Days ago, on February 28th, Donald Trump, the US President, and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian President, broke out into a tension filled debate during a meeting in the white house. The whole event was broadcasted live with lots of viewers who watched everything go wrong in under 10 minutes. Now there is a debate between the people on who was in the wrong but it could be both of them.
The relationship between these two powerful leaders was already tense. Going into the meeting it was well known that there was going to be tension and a lot of opportunities for it to go wrong but the hope was for the relationship to be restored with the signing of an important agreement. The agreement would give the U.S. the right to go into Ukraine and use their rare earth minerals.
The meeting didn’t begin with bitterness as both of the leaders discussed the signing which was to take place after. In the beginning though Trump was seen sarcastically making comments on Zelensky’s clothes inferring they weren’t dressy enough. Later a reporter berated Zelensky on next time “wearing a suit to the White House.” Just from this you could tell this was already a hostile environment.
As the meeting went on JD Vance, the U.S. Vice President, spoke up and began the downhill spiral. The conversation was about how diplomacy would end the Ukrainian War with Russia but Zelensky rebutled with the fact that the Russians did not even follow a ceasefire deal. As they discussed this topic comments were shouted like “You don’t have the cards right now” and “You’re gambling with the lives of millions of people. You’re gambling with World War III.” Soon after more back and forth arguing the media was dismissed from the room and the deal was called off. Zelenksy then left the White House.
Now while many believe that Donald Trump and JD Vance acted irrationally, unprofessionally, and rudely, others think the media isn’t quite showing the full story. Some are saying that Zelensky had an arrogant attitude in the meeting, especially when discussing that the money given to Ukraine during the war was not to be paid back and was a gift.
I personally am sure that some of the fault lies on Zelensky but I also know that no matter what the circumstances, Trump and Vance acted embarrassingly in this meeting and it could have been handled way more appropriately. I recommend when forming your own opinion on this topic that you watch the meeting and do the research yourself. Arguments like these can be very touchy when it covers such important topics. Leave a comment whether you believe Trump and Vance, Zelensky, or all of them were in the wrong.
