Trump warns Zelensky ‘you’re gambling with World War Three’
The two presidents were meeting in the White House ahead of a London gathering of European leaders this weekend which will focus on boosting defence.
Donald Trump has warned Volodymyr Zelensky he is “gambling with World War Three” in a heated exchange at the White House, amid UK efforts to broker an American security guarantee for Ukraine.
The US president met his Ukrainian counterpart in the Oval Office as the two nations were set to sign a deal granting the US access to rare minerals in exchange for further military aid.
But the agreement was not signed after a series of testy remarks between the two presidents.
Sir Keir Starmer is preparing to discuss how to guarantee that a peace deal in Ukraine will last when he meets Mr Zelensky and other European leaders in Downing Street this weekend.
The relationship between the Ukrainian leader and Mr Trump remains tense, after the US president last week accused Mr Zelensky of being a dictator.
As the US president met his counterpart in the Oval Office, their discussions became heated.
“You’re gambling with millions of people … You’re gambling with World War Three,” Mr Trump said.
Mr Zelensky warned the US would “feel it in the future” if it did not continue to support Ukraine.
“Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel. We’re trying to solve a problem,” Mr Trump hit back.
US vice president JD Vance questioned why Mr Zelensky had not said thank you for US military aid during the meeting.
Mr Vance was also heard to say to the Ukrainian leader: “Mr President, with respect, I think it’s disrespectful for you to come into the Oval Office and 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 bringing an end to this conflict.”
Mr Zelensky left the White House early, putting on hold plans for he and Mr Trump to sign the minerals deal.
A news conference featuring the two leaders was also called off.
Writing on his Truth Social platform, Mr Trump said his Ukrainian counterpart was “not ready for peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations”.
In a sign that the relationship between the two leaders could be salvaged, Mr Trump added: “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.”
Mr Zelensky meanwhile thanked the president on X following the meeting.
“Thank you America, thank you for your support, thank you for this visit. Thank you (Mr Trump), Congress, and the American people. Ukraine needs just and lasting peace, and we are working exactly for that,” he said.
Downing Street had welcomed the proposed US-Ukraine minerals deal, and said it would “bind” Washington to Kyiv.
The fractious meeting comes after Sir Keir and France’s president Emmanuel Macron travelled to Washington DC for talks with Mr Trump.
The British and French leaders sought to charm the US president and were met with a warm welcome.
Ahead of Sunday’s summit in London focused on security, the Prime Minister will meet with Mr Zelensky separately.
A Downing Street spokesman said on Friday that “the UK has made it clear that we’ll play our full part in ensuring a just and lasting peace deal on Ukraine’s terms, backed up by strong security guarantees”.
The continued diplomacy push over the weekend comes after Sir Keir’s meeting with Mr Trump at the White House on Thursday.
The US president has resisted calls to fully commit American military might to guarantee any Ukraine peace deal, but suggested closer economic ties and an agreement on mineral access between Kyiv and Washington would effectively act as a security “backstop”.
Sir Keir returned to the UK on Friday following a trip to the White House which went as well as No 10 could have hoped, with Mr Trump clearly pleased with the King’s invitation for an unprecedented second state visit, giving an indication that he would not block the Chagos Islands deal and suggesting a trade deal could spare British exports from US tariffs.
World leaders rallied to express solidarity with Mr Zelensky following the White House clash.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on X that Ukraine and its leader were “not alone”.
Mr Macron said “we all were right to have helped Ukraine and sanctioned Russia three years ago, and to continue to do so”.
“There’s an aggressor, which is Russia, and a people attacked, which is Ukraine,” the French president added as he spoke to reporters.
They were followed by similar messages from a host of other European leaders, including EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, and German chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch called for “respectable diplomacy” following the meeting, and said a “divided West only benefits Russia”.
The Prime Minister meanwhile faced calls from SNP leader Stephen Flynn to backtrack on the offer of the second state visit for Mr Trump following the terse exchange with Mr Zelensky in the White House.
“Starmer had better get back up off his knees and revoke that offer of a state visit”, the MP wrote on X.
As well as the meeting with Mr Zelensky, Sunday will see the Prime Minister meet separately with Italy’s Giorgia Meloni and chair a call with the Baltic countries – Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia – before hosting the summit.
Mr Zelensky, Mr Macron and Ms Meloni have been invited to the summit along with leaders from Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Turkey, Finland, Sweden, the Czech Republic and Romania, as well as the Nato secretary general and the presidents of the European Commission and European Council.
They will discuss the next steps in planning for security guarantees if a Ukraine peace deal is reached – something Sir Keir believes will have to involve the US.
The leaders will consider how to strengthen Ukraine’s current position, with military support and increased economic pressure on Russia.
The UK wants US military assets to provide surveillance, intelligence and – potentially – warplanes providing air cover to deter Russian president Vladimir Putin from launching another bid to conquer his neighbour.
In Washington on Thursday, Mr Trump said: “Well, there is a backstop. First, you have European countries, because they’re right there, we’re very far away, we have an ocean between us.
“But we want to make sure it works.”
The president and the Prime Minister agreed to begin work on a new US-UK economic deal after Sir Keir dangled the carrot of an unprecedented second state visit to woo Mr Trump.
Sir Keir said the two leaders had decided “to begin work on a new economic deal with advanced technology at its core”.
The president, who is set to impose a 25% import tax on UK steel in March, said: “We could very well end up with a real trade deal where the tariffs wouldn’t be necessary.”
It is understood the proposed agreement is likely to focus on technology, rather than being an all-encompassing free trade deal.
