TOI Correspondent from Washington: Which side triggered the biggest trainwreck in modern diplomatic history and what was the provocation is being bitterly contested in interviews and on social media in the hours following the fiasco, with millions of posts on the biggest geo-political debacle in modern times.
According to Trump and his MAGA minions, it was Zelenskyy who was rude and ungrateful as he pushed the Trump-Vance team for security guarantees and unloaded on Putin, saying he had repeatedly violated ceasefire agreements. He was speaking to an US MAGA leadership that has openly reversed course from previous administration and has embraced Russia and Putin at the expense of its European allies.
There were several points Zelenskyy made which appeared to trigger Trump, particularly when the Ukrainian leader talked of Russia’s depredations against Ukraine going back more than a decade to 2014, suggesting that even Trump was part of the US leadership that little to stop Moscow.
Trump was also visibly angered when Zelenskyy said the US is protected by two oceans and despite this could feel the heat some day, a remark that some MAGA folk saw as an insidious threat to America. When Trump told him that he was in a lot of trouble and losing the war against Russia, Zelenskyy responded, “First of all, during the war, everybody has problems, even you. But you have nice ocean and don’t feel now. But you will feel it in the future. God bless –”
Trump: “You don’t know that. You don’t know that. Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel. We’re trying to solve a problem. Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel.”
Zelenskyy: “I’m not telling you. I am answering on these questions.”
Trump: “Because you’re in no position to dictate that.”
Vance: “That’s exactly what you’re doing.”
Trump: “You are in no position to dictate what we’re going to feel. We’re going to feel very good.”
Zelenskyy: “You will feel influenced.”
Trump: “We are going to feel very good and very strong.”
Zelenskyy: “I am telling you. You will feel influenced.”
Trump: “You’re, right now, not in a very good position. You’ve allowed yourself to be in a very bad position –”
Zelenskyy: “From the very beginning of the war —”
Trump: “You’re not in a good position. You don’t have the cards right now. With us, you start having cards.”
Zelenskyy: “I’m not playing cards. I’m very serious, Mr. President. I’m very serious.”
Trump: “You’re playing cards. You’re gambling with the lives of millions of people. You’re gambling with World War III.”
Zelenskyy: “What are you speaking about?”
Trump: “You’re gambling with World War III. And what you’re doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country that’s backed you far more than a lot of people said they should have.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, among those who did the prep work for the rare minerals deal, said later, “There was no need for him to go in there and become antagonistic…He should apologize for wasting our time for a meeting to end the way it did.”
“Don’t come here and create a scenario where you’re going to start lecturing us about how diplomacy isn’t going to work,” Rubio said, revealing that it was the Ukrainians who insisted on coming to Washington DC for a deal that could have been signed in Kyiv five days ago.
Trump’s vice-president JD Vance too seemed to harbor resentment about Zelenskyy purportedly campaigning for Kamala Harris during the 2024 election campaign.
Vance: “Have you said thank you once?”
Zelenskyy: “A lot of times. Even today.”
Vance: “No, in this entire meeting. You went to Pennsylvania and campaigned for the opposition in October.”
Zelenskyy: “No.”
Vance: “Offer some words of appreciation for the United States of America and the president who’s trying to save your country.”
Zelenskyy: “Please. You think that if you will speak very loudly about the war, you can –”
Trump: “He’s not speaking loudly. He’s not speaking loudly. Your country is in big trouble.”
Zelenskyy: “Can I answer —”
Trump: “No, no. You’ve done a lot of talking. Your country is in big trouble.”
Zelenskyy: “I know. I know.”
Trump: “You’re not winning. You’re not winning this. You have a damn good chance of coming out OK because of us.”
Zelenskyy: “Mr. President, we are staying in our country, staying strong. From the very beginning of the war, we’ve been alone. And we are thankful. I said thanks.”
Zelenskyy’s assertion that Ukraine has been alone also seemed to offend Trump, who claims the US has given $ 350 billion to Kyiv at the expense of American taxpayers, plowing money into a war that is unwinnable.
Trump: “If you didn’t have our military equipment, this war would have been over in two weeks.”
Zelenskyy: “In three days. I heard it from Putin. In three days.”
Trump: “Maybe less. It’s going to be a very hard thing to do business like this, I tell you.
Vance: “Just say thank you.”
Zelenskyy: “I said a lot of times, thank you, to American people.”
Vance: “Accept that there are disagreements, and let’s go litigate those disagreements rather than trying to fight it out in the American media when you’re wrong. We know that you’re wrong.”
Trump: “But you see, I think it’s good for the American people to see what’s going on. I think it’s very important. That’s why I kept this going so long. You have to be thankful.”
Zelenskyy: “I’m thankful.”
Trump: “You don’t have the cards. You’re buried there. People are dying. You’re running low on soldiers. It would be a damn good thing, and then you tell us, ‘I don’t want a ceasefire. I don’t want a ceasefire, I want to go, and I want this.’ Look, if you can get a ceasefire right now, I tell you, you take it so the bullets stop flying and your men stop getting killed.”
Zelenskyy: “Of course we want to stop the war. But I said to you, with guarantees.”
Trump: “Are you saying you don’t want a ceasefire? I want a ceasefire. Because you’ll get a ceasefire faster than an agreement.”
Zelenskyy: “Ask our people about a ceasefire, what they think.”
Trump: “That wasn’t with me. That was with a guy named Biden, who is not a smart person.”
Zelenskyy: “This is your president. It was your president.”
