United States President Donald Trump called his predecessor Joe Biden “stupid” while lashing out at Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a heated exchange at the Oval Office on Friday.
Trump said that had the Washington not given assistance — military and financial — to Kyiv, the war with Russia would have ended in two weeks.
“Your country is in big trouble. You’re not winning … You have a damn good chance of coming out okay because of us.” “You haven’t been alone. We gave you, through [our] stupid president, $350 billion. We gave you military equipment … If you didn’t have our military equipment, this war would’ve been over in two weeks,” Trump said to Zelenskyy during the meeting at the White House.
Trump’s meeting with Zelenskyy at the Oval Office took the world by surprise as it was nothing sort of what the world has ever witnessed — not at least on camera.
The conversation between the two heads of state turned into an argument after Zelenskyy pushed back against Trump’s suggestion to make peace with Russia rather than continue the war.
The talks, which already made the environment tense, descended a notch lower when Vice President JD Vance took the banter from Trump to berate Zelenskyy.
Vance lashed out at the Ukrainian President, saying: “I think it’s disrespectful for you (Zelenskyy) to come to the Oval Office and try to litigate this (war with Russia) in front of the American media.
The US Vice President further chastised Zelenskyy, who he said was blaming the US administration, which was only “trying to prevent” the destruction of Ukraine.
EU leaders back Zelenskyy
Soon after the Oval Office talk, the European allies reaffirmed their commitment to Ukraine in the ongoing war against Russia.
EU Foreign Policy Chief Kaja Kallas was among the first to respond, vowing to step up aid. “We will step up our support to Ukraine so that they can continue to fight back the aggressor,” she wrote in a post on X. She also noted, “The free world needs a new leader,” adding that Europe must rise to the challenge.
Germany’s Chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz also expressed his backing, stating on X, “We stand with Ukraine in good and in testing times.” Outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz reinforced this stance, writing on X, “Ukraine can rely on Germany and on Europe.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen echoed the support, addressing Zelenskyy directly in a post on X. “Your dignity honours the bravery of the Ukrainian people. Be strong, be brave, be fearless,” she wrote, promising continued cooperation towards “a just and lasting peace.”
Russia calls it ‘miracle of restraint’
Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova on Friday claimed that US President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance displayed “a miracle of restraint” by refraining from striking Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during their heated confrontation at the White House.
“I think Zelenskyy’s biggest lie of all his lies was his assertion in the White House that the Kyiv regime in 2022 was alone, without support,” she wrote on Telegram. “How Trump and Vance held back from hitting that scumbag is a miracle of restraint,” she added.