President Zelenskyy was asked to leave early on Friday 28 February, after the public part of the leaders’ meeting in the Oval Office with President Trump descended into a shouting match.
Their meeting was cut short, and the press conference intended to announce the US-Ukraine deal over Ukraine’s mineral deposits was cancelled.
This agreement would have created a joint investment fund to rebuild Ukraine, with the US gaining in mining rare-earth minerals.
President Trump has said this is the first step towards a ceasefire agreement he seeks to broker between Russia and Ukraine.
He also has claimed that it is essentially a security guarantee because the US would have a vested interest in Ukraine’s economic prosperity.
Tensions rose when Zelenskyy resisted Trump and Vice President JD Vance’s suggestions that he should work harder to agree to a ceasefire with Putin.
Vance accused Zelenskyy of being ungrateful for US support and campaigning on behalf of Democrats during the 2024 presidential election.
Trump warned Zelenskyy that he was “gambling with World War Three” and to come back “when he is ready for peace.”
The meeting followed a buildup of tensions between the Trump administration and Zelensky’s government.
President Trump had already begun talks with Russia’s President Putin without involving Ukraine.
He also called Zelensky a “dictator” for cancelling elections despite Ukraine being under martial law.
This is a developing story.
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