It was reported that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with Democrats before his self-inflicted meltdown in the Oval Office on February 28. What should have been a routine signing of a minerals deal, followed by a private lunch and then a press conference, became a total circus when Zelensky went off the rails at Vice President JD Vance, leading to President Trump chiming in to set the record straight on the new path to end the war.
The Oval Office meeting was primarily routine and boring until the final ten minutes, when things went off the rails. Zelensky was kicked out of the White House shortly afterward, with the minerals deal and future American cooperation in doubt. Trump wanted a public apology; Zelensky at first refused to give one. It was one of the most epic implosions in diplomatic history. While Europe stood by Ukraine, their war chests and military equipment aren’t worth what comes from us. Zelensky rushed to patch things up, culminating with a letter to Mr. Trump (via NY Post):
Days after their fiery Oval Office blowup, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky apologized to President Trump, US special envoy Steve Witkoff claimed Monday.
“Zelensky sent a letter to the president. He apologized for that whole incident that happened in the Oval Office,” Witkoff, 67, told Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom” on Monday.
“I think that it was an important step, and there’s been a lot of discussion between our teams and the Ukrainians and the Europeans who are relevant to this discussion as well.”
Trump, 78, publicly revealed that he received a letter from Zelensky, 47, last Tuesday during his annual presidential address to Congress last week. But Trump made no mention of receiving an apology.
The Post reached out to a Zelensky spokesperson for comment. A top aide, Mykhailo Podolyak, previously told French outlet Le Point that his boss wouldn’t apologize.
[…]
A chief concern for Zelensky has been to lock down security guarantees for his country.
“These are not complicated things, they just … need to be put on the table and everybody needs to be transparent about what their expectations are, then we can begin to have a discussion about how we compromise,” Witkoff said.
Last week, Trump threatened Russia with “large-scale sanctions” and tariffs in response to Moscow “absolutely ‘pounding Ukraine on the battlefield.”
Trump later explained that he believes it is “more difficult, frankly, to deal with Ukraine” than Russia, indicating frustrations that Kyiv thinks it has more cards to play than it actually has.
They don’t have the cards. Zelensky listened to Democrats before the meeting, which led to this disaster, and any concerns he had about the minerals deal could have been made privately during the lunch. Instead, he tried to act like a top dog, and got the Michael Vick treatment from Trump and Vance.
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