President Donald Trump warned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that continued US support for his country may not last “much longer” unless the Ukrainian president changes his tune on bringing a rapid end to Russia’s war.
Trump reposted a news article that quoted Zelensky as saying the end of Russia’s war on Ukraine is “very, very far away,” which Trump bemoaned as “the worst statement that could have been made by Zelensky.”
“America will not put up with it for much longer! 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 Zelensky, stated flatly that they cannot do the job without the U.S.,” Trump said on his proprietary social media website.
“Probably not a great statement to have been made in terms of a show of strength against Russia. What are they thinking?” he added.
The leaders engaged in a fiery Oval Office fracas on Friday in which Trump and Vice President JD Vance repeatedly berated Zelensky, alleging that he is ungrateful for years of American military and economic aid for his war-ravaged nation.
Trump has sought to rapidly end the war, a goal the self-proclaimed deal-maker said on the campaign trail that he could accomplish in as little as one day. He has voiced varying degrees of concern for the manner in which that goal is accomplished, acknowledging during the unprecedented Oval Office blowup that Ukraine would have to make “concessions” to Russia, berating Zelensky with threats that he is “gambling with World War III.”
Tensions escalated after Zelensky raised doubts over whether Russian President Vladimir Putin could be trusted in any negotiations aimed at end the war, citing past agreements that the Russian leader repeatedly broke in the years leading up to the full-scale war he launched on his eastern European neighbor.
Following the fracas, Zelensky abruptly departed the White House, leaving a critical minerals deal with the US unsigned, and cancelling a planned joint press conference with Trump.
Trump had already ruled out Ukraine’s membership in NATO, the transatlantic defensive alliance which requires unanimous support for any new member to be admitted, and falsely accused Ukraine of starting Russia’s war.