Photo by: Presidential Office of Ukraine/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images
Donald Trump And Volodymyr Zelensky were relatively cordial during a lunch meeting for reporters on Friday, but the goodwill reportedly turned into a “shouting match” when the two leaders disappeared behind closed doors.
The Financial Times reported Sunday that Trump warned the Ukrainian president to accept Russian conditions for ending the war, fearing the Russian leader Vladimir Putin 'destroy' Ukraine.
“The meeting between the U.S. and Ukrainian presidents degenerated into a 'shouting match' many times, with Trump 'swearing the entire time,' people familiar with the matter said,” the report said.
Trump also reportedly pushed for Zelenskiy to surrender the entire Donbas region to Russia, a point Putin had emphasized during a White House phone call the day before. Putin reportedly told Trump on Thursday that in return he would forfeit “some small areas of the two southern frontline regions of Kherson and Zaporizhia.”
“During Friday's meeting, Trump appeared to have taken many of Putin's talking points verbatim, even if they contradicted his own recent statements about Russia's weaknesses, European officials briefed on the meeting said,” the report said, continuing:
According to a European official with knowledge of the meeting, Trump told Zelenskyy that Putin had told him the conflict was a “special operation, not even a war,” adding that the Ukrainian leader had to make a deal or face destruction.
The official said Trump told Zelenskyy he was losing the war, warning: “If [Putin] wants, he will destroy you.
At one point during the meeting, the U.S. president tossed aside the Ukrainian battlefield maps, the official familiar with the meeting said. According to the official, Trump said he was “tired” of seeing the map of Ukraine's front lines over and over again.
Zelensky said in a statement on Sunday that “decisive steps are needed by the United States, Europe, the G20 and G7 countries” to end the war.
Trump told Fox News Maria Bartiromo On Sunday, Putin said he was “going to take something” from Ukraine. “I mean, they fought – he has a lot of property… he won some property.”
Trump would not commit to sending Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine as requested by Zelensky, he told Bartiromo, because “we need them for ourselves too.”
Read The Financial Times article here.
Report that Trump allegedly berated Zelensky in a 'shouting match' behind closed doors – warned Ukrainian leader Putin 'Will Destroy You' first appeared on Mediaite.
