Two days after US President Donald Trump met his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, at the White House, reports have emerged about their explosive closed-door meetings. Trump warned Zelenskyy that Russia would “destroy” Ukraine if he did not accept Vladimir Putin’s terms to end the war, the Financial Times reported. During the meeting, tensions flared repeatedly, turning it into a “shouting match,” with Trump “cursing all the time,” the report said.
A European official familiar with the meeting said Trump told Zelenskyy that Putin had described the conflict as a “special operation, not even a war,” and warned that the Ukrainian leader needed to strike a deal or risk destruction.
The official said that Trump told Zelenskyy he was losing the war, warning: “If [Putin] wants it, he will destroy you.”
During the meeting, the US president threw aside maps of Ukraine’s frontline, pressed Zelenskyy to hand over the entire Donbas region to Putin, and repeatedly repeated points that the Russian leader had made during their call the previous day.
According to the official familiar with the encounter, Trump said he was “sick” of seeing the map of the frontline of Ukraine repeatedly. “This red line, I don’t even know where this is. I’ve never been there,” Trump said.
Although Trump later supported keeping the current front lines unchanged, the tense meeting highlighted how unpredictable his stance on the war is and his readiness to back Putin’s extreme demands.
The meeting took place as Trump renewed efforts to end Russia’s war, following the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Zelenskyy and his team went to the White House hoping to convince Trump to provide long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles, but the US president ultimately refused.
