US President Donald Trump Monday said Washington would “not put up with” Volodymyr Zelenskyy‘s rhetoric much longer after the disastrous meeting with the Ukrainian leader at the Oval Office.
Citing a story quoting Ukraine’s president saying the end of the war with Moscow was far off, Trump in a post on Truth Social said: “This is the worst statement that could have been made by Zelensky, and America will not put up with it for much longer.”
“This guy doesn’t want there to be Peace as long as he has America’s backing.”
Trump also targetted European leaders who met Zelensky for crisis talks in London at the weekend, saying that they had “stated flatly that they cannot do the job without the US.”
European countries, led by Britain and France, are rallying around Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and trying to hatch a peace plan and a truce that includes Kyiv after last week’s Oval Office rupture between Zelenskyy and Trump.
This comes after Zelenskyy engaged in a verbal spat with Trump and US Vice President JD Vance last Friday at the Oval Office.
While Vance accused Zelenskyy of being “disrespectful”, Trump said he was “gambling with World War Three”.
President Zelenskyy responded in equal measure, saying, “We are in our own country, and we have stayed strong all this time. We have even thanked you for it (your support)”.
While Zelenskyy left the meeting after the heated exchange, Trump said the Ukraine president could come back to the White House “when he is ready for peace.”
Trump is now meeting his top advisors on Monday to discuss the next steps on Ukraine, US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz told reporters.
European leaders, who have offered peacekeepers to guarantee any ceasefire but also want a US “backstop”, met in London on Sunday in a desperate bid to resolve the row.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke to British Foreign Secretary David Lammy over the phone on Monday to discuss the leaders’ meeting in London.
(With inputs from IBNS)