President Donald Trump rebuked President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday for stating that the end of the Russia-Ukraine war is "very, very far away."
Trump and Zelensky have had a rocky start in the president's second term, seemingly hitting new lows over the last week when the two leaders got into a public dispute in the Oval Office. The Trump administration wants to see the war come to an end, as does Ukraine, though it wants additional guarantees to ensure Russia cannot restart the war in the future.
"This is the worst statement that could have been made by Zelenskyy, and America will not put up with it for much longer!" Trump said.
"It is what I was saying, this guy doesn’t want there to be Peace as long as he has America’s backing and, Europe, in the meeting they had with Zelenskyy, stated flatly that they cannot do the job without the U.S. – Probably not a great statement to have been made in terms of a show of strength against Russia," he added.
About an hour after Trump's remarks, Zelensky posted on social media, saying, "We continue our work with partners. We have already had talks and other steps to come soon. It is very important that we try to make our diplomacy really substantive to end this war the soonest possible. We need real peace and Ukrainians want it most because the war ruins our cities and towns."
"We lose our people," the Ukrainian leader added. "We need to stop the war and to guarantee security. We are working together with America and our European partners and very much hope on US support on the path to peace. Peace is needed as soon as possible."
Zelensky's assessment of where negotiations stand came on Sunday, just two days after their Oval Office dispute. Zelensky, Trump, and Vice President JD Vance were talking about the war in the Oval Office last Friday when their conversation devolved into an argument.
"You’re not in a good position," Trump told him. "You don’t have the cards right now. With us, you start having cards, but right now, you’re playing cards. You’re gambling with the lives of millions of people. You’re gambling with World War III. You’re gambling with World War III, and what you’re doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country, that’s backed you far more than a lot of people said they should."
The Ukrainian leader had traveled to Washington to sign an agreement with the United States that the Trump administration had touted as a long-term economic investment. The deal, which was not signed, would have had the U.S. invest in Ukraine's mineral resources infrastructure in exchange for a portion of the proceeds. The deal would serve as a way for Ukraine to reimburse the U.S. for the military assistance it has provided to Ukraine and would give the U.S. an incentive to ensure Russia doesn't restart the war.
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The Ukrainian leader has said he's still interested in signing the minerals agreement.
Zelensky had repeatedly brought up including security guarantees from the U.S. in the deal, though Trump had declined, saying that having American personnel in the country would serve as enough of a deterrence to Russian leader Vladimir Putin from ordering a subsequent conflict.
The Trump administration has held two in-person meetings to discuss ending the war and restarting diplomatic efforts, neither of which included Ukrainian representatives. It's unclear how the Trump administration can convince Putin to end the war that he chose to launch more than three years ago.
Putin said last week that Moscow's "first contacts" with the Trump administration "inspire certain hopes," adding, "Our partners demonstrate pragmatism and a realistic vision of things, and have abandoned numerous stereotypes, the so-called rules and messianic, ideological cliches of their predecessors."