'Have you said thank you once?': Ukraine deal off as Trump & Zelensky argue during White House meeting

What was meant to be a cordial signing of a minerals agreement between Ukraine and the United States turned into a fiery debate between the two countries' presidents and U.S. Vice President JD Vance.

Cordial, until not

On Feb 28, Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, met with U.S. President Donald Trump in the White House in a joint appearance before gathered press.

Such meetings are regular staples of foreign leader visits, but usually, very little is communicated during the appearance, and debate is mostly reserved for closed doors.

An example of this was France's President Emmanuel Macron's visit to the White House earlier in the month, where the press was left to grasp at straws as they tried to interpret how Macron and Trump's hand-holding gave an indication of the Franco-U.S. relationship.

Such guesswork was not required for the Zelensky-Trump meeting,

The BBC reports that the conversation turned tense half an hour into what had until then been a cordial if formulaic conversation about a minerals deal that Ukraine and the U.S. were due sign.

U.S. vice president JD Vance has previously expressed ambivalence toward the outcome of the war in Ukraine, stating just after the beginning of the war in 2022 that "I gotta be honest with you, I don't really care what happens to Ukraine one way or another."

Vance told Zelensky that the path to peace and prosperity was "maybe engaging in diplomacy", adding that "that's what President Trump is doing".

Zelensky pushed back, reminding Vance that for Ukraine, the conflict stretched back to 2014, and Ukraine had negotiated with Russia previously, including a ceasefire in 2019 that had obviously failed to stop Russia's President Vladimir Putin, asking what kind of diplomacy Vance was talking about.

Vance replied by saying, "the kind that will end the destruction of your country", and then proceeded to berate Zelensky for being disrespectful and attempting to "litigate the situation in front of the American media".

Pile on

The conversation then went off the rails.

Trump, rather than mediating the conflict between his subordinate and Zelensky, appeared to pile on.

Zelensky said that the U.S. would eventually feel the impact of Russia's aggression, saying, "You have a nice ocean and don't feel (it) now, but you will feel it in the future."

Trump retorted by telling Zelensky to not "tell us what we are going to feel."

"You're in no position to dictate that, you don't have the cards right now, you're gambling with millions of lives."

Trump also accused Zelensky of gambling with World War 3.

Many of Trump's and Zelensky's disagreements were aired publicly, as Trump rejected Zelensky's assertion that Ukraine had fought Russia alone, saying that "we gave you, through this stupid president, US$350 billion (S$473 billion)."

This was a reference to his predecessor Joe Biden, and the ever-shifting amount of money that Trump claims the U.S. gave Ukraine.

For context, Trump has previously claimed that the amount given to Ukraine was half a trillion dollars (S$675.7 billion), an amount disputed by other groups.

The BBC reports that the amount was somewhere between US$110 and $180 billion (S$149 to S$243 billion).

Vance accused Zelensky of campaigning for the opposition Democratic Party during the 2024 presidential campaign and that Zelensky had not once in the meeting said thank you for the US's help.

For context, Zelensky had earlier said "thank you very much" to Trump.

But Zelensky never even said 'thank you'-except he did, and then the ambush followed.

[image or embed]

— Hoodlum 🇺🇸 (@nothoodlum.bsky.social) 1 March 2025 at 10:17

No deal

Politico reports that the two groups eventually separated, and the Ukrainians were eventually advised to leave the White House.

Minutes after the meeting ended, Trump posted on social media that Zelensky was not "ready for peace".

"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."

Zelensky, for his part, later posted on social media that he thanked America for the support and the visit, including Trump, Congress, and the American people,

He said that Ukraine needed just and lasting peace, and that Ukraine was "working for exactly that".

Zelensky's X account for the next four or so hours thanked various European and world leaders for their support.

Reuters reports that the minerals deal that Trump and Zelensky had been negotiating was not signed.

It quotes a senior U.S. official as saying that Trump had not ruled out an agreement, but not until Ukraine was ready to have a constructive conversation.

Reactions

Unsurprisingly, opinion on this in the U.S. was as split as their politics.

ABC News quoted Republican politicians such as Senator Lindsey Graham saying the meeting had been an utter disaster, that Zelensky had been disrespectful to Trump, and that he might need to resign in order for the U.S. and Ukraine to "do business".

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said on social media that the days of "America being taken advantage of and disrespected are over".

Democrats were critical of Trump's reaction, with one Democratic Congressman accusing Trump and Vance of putting on a show of lies and misinformation and that "they were popping champagne in the Kremlin".

A Democratic senator rejected the idea that Zelensky was unappreciative, saying that every time he had met with him, he had thanked the American people for their strong support and that Zelensky was "fighting on the front lines of democracy."

Related stories

Top image via Saul Loeb/AFP & @ZelenskyyUa/X