The president of Ukraine, Volodimir Zelenskihe chose to maintain a much less complacent tone than the employee with other leaders who have visited in the last month Donald Trump In the White House, one of the factors that has led to the tense encounter between them.
Taking into account the apparent resentment that persists between both leaders since 2019nobody expected that Zelenski’s appearance in the Oval Office would distill the same camaraderie that had the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahuthe first to visit Trump from his return to power, or the almost reverential tone shown by the head of the Japanese executive, Shigeru ishibawhich covered the New Yorker.
However, No one foreshadowed the snatched answers Trump and his vice president, JD Vanceespecially after seeing that in the last days leaders such as Narendra Modi, Emmanuel Macron or Keir Starmer, who brought differences in weight issues with the US president, came out airy and reinforced from a meeting in Washington for which they seemed to prepare conscientiously.
Attack against Zelenski’s clothing
A representative of the US government cited by CNN said that The one that Zelenski wore his traditional military clothing in the White House was a bad start.
Trump even opted for the chascarrillo upon his arrival, stating that Today was “very fixed” And, in the midst of the appearance in the Oval Office, a journalist of an ultraconservative medium asked the Ukrainian because he did not wear a suit and pointed out that many Americans consider him disrespectful.
Hard language against Putin
At the start of the act in the Oval Office, Zelenski used the hard tone he usually use when referring to Putin as “a murderer and a terrorist”and the atmosphere, not excessively cordial until that moment, began to cloud more when a Polish journalist asked Trump about the possibility of being aligned excessively with Putin.
The American leader stressed that he is a Equidistant figure in the Ukraine War that only aligns with its own country, which wants to end the conflict and that is the only one with the capacity to bring all parties to the negotiating table.
Zelenski, who stressed several times his interest in having US military support after a future and hypothetical peace agreement with Moscow, then stressed that Since the invasion of Crimea in 2014 nobody, including Trump during his first term (2017-2021), has stopped Putin’s feet.
Vance enters the scene to tell Zelenski that he should be “grateful”
There Vance entered the scene, who argued that the animosity and aggressiveness shown by the Biden administration against Putin was counterproductive and that, therefore, Zelenski should be grateful to the approach Trump is using to try to resolve the conflict.
At that point, Zelenski, crossed with arms, arched his eyebrows showing disbelief and responded guarding Vance -That he questioned at all times as “Mr. President”- gesturing visibly with his hands, to which the US vice president replied calling him ungrateful and facing his problems to recruit soldiers while he pointed to him with the index.
The moment of maximum tension: “Don’t tell us how we are going to feel”
The turning point comes when the Ukrainian president says that although The United States has a “beautiful ocean” that separates it from the European War stage -a mantra that Trump has repeated in recent weeks– In the future you will feel the impact of the conflict.
It is then when Trump, that seems He is “playing with the lives of millions of people”, flirting with the third world war and that is being disrespectful with a country that has given kyiv more than any other.
At that point, Zelenski seems to be looking at the vacuum, perhaps aware of the mess, and, after saying “thanks”, he says below that His country has been “only” since the beginning of the Russian invasion, even more enraging Trump and Vancewhich tells him that “he is wrong.”
Trump, to Zelenski: “You are not in a good position”
Zelenski and Trump try to interrupt each other until the Ukrainian desists and the White House tenant spends him as I should accept without grinding the fire because it is not in a position to demand anything else and that you must change your attitude.
Thus concluded an episode that already promises to be a case study on situations to avoid in the diplomatic sand.
After Fiasco, the Republican Senator Lindsey Grahamwell -known Kiev, described what happened as “complete disaster,” celebrated Trump and Vance’s attitude, described Zelenski as “disrespectful” and “excessive” and considered that maybe Washington never achieves agreements with him.
And first of all, he published a warning –“I told Zelenski this morning; you don’t bite the hook“- That the Ukrainian President seemed to ignore today in the Oval Office.
