All hell broke loose in the Oval Office on Friday (28 February) as the world leaders tried – and failed – to hash out a minerals deal.
Zelenskyy ended up leaving the White House with nothing signed, as Trump let rip and accused the Ukrainian President, 47, of ‘gambling with World War III’.
“With us, you have the cards,” Trump said. “You’re gambling with the lives of millions of people! You’re gambling with World War III! What you’re doing is very disrespectful to this country.”
The US President later shared a statement saying Zelenskyy had ‘disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office’.
As you can imagine, the news of the disastrous meeting has come as music to the ears of Russia – and they aren’t being shy about sharing their glee.
Former President and deputy chairman of the Security Council of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, shared a shocking statement on social media in wake of Trump and Zelenskyy’s spat.
In a post shared on X, he wrote: “The insolent pig finally got a proper slap down in the Oval Office. And @realDonaldTrump is right: The Kiev regime is ‘gambling with WWIII’.”
Medvedev also celebrated Zelenskyy getting a ‘brutal dressing down in the Oval Office’ in a Telegram post, according to Reuters.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also shared her thoughts on the controversy and bizarrely praised Trump for showing ‘restraint’ and not using violence against Zelenskyy.
In a Telegram post, she said: “I think Zelensky’s biggest lie of all his lies was his assertion in the White House that the Kyiv regime in 2022 was alone, without support.
“How Trump and Vance held back from hitting that scumbag is a miracle of restraint,” Zakharova added, while saying that Zelenskyy was ‘biting the hand that feeds him’.
She also went on to accuse Zelenskyy of being ‘unpleasant with everyone’.
Russian TV commentator Vladimir Solovyov has also announced that he is working on a special show which will delve into Zelenskyy’s ‘suicide in the White House’.
The Ukrainian President has remained steadfast though, telling Fox News following the meeting with Trump: “I’m not sure we did something bad. I think maybe some things we have to discuss out of media.”
On Sunday (2 March), Keir Starmer will hold talks in Downing Street with Zelenskyy and other European leaders in the hopes of working out how to secure ‘lasting and enforced’ peace in Ukraine.
