” to win this war on his own and threatened to walk away from peace negotiations. The Ukrainian leader said he could not sign any minerals deal that did not have explicit U.S. security guarantees to continue to support Kyiv’s defense.
“You’re either going to make a deal, or we’re out, and if we’re out, you’ll fight it out,” Mr. Trump said during the exchange. “I don’t think it’s going to be pretty.”
The Oval Office encounter boosted Mr. Zelenskyy’s stature in Europe, with many blaming President Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance for ambushing their guest during the sharp exchanges.
French lawmakers stood and applauded Monday when Prime Minister Francois Bayrou accused the U.S. president of trying to “humiliate” Mr. Zelenskyy.
“In the Oval Office of the White House, a staggering scene unfurled before the eyes of the entire world, marked by brutality, a desire to humiliate, with the goal of making Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy fold through threats so that he gives in to the demands of his aggressors,” Mr. Bayrou said, adding he was happy to say that “President Zelenskyy did not fold and I think we can show him our appreciation.”
According to reports, the EU is due to hold a summit on Ukraine on Thursday, but Hungary, which has close ties to Mr. Putin, is reportedly balking at a draft statement expressing strong support for Ukraine’s defense.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke by telephone Monday with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy to discuss the leaders’ meeting in London, the State Department said. Mr. Rubio “confirmed the United States is ready to negotiate to end the Ukraine-Russia conflict and will continue working with the UK towards peace in Ukraine.”
Mr. Trump and Mr. Zelenskyy had been slated to sign a development and mineral rights deal that would have given the U.S. companies a stake in Ukraine’s strategic mineral deposits, which have military and technological applications.
Even before the Oval Office meeting, tensions between the two leaders escalated. Mr. Trump called the Ukrainian president “a dictator without elections,” and Mr. Zelenskyy accused his American counterpart of living in a “bubble” of Russian disinformation.
U.S. officials expressed frustration that Mr. Zelenskyy had not jumped at the modified minerals deal first floated by Mr. Trump, arguing that the presence of American economic and financial interests in Ukraine would provide a potent deterrence to Russian forces.
“It’s really confounding to us why we had such hostility coming in,” National Security Adviser Mike Waltz told reporters.
On Monday, Mr. Trump said salvaging the minerals deal with Ukraine was still possible. He described it again as a “great deal” despite the bad blood between the two leaders. He told reporters he would likely address the controversy during his address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday evening.
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a Pennsylvania Republican who co-chairs the Congressional Ukraine Caucus, said on X that he had spoken with Mr. Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, about getting the mineral rights deal back on track, The Associated Press reported. After a long discussion, the lawmaker predicted that a deal could still be signed “in short order.”
• David R. Sands contributed to this article, which is based in part on wire service reports.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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