NATO chief Mark Rutte has said he told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that he needs to find a way to restore his relationship with President Donald Trump after Friday’s White House clash.
‘It is important that President Zelensky finds a way to restore his relationship with the American President and with the senior American leadership team,’ Rutte told the BBC on Saturday, commenting on a call he had with Zelensky on Friday.
He described the meeting at the White House as ‘unfortunate’.
Rutte’s dire warning to the war-time president comes as Zelensky duked it out with Trump and Vice President JD Vance in the Oval Office over the conditions of a possible ceasefire with Russia.
Tempers flared on all sides, with Trump threatening to abandon Ukraine completely if Zelensky didn’t agree to his peace terms.
He and Vance also repeatedly accused Zelensky of not being grateful for America’s sustained military support of Ukraine, which has totaled to roughly $100 billion according to one recent estimate.
Meanwhile, Zelensky showed pictures of the devastation of his country to Trump while also arguing he had thanked the American people for their aid.
The yelling match was unlike anything ever seen publicly in the Oval Office. And it played out on TV screens across the world.
NATO chief Mark Rutte revealed he told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that he needs to find a way to restore his relationship with President Donald Trump after their meeting went horribly wrong at the White House
Trump and Zelensky are seen in the Oval Office arguing over how a wind down to the war between Ukraine and Russia should look like
Zelensky was set off when Vance claimed Trump was attempting to engage in diplomacy, whereas President Joe Biden wasn’t able to stop the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and spent four years ‘talking tough about Vladimir Putin.’
‘He occupied big parts of Ukraine. Parts of the east and parts of Crimea. He occupied it in 2014,’ Zelensky responded, referring to Putin. ‘During 2014, nobody stopped him. He just occupied and took. He killed people.’
Zelensky added that he signed a ceasefire agreement with Russia in 2019 – a treaty also signed by Germany and France. He claimed Putin has been violating that agreement by launching incursions and also not abiding by a prisoner-swap deal.
‘What kind of diplomacy, JD, are you speaking about?’ Zelensky asked the vice president.
‘I’m talking about the kind of diplomacy that’s going to end the destruction of your country,’ Vance said.
When Zelensky tried to cut in, Vance continued with: ‘Mr. President, Mr. President, with respect, I think it’s disrespectful for you to come to the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media.
‘Right now, you guys are going around and forcing conscripts to the front lines because you have manpower problems.’
‘You should be thanking the president for trying to bring an end to this conflict,’ Vance added.
The meeting turned sour especially after Zelensky made a comment about the US having a ‘nice ocean’ separating it from conflict in Europe
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Zelensky further angered Trump and Vance when he made a comment about the US having ‘a nice ocean’ separating it from conflict.
‘First of all during the war, everybody has problems. Even you, but you have a nice ocean and don’t feel it now but you will feel it in the future.’
Trump jumped in to say, ‘Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel. We’re trying to solve a problem. Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel… You’re in no position to dictate what we’re going to feel.’
‘You’re gambling with World War III,’ Trump bellowed at Zelensky at one point.
Trump also repeatedly reminded the Ukrainian leader that he needs US support to continue the war effort against Putin.
‘You don’t have the cards. With us, you have the cards. But without us, you don’t have any cards,’ Trump said.
In a post on Truth Social reflecting on the tense back-and-forth, Trump wrote:. ‘It’s amazing what comes out through emotion, and I have determined that President Zelensky is not ready for Peace if America is involved.
‘Because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations. I don’t want advantage, I want PEACE. He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace.’
After the cameras left the Oval Office, Zelensky went to a holding room in the West Wing. He and Trump did not meet again.
Zelensky was seen exiting the White House about two hours after his arrival. He then posted his own message on social media
National Security Advisor Michael Waltz and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who were in the Oval Office meeting, went and told Zelensky his meetings at the White House were over, a White House official said.
The two leaders never had their scheduled lunch. White House reporters saw it sitting in the hallway outside the Oval Office, untouched.
Trump and Zelensky had been scheduled to participate in a press conference later Friday. That was canceled.
Zelensky was seen exiting the White House about two hours after his arrival. He then posted his own message on social media.
He wrote: ‘Thank you America, thank you for your support, thank you for this visit. Thank you @POTUS, Congress, and the American people. Ukraine needs just and lasting peace, and we are working exactly for that.’
Zelensky left without signing a multi-billion dollar mineral deal that Trump has said would be the only security guarantee Ukraine will get.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who visited the White House on Thursday, wanted to persuade Trump to provide air support for any European post-conflict peacekeeping force in Ukraine.
Trump has so far rebuffed this request, instead demanding that Zelensky sign the bilateral agreement that would give the US access to valuable natural resources and rare earth minerals in Ukraine.
The draft agreement suggests that in exchange, Ukraine would receive investment from the US and continued security support.