Abroad
Ukraine ambassador goes viral for very apt reaction to Trump Zelensky White House row
Hand face.
March 01, 2025, 02:45 PM
You might have seen this unbelievable exchange by now.
There have already been thousands of words written about how the exchange went. Reactions as polarising as you would expect.
If you haven't caught up, a routine meeting to signify the signing of a minerals deal between Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky and U.S. President Donald Trump went off the rails in last few minutes of the meeting.
Off the rails
Vice President Vance had 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”.
Amidst the chaos and imploding deal, a snapshot of Ukraine's ambassador to the U.S., Oksana Markarova with her face in her hand captured the mood quite well.
The Ukrainian ambassador had her head in her hands by this point. pic.twitter.com/AhnsgWbqOb
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) February 28, 2025
Here's another angle.
And here's a video.
Ukraine's ambassador to the US Oksana Markarova's reaction to the clash between Trump and Zelensky. pic.twitter.com/jva0QWJnHB
— KyivPost (@KyivPost) February 28, 2025
The CNN reporter, Kaitlan Collins, who tweeted the picture shared that this took place right when the shouting match had begun between the three men.
Dana Bash, also from CNN, commented that it was probably the ambassador's "worst nightmare".
Don't look at me
But the cringe was not only on one side.
Trump's Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, appeared to do his best to sink into the couch and remain unseen, prompting critics to accuse him of being spineless.
Screenshot of Rubio while Trump and Vance berated Zelenskyy
— MeidasTouch (@meidastouch.com) 1 March 2025 at 02:47
Top image via BlueSky
