During a heated back-and-forth between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and President Donald Trump in the White House’s Oval Office on Friday, Ukrainian Ambassador to the US Oksana Markarova appeared distressed, holding her head in her palm.
During a live White House press conference, Donald Trump pressed Volodymyr Zelensky on why he was rejecting a truce with Russia. The exchange swiftly went viral in pictures and videos.
Oksana Markarova lowered her head on her right hand and closed her eyes as the microphones hung over the contentious debate, seemingly attempting to ignore the stress that was building all around her.
The altercation, which took place in front of international television cameras, is a significant blow to Zelensky, who had hoped that the face-to-face encounter would improve his relationship with Trump and convince him to support his nation more after his shift toward Moscow.
Instead, given Ukraine’s manpower shortage on the battlefield and continued reliance on US military assistance, the savage tone of the debate is likely to raise more questions about its capacity to repel Russia’s three-year incursion. Additionally, European friends, who have already been rushing to fill the hole left by Washington, are sure to be alarmed.
When Zelensky expressed his opinion that the proposed agreement would not be sufficient to prevent additional Russian action, he infuriated both Trump and US Vice President JD Vance.
Zelensky declared that the Russian leader “hates Ukrainians” and intended to destroy the nation, adding that Putin “will never stop and will go further and further.” Regarding the agreement, he continued, “We can do it, but it’s not enough.”
Trump and Vance attacked the struggling leader as Zelensky tried to make his case, claiming that his strategy, which was given in the Oval Office, was “disrespectful” and preventing the brutal three-year conflict from coming to an end.
Trump told Zelensky that he was not certain the Ukrainian leader could reach an agreement, saying, “It’s going to be very hard to do business like this.” Let me tell you, you don’t have the cards, so you need to be more grateful. You don’t have any cards without us, but you do have the cards with us.
Trump went on to say, “You’re gambling with World War III.” And what you’re doing is demeaning to our country, which has supported you far more than many people believed they ought to,” he remarked. “You will either strike a deal or we will part ways, and if we part ways, you will fight it out.” It won’t be pretty, in my opinion.
To allay Trump’s fears that US funding would not be reimbursed, the leaders were scheduled to sign the natural resources deal during the meeting, which was meant to be a time of togetherness. When he first invited Zelensky to the White House for a crucial meeting with significant ramifications for the struggle to fend off Russia’s invasion, Trump hailed the deal as a significant US commitment to Ukraine.
